Proverbs - Chapter 4 - Matthew Henry Complete Commentary
Here is, 1. A great duty required by the laws of wisdom, and in order to our getting and preserving wisdom: Keep thy heart with all diligence. God, who gave us these souls, gave us a strict charge with them: Man, woman, keep thy heart;
take heed to thy spirit, Deu. 4:9. We must
maintain a holy jealousy of ourselves, and set a strict guard, accordingly, upon all the avenues of the soul;
keep our hearts from doing hurt and getting hurt, from being defiled by sin and disturbed by trouble; keep them as our jewel, as our vineyard;
keep a conscience void of offence;
keep out bad thoughts; keep up good thoughts; keep the affections upon right objects and in due bounds. Keep them with all keepings (so the word is); there are
many ways of keeping things—by care, by strength, by calling in help, and we must use them ALL in keeping our hearts; and all little enough, so deceitful are they, Jer. 17:9. Or above all keepings;
we must keep our hearts with more care and diligence than we keep any thing else. We must keep our eyes (Job 31:1), keep our tongues (Ps. 34:13), keep our feet (Eccl. 5:1), but,
above all, keep our hearts. 2. A good reason given for this care, because
out of the heart are the issues of life. Out of a heart well kept will flow living issues, good products, to the glory of God and the edification of others. Or, in general, all the actions of the life flow from the heart, and therefore keeping that is making the tree good and healing the springs. Our lives will be regular or irregular, comfortable or uncomfortable, according as our hearts are kept or neglected. ... we must, by
constant watchfulness and stedfast resolution, put from us, put far from us, abstaining from all words that have an appearance of evil
