Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Either keep thy heart with all sorts and degrees of care and diligence, or keep thy heart as thy most precious thing. 1. Mark or attend unto, inquire into and study the heart. 2. The governance and good management of our hearts, keeping all the motions thereof in due order, within fit compass, applying them to good, and restraining them from bad things. 3. Or preserving, guarding, securing from mischief or damage. It is a peculiar excellency of human nature that man can reflect on all that is done within him, can discern the tendencies of his soul, is acquainted with his own purposes. It is, therefore, his work to regulate as well the internal workings of his soul as his external actions, to settle his thoughts on due objects, to bend his inclinations into a right frame, to constrain his affections within due bounds, to ground his purposes on honest reasons, and direct them unto lawful matters. It is our duty to be looking inward on ourselves, observing what thoughts spring up within us; what imaginations find most welcome harbour in our breasts, what prejudices possess our minds, etc. Thus we may arrive at a competent knowledge of ourselves. This preserves from self-conceit; disposes to equanimity; qualifies our opinion of others; makes wise and prudent; helps to reforming our lives and regulating our devotions, and enables us properly to govern our hearts. (I. Barrow, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.WEB: Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life. |
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