Essex Congregational Remembrancer Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. I. SOME OF THOSE WEIGHTY CONSIDERATIONS UPON WHICH THE ADVICE IS FOUNDED. 1. The heart is the source of all human conduct. The greatest and basest actions of men did once exist as a simple and insignificant thought. The sallyings forth of purpose might easily have been checked at the gate of the citadel, whereas, when once beyond control, the consequences might prove such as we never ventured to anticipate. 2. Every man is that really which he is in his heart. Conduct is not always a trustworthy basis of estimate. The heart imparts a tinge and character to those streams which issue from it. 3. Scripture represents the heart of man as not in a trustworthy condition, and therefore the more to be diligently kept and guarded. 4. The fact that out of the heart come the "issues of life" adds to the importance of this counsel. What is meant is the issues of our future never-ending existence. II. POINT OUT IN WHAT WAY THIS DUTY MAY BE BEST PERFORMED. 1. Watch narrowly the course and current of our thoughts and affections. 2. Check them at once, when we discover them to have taken a wrong course. 3. Exercise the mind as much as possible with holy and heavenly themes. 4. Earnestly call down the aid and blessing of the Holy Spirit. (Essex Congregational Remembrancer.) 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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