He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress. Sermons
I. IT IS AN ARDENT ENTHUSIASTIC LIFE. (Ver. 21.) Literally, he who hunts after justice and love will find life, righteousness, and honour. So in other figures - of hungering and thirsting, of digging eagerly for hid treasures, etc. - the earnest enthusiasm of the true life is depicted. II. IT IS A LIFE OF PRESENT POSSESSION AND ENJOYMENT. So in the New Testament (Romans 3:26; Galatians 3:21). III. THE RESISTLESS POWER OF WISDOM. (Ver. 22.) The like penetrative power to that which we ascribe to the subtlest forces of nature - heat, magnetism, etc. - is possessed, but in a higher degree, by the intelligence add the will of man. The barriers of time and space seem to fall before him who knows and him who loves. Let none rely on walls and fastnesses. What man's hands have raised man's hands can break to pieces. We are truly strong only by means of the arts and works at intelligence and love. IV. THE SAFETY OF THE PRUDENT TONGUE. (Ver. 2.9.) As one quaintly says, "God, as the Creator, has placed a double wail before the mouth - the teeth and lips, to show that we ought to use and guard the tongue with all care." "He that hath a satirical vein, as he maketh others afraid of his wit, so he had need to he afraid of others' memory." "Discretion of speech is more than eloquence; and to speak agreeably with him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words or in good order" (Bacon). - J. Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. Instead of simply commanding with supreme authority that men should keep their mouths and tongues, he graciously condescends to annex reward and blessings for its own sake. "Keepeth his soul from troubles." In keeping of God's commandments there is great reward. In proportion as any faculty is important in the use and rightful application of it, so is the neglect of it an evil, and the result of its perversion fatal in the same degree. The government of the tongue, on this principle, assumes at once its due importance. Consider the benefits that must accrue to society from the judicious use of this powerful organ on the part of those who in God's providence are fitted to exert influence over their fellows. Consider the Christian governing his tongue, with especial reference to the law and will of God. Of the ten commandments two are assigned, one in each table, to this needful admonition. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain"; "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." A careless, unreflecting use of the holy name betrays a trifling and unstable heart. But with reference to his neighbour, the Christian has the greatest need of caution as to the government of his tongue. What irreparable injury a severe remark, whether carelessly or wickedly whispered against the character of another, is sure to produce. It may be our duty to speak to the prejudice of others, but we must always be very sure that the duty is clear. In cases where the conduct of our neighbour appears doubtful, we are bound to give him the benefit of that doubt, and to feel towards him, and to speak of him, accordingly. When a Christian is reviled and calumniated, how is he to act? He should "in patience possess his soul." One topic remains — the responsible office of the tongue, employed in preaching the gospel of salvation to perishing sinners. () A furious horse needs a bridle to restrain its fierceness, and it seems the tongue of man needs more than a double bridle to keep it in from doing hurt. The wise man never ceases to admonish us about this point. As a high-spirited horse, if its fury is not curbed with a strong hand, will hurry its rider along, without regarding pits, or precipices, or deep waters, and expose him to extreme jeopardy of his life, so an unbridled tongue will make a man hateful to God and men, plunge him into contentions and debates, and expose his estate, and life, and credit, to extreme danger. Who is the man that wishes to enjoy a quiet and peaceable life? Let him set a guard over his mouth, and refrain his tongue from profaneness and corrupt communication, from railing and reviling, and all evil speaking, from foolish talking, and from inconvenient jesting. Let prudence and the fear of God stand continually like sentinels at the door of his lips. () Homilist. I. Such a government is NECESSARY. "Whoso keepeth his mouth and tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles." What troubles come through an ungoverned tongue?1. Troubles on self.(1) The troubles of moral remorse have often been brought into the soul through unguarded language.(2) The troubles of social distress have often come upon a man through unguarded language. Friends have been sacrificed, enemies created, litigations commenced, and fines and penalties enacted. 2. Troubles on others. An ungoverned tongue is like a river, whose embankments have given way, spreading disasters through a whole neighbourhood. In America the Indians strike a spark from flint and steel, and thus set fire to the dry grass, and the flames spread and spread until they sweep like a roaring torrent over a territory as large as England, and men and cattle have to flee for their lives. An unguarded word can produce a social conflagration greater far. II. Such a government is PRACTICABLE. The tongue is not an involuntary organ, an organ that works irrespective of the will, like the heart and lungs; it is always the servant of the mind; it never moves without volition. Heaven has endowed us with a natural sovereignty equal not only to the government of the tongue, but to all the lusts and passions that set it in motion. A finer manifestation of moral majesty you can scarcely have than in reticence under terribly exciting circumstances. ()
People SolomonPlaces JerusalemTopics Adversities, Calamity, Guards, Keepeth, Keeping, Keeps, Mouth, Soul, Tongue, Trouble, Troubles, WatchOutline 1. The king's heart in the hand of the Lord
Dictionary of Bible Themes Proverbs 21:23 5193 tongue
5481 proverb
5547 speech, power of
5575 talk, idle
5868 gossip
5922 prudence
5934 restraint
8339 self-control
8493 watchfulness, believers Library Definition of Actual Grace
1. GENERAL NOTION OF GRACE.--The best way to arrive at a correct definition of actual grace is by the synthetic method. We therefore begin with the general notion of grace. Like "nature,"(3) grace (gratia, {GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI}{GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO}{GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA}{GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA}) is a word of wide reach, used in a great variety of senses. Habert(4) enumerates no less than fourteen; which, however, may be reduced to four. a) Subjectively, …
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and HabitualEpistle xxi. To Constantina Augusta .
