The former verse having spoken of hearing God’s Word, this speaketh of reading it. For the beginning of obedience is to be willing to know what is commanded, and it is a part of performance to have learned what is to be performed. . . . Let God’s Word be in our heart, it will be in the midst of it. For the heart hath no outside, all is the midst there: the heart hath no outward show, all there is inward truth.—Jermin.
Verse 21. The terms of this verse may be compared, for illustration, with those of Deut. vi. 6, 8: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.” Amongst the Jews there was a sad propensity to take the latter injunction literally and externally. Hypocrites and formalists satisfied themselves with having little scraps of the law written on parchment, and worn as frontlets on the forehead. But this was a delusion. The laws of God are never rightly “before the eyes” unless they are “in the heart.” The meaning of the former clause of the verse is, that the commandments of God should be kept constantly in view as the guides of the whole conduct. And this will be the case when they are kept “in the midst of the heart.”—Wardlaw.
Verse 22. Some medicines are good for one part of the body, some for another. This is good for all the body, and all the soul.—Cartwright.
Verse 23. That thou mayest keep thy heart sincere, to use the similitude of a castle, for so the heart is,—1. Repair and fortify it diligently. Weak walls are soon broken down. Breaches give occasion for an enemy to enter. Thou wilt find something to mend every day in the understanding, or conscience, or memory, or will, or affections, if not in all of them. 2. Victual this fort, else it cannot hold out against a siege. Feed it with good meditations from the creatures, and out of the Scriptures. Starved soldiers cannot defend a fort. 3. Set up a regiment in thy soul. No fort can be kept without government; soldiers, else, will rebel and betray the fort. Commit that charge to a well-informed conscience; submit all thoughts, and words, and deeds to it. 4. Get arms in it to keep out enemies; to wit, God’s prohibitions and threats in His Word. This is the sword of the Spirit (Ephes. vi. 17).—Francis Taylor.
The man is as his heart is. The heart is the spring and fount of all natural and spiritual actions, it is the primum mobile, the great wheel that sets all other wheels agoing; it is the great monarch in the isle of man, therefore, keep it with all custody and caution, or else bid farewell to all true joy, peace, and comfort. When the heart stands right with Christ He will pardon much and pass by much. . . . Therefore we should keep our heart as under lock and key, that they may be always at hand when the Lord shall call for them. . . . The word heart is here put comprehensively for the whole soul, with all its powers, noble faculties, and endowments, together with their several operations, all which are to be watched over. . . . It is a duty incumbent upon every Christian to keep his own heart. Thou mayest make another thy park-keeper, thy housekeeper, thy shopkeeper, thy cash-keeper, but thou must be thy own heartkeeper. “With all diligence.” Some understand this of all kind of watchfulness. 1. As men keep a prison. How vigilant are they in looking after their prisoners. 2. As they keep a besieged garrison, or castle, in time of war. A gracious heart is Christ’s fort-royal. Against this fort Satan will employ his utmost art, therefore it must have a strong guard. 3. As the Levites kept the sanctuary of God and all the holy things committed to their charge (Ezek. xliv. 8–15). Our hearts are the temples of the Holy Ghost, and therefore we should keep a guard about them, that nothing may pass in or out that may be displeasing, grieving, or provoking to Him. 4. As a man keeps his life. The same word (shamar) is used in Job. x. in reference to life. With what care, what diligence, do men labour to preserve their natural lives. 5. As men keep their treasures. There are few men who know how to value their hearts as they should. It is that pearl of price for which a man should lay down his all. 6. As spruce men and women do their fine clothes. They won’t endure a spot upon them. Let not others be more careful to keep their outsides clean, than you are to keep your insides clean.—Brooks.
The fountains and wells of the East were watched over with special care. A stone was rolled to the mouth of the well, so that “a spring shut up, a fountain sealed,” became the type of all that is most jealously guarded (Song Sol. iv. 22). So it is here. The heart is such a fountain—out of it flow “the issues of life.” Shall we let the stream be tainted at the fountain head?—Plumptre.
Keep the heart. 1. Because it falls directly under the inspection of God. Man can judge only by what is external, but “I, the Lord, search the heart.” 2. Because of the influence the heart has upon the life. He that is concerned about making the tree good will probably make the fruit so. 3. Care in keeping the heart is greatly to be regarded for itself. Is there nothing pleasant, nothing honourable in being masters at home—in being possessors of our own spirits? Is it nothing that the peace of the kingdom is broken, even though the constitution of it be not overthrown?—Doddridge.
A heart purified by the grace of God, and firmly rooted in truth as its ground, is the source and common fountain for the successful development of all the main activities and functions of human life, those belonging to the sphere of sense, as well as to the psychical and spiritual realms, and this must more and more manifest itself as such a centre of the personality, sending forth light and life.—Lange’s Commentary.
Though to keep the heart be God’s work, it is man’s agency. Our efforts are his instrumentality.—Bridges.
All vital principles are lodged there, and only such as are good and holy will give you pleasure. The exercises of religion will be pleasing when they are natural, and flow easily out of their own fountain.—John Howe.