Under Gods command

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 15:13 A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. 

Your face shows your heart. If you are happy inside, it will show outside. If you are sad inside, it will also show outside. Others know your heart by what they can see on your face. The lessons are to choose a merry heart for yourself and to help others get one also.

A cheerful face and energetic body are wonderful things. Glowing features, dancing and happy eyes, frequent and warm smiles, and upbeat movements beautify women and enhance men. These attractive traits are cheap and easy to obtain – choose to be happy.

But a sad face and dragging body are horrible things. Clouded features, dead eyes, cold frowns, and slow, slumping movements disfigure and spoil both women and men. Such outward display shows a hurt or broken heart, for the spirit of joy and energy is wounded.

A smile is the best facial! A joyful soul enhances your appearance more than anything else. A happy face is a wonderful thing, and it is the result of a peaceful and contented heart. But a troubled heart clouds your face, as it saps your features and body of energy and vitality. Wise men guard their hearts, and they learn to perceive the hearts of others.

Women spend much time, expense, and effort to be attractive. Yet a warm and sincere smile does more than any hairdo, makeup, or accessories. A girl or woman can go from a 5 to a 9 with a smile! Cheerful eyes, a relaxed face, a pleasant smile, and contented posture are more appealing than fine clothing and perfect features. And a kind and happy smile is ten times better than a bored look, angry face, furrowed brows, or haughty stare!

Your countenance is primarily your facial appearance, but it also includes your bearing and demeanor. It is your face and body language combined. When you are happy and joyful, your countenance reflects this inner condition. And when your soul is burdened under fear, loss, trouble, or worry, your face and body reveal it as well (I Sam 1:10,18).

When you are happy and excited, whether by circumstances or choice, you have extra energy, light, and life! And this refreshing carriage is often contagious to those around you. In the same way, when you are sad and discouraged, you have little energy, power, or resolve. And this depressed appearance drags those down that are with you.

What is the lesson? A wise man will rule his spirit to keep it from breaking (Pr 25:28). If he is cast down about anything, he will not let it destroy him (II Cor 4:9). He will remember the warning to weep without it seriously affecting him (I Cor 7:30). He will choose a merry heart for his approach to life, for the continual feast it brings (Pr 15:15).

Happiness is a choice. Contentment is a choice. Love is a choice. Hope is a choice. Thankfulness is a choice. Attitude is more important than any circumstances. Ruling your spirit shows greatness (Pr 16:32), and by doing so you can maintain a merry heart for a cheerful countenance. Though self-discipline is not taught any more, you must learn it.

What is the lesson? Wise men will consider and discern the souls of others by their outward countenance. True friends are born for adversity, and they will be ready to help in a time of grief or need (Pr 17:17). It is the duty of Christians to consider when another church member might be hurting (Rom 12:15; I Cor 12:26; I Thess 5:14; Heb 10:23-25).

Wise men learn to spot the tears of a clown. Though there might be an outward smile and physical energy, they consider others carefully enough to measure their spirit better than by a superficial glance. This takes time, emotional energy, experience, and concern – the marks of real love. Do you know anyone today with a broken heart you could heal?

There is only one real heart doctor in the universe. Do you know Him? The rest know so little, and they only deal with the lump of muscle beating in your chest. This other doctor has the power to easily fill you with love, joy, peace, hope, and all sorts of other wonderful traits to enlarge your heart and energize your countenance. Do you know Him?

How do you get a merry heart? It is a choice! The gracious God of heaven expects you to be joyful for what He has done for you (Acts 14:17; Ps 4:7; Phil 4:4). If you know Him, how can you not be content and excited (Ps 73:25-26; Jer 9:23-24; Heb 13:5-6)?

With your heart in the right place, Solomon’s priorities make perfect sense (Pr 15:16-17). With eternal life as a gift of God and heaven waiting, what can get you down! And with a cheerful countenance, you give visual proof of Christianity’s superiority. Smile

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 12:14 – From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands reward him. 

There are great rewards for good speech and actions. Will you miss them in life? Will others win them, leaving you behind? The proverb’s lesson is simple, but most forget the certain rewards for righteousness. They are too concerned with the world’s opinions of success or approval of their peers. They forget God and men will compensate the godly.

Speaking right and doing right bring rewards. The world may not exalt or reward virtue, but this true proverb gives wonderful advice. If you use your mouth for kind, spiritual, and wise words, God and men will reward you with satisfying honors. And both God and men will also surely compensate you for good works of charity, godliness, and truth.

The only speech that brings good and satisfying rewards is pure and wise speech, which the proverb implies. If you use your mouth for folly, lies, or boasting, it will bring trouble (Pr 10:6,14,31; 12:18; 13:3; 18:6-7,21; 20:17). The same is true of actions – things done with your hands. Only noble deeds bring good rewards (Pr 6:17; 10:4; 26:6; Is 3:10-11).

Good speech blesses others (Pr 24:26). But the reward here is to the speaker (Pr 13:2; 15:23; 18:20). Kings will befriend a man with gracious speech (Pr 22:11). How could Pharaoh resist promoting Joseph (Gen 41:39-45)? Jonathan resist loving David (I Sam 18:1-4)? Nebuchadnezzar resist promoting Daniel (Dan 2:46-49)? What will the King of kings do for those who speak to others about Him (Mal 3:16-18)? Read it, and rejoice!

Good deeds are the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, righteousness, and truth (Gal 5:22-23; Eph 5:9). The good works of God’s elect are the result of God’s powerful workmanship in them by regeneration (Eph 2:10). What God works in, they are to work out (Phil 2:12-13).