To Constantina Augusta [1593] . Gregory to Constantina, &c. Almighty God, who holds in His right hand the heart of your Piety, both protects us through you and prepares for you rewards of eternal remuneration for temporal deeds. For I have learnt from the letters of the deacon Sabinianus my responsalis with what justice your Serenity is interested in the cause of the blessed Prince of the apostles Peter against certain persons who are proudly humble and feignedly kind. And I trust in the bounty …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great Epistle Cvi. To Syagrius, Ætherius, virgilius, and Desiderius, Bishops .
To Syagrius, Ætherius, Virgilius, and Desiderius, Bishops [65] . Gregory to Syagrius of Augustodunum (Autun), Etherius of Lugdunum (Lyons), Virgilius of Aretale (Arles), and Desiderius of Vienna (Vienne), bishops of Gaul. A paribus. Our Head, which is Christ, has to this end willed us to be His members, that through the bond of charity and faith He might make us one body in Himself. And to Him it befits us so to adhere in heart, that, since without Him we can be nothing, through Him we may …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great How the Slothful and the Hasty are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 16.) Differently to be admonished are the slothful and the hasty. For the former are to be persuaded not to lose, by putting it off, the good they have to do; but the latter are to be admonished lest, while they forestall the time of good deeds by inconsiderate haste, they change their meritorious character. To the slothful therefore it is to be intimated, that often, when we will not do at the right time what we can, before long, when we will, we cannot. For the very indolence of …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great How those are to be Admonished who Desire not the Things of Others, but Keep their Own; and those who Give of their Own, yet Seize
(Admonition 22.) Differently to be admonished are those who neither desire what belongs to others nor bestow what is their own, and those who give of what they have, and yet desist not from seizing on what belongs to others. Those who neither desire what belongs to others nor bestow what is their own are to be admonished to consider carefully that the earth out of which they are taken is common to all men, and therefore brings forth nourishment for all in common. Vainly, then, do those suppose …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great The Heavenly Footman; Or, a Description of the Man that Gets to Heaven:
TOGETHER WITH THE WAY HE RUNS IN, THE MARKS HE GOES BY; ALSO, SOME DIRECTIONS HOW TO RUN SO AS TO OBTAIN. 'And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain: escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.'--Genesis 19:17. London: Printed for John Marshall, at the Bible in Gracechurch Street, 1698. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. About forty years ago a gentleman, in whose company I had commenced my …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 "And the Life. " How Christ is the Life.
This, as the former, being spoken indefinitely, may be universally taken, as relating both to such as are yet in the state of nature, and to such as are in the state of grace, and so may be considered in reference to both, and ground three points of truth, both in reference to the one, and in reference to the other; to wit, 1. That our case is such as we stand in need of his help, as being the Life. 2. That no other way but by him, can we get that supply of life, which we stand in need of, for he …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life How Christ is the Way in General, "I am the Way. "
We come now to speak more particularly to the words; and, first, Of his being a way. Our design being to point at the way of use-making of Christ in all our necessities, straits, and difficulties which are in our way to heaven; and particularly to point out the way how believers should make use of Christ in all their particular exigencies; and so live by faith in him, walk in him, grow up in him, advance and march forward toward glory in him. It will not be amiss to speak of this fulness of Christ …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life An Analysis of Augustin's Writings against the Donatists.
The object of this chapter is to present a rudimentary outline and summary of all that Augustin penned or spoke against those traditional North African Christians whom he was pleased to regard as schismatics. It will be arranged, so far as may be, in chronological order, following the dates suggested by the Benedictine edition. The necessary brevity precludes anything but a very meagre treatment of so considerable a theme. The writer takes no responsibility for the ecclesiological tenets of the …
St. Augustine—writings in connection with the donatist controversy. Paul's Departure and Crown;
OR, AN EXPOSITION UPON 2 TIM. IV. 6-8 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR How great and glorious is the Christian's ultimate destiny--a kingdom and a crown! Surely it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive what ear never heard, nor mortal eye ever saw? the mansions of the blest--the realms of glory--'a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.' For whom can so precious an inheritance be intended? How are those treated in this world who are entitled to so glorious, so exalted, so eternal, …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Proverbs
Many specimens of the so-called Wisdom Literature are preserved for us in the book of Proverbs, for its contents are by no means confined to what we call proverbs. The first nine chapters constitute a continuous discourse, almost in the manner of a sermon; and of the last two chapters, ch. xxx. is largely made up of enigmas, and xxxi. is in part a description of the good housewife. All, however, are rightly subsumed under the idea of wisdom, which to the Hebrew had always moral relations. The Hebrew …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Proverbs 21:23 NIV
Proverbs 21:23 NLT
Proverbs 21:23 ESV
Proverbs 21:23 NASB
Proverbs 21:23 KJV
Proverbs 21:23 Bible Apps
Proverbs 21:23 Parallel
Proverbs 21:23 Biblia Paralela
Proverbs 21:23 Chinese Bible
Proverbs 21:23 French Bible
Proverbs 21:23 German Bible
Proverbs 21:23 Commentaries
Bible Hub
|