Bad deeds are signs of carnal Christians – self-love, coveting, boasting, pride, blasphemy, disobedience to parents, unthankful, unholy, perverted love, trucebreakers, false accusers, unruly, fierce, despisers of good people, traitors, heady, haughty, lovers of pleasures more than God, and merely a hypocritical form of religion (II Tim 3:1-5). They lose!

Good words and works are not the mere ceremony or ritual of church attendance or activities. Isaiah 58 provides a wonderful distinction between outward religious compliance and true godliness affecting your relationships with others. And the rewards listed in this passage cover an incredible range of blessings far beyond this commentary.

The Bible is God’s manual for successful living, and living His way will save you from the dysfunctional problems of this wicked world and bring prosperity and success (Josh 1:6-9; Ps 1:1-3; 19:7-11; Jas 1:25). But there are also the rewards described above. Glory!

Your goal is to be like Jesus Christ. He grew in favour with God and men (Luke 2:52). His speech was gracious beyond belief (Ps 45:2; Luke 4:22). He went about doing good (Acts 10:38). He is the example Paul followed, and we should follow Paul (I Cor 11:1).

But did He not die young, you ask? He voluntarily laid down His life, forgiving the soldiers, in the ultimate act and words for His elect. What was His reward? Promoted to the pinnacle of the universe to reign forever (Phil 2:5-11; Eph 1:19-23; Heb 12:1-3)!

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 11:13 A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.    

Test your integrity or faithfulness. Can you keep a secret? Will you hide it from those not needing to know? Tattlers or gossips have no integrity – they do not have a faithful spirit. If they know damaging information about another, they must tell it, quickly and widely.

What God called talebearing here used to be called tattling or gossiping. Now it is called investigative reporting. Now it is entertainment. Newspapers, television, tabloids, and Internet sites feed on it. People read it with glee; they tingle with curiosity hearing it; they beg for more details, especially sexual ones; they cannot wait to repeat it to others.

If the least rumor or unsavory fact is found about a president’s personal life or family, it is spread far and wide and discussed to death. The same is true for business leaders, sports figures, and celebrities. The more negative the facts, that much more exciting to spread! This fascination with secrets is a sin and proves the perversity of a generation.

Family members, neighbors, office workers, and even some church members love to spread news of negative events in the lives of others. They say, “Did you know they are divorced? Have you heard the latest about him? Can you believe she did that?” And off go wicked lips and ears to discuss the private details of others that should be concealed.

This sin is an abomination to God, and He hates it. His holy ears know that spreading damaging news about others is to rape their reputations. Solomon taught here that good men with faithful spirits will not repeat private news they learn about others.

Physical rape is a horrible crime, and it should be punished severely. But talebearing may be worse, in that it can have greater consequences. Instead of hurting a person’s body for a few minutes or an emotional state for a while, it can leave permanent scars on a person’s reputation and character, the more valuable parts of a person. Consider it.

The heart of man is desperately wicked and will do anything it can to defame or injure others (Jer 17:9; Rom 3:13-18). One of the easiest ways to hurt another’s reputation is to spread private information that does not need to be told. So it is this sin that the proverb condemns.

Faithful men will hide private information they happen to learn. They will conceal such things; they will not repeat them to anyone. They will do all they can to protect the reputations of others, no matter what their personal feelings about the person might be. Such integrity and faithfulness makes a man great in the sight of God and men.

Guard your tongue, reader. Do not let it spread secrets that should be concealed. It does not matter at all whether the information is true or not. If the matter is not needed for the proper exercise of authority, then bury it. If the matter could hurt a person’s reputation, then bury it. If the matter is not uplifting or commending or helpful, then bury it.

How important is it to avoid this sin? The proverb here teaches that faithful men will not do it. Psalm 15:3 teach that a mark of eternal life is not doing it. Since God hates it and mentions it often in Scripture, all fathers must include it in their training (Eph 6:4). Great men and women, those called faithful and having integrity, work to protect others.

Jesus Christ is Faithful and True (Rev 19:11). He forgets the sins of His people forever (Heb 8:12). He would never reveal them, for it is His glory to cover offenses (Pr 25:2; Ps 103:10-12). It should be your pleasure to love others with the same compassion and commitment to protect them from damaging reports (Pr 10:12; 17:9; I Pet 4:8).

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 11:13 A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.   

Test your integrity or faithfulness. Can you keep a secret? Will you hide it from those not needing to know? Tattlers or gossips have no integrity – they do not have a faithful spirit. If they know damaging information about another, they must tell it, quickly and widely.

What God called talebearing here used to be called tattling or gossiping. Now it is called investigative reporting. Now it is entertainment. Newspapers, television, tabloids, and Internet sites feed on it. People read it with glee; they tingle with curiosity hearing it; they beg for more details, especially sexual ones; they cannot wait to repeat it to others.

If the least rumor or unsavory fact is found about a president’s personal life or family, it is spread far and wide and discussed to death. The same is true for business leaders, sports figures, and celebrities. The more negative the facts, that much more exciting to spread! This fascination with secrets is a sin and proves the perversity of a generation.

Family members, neighbors, office workers, and even some church members love to spread news of negative events in the lives of others. They say, “Did you know they are divorced? Have you heard the latest about him? Can you believe she did that?” And off go wicked lips and ears to discuss the private details of others that should be concealed.

This sin is an abomination to God, and He hates it. His holy ears know that spreading damaging news about others is to rape their reputations. Solomon taught here that good men with faithful spirits will not repeat private news they learn about others.

Physical rape is a horrible crime, and it should be punished severely. But talebearing may be worse, in that it can have greater consequences. Instead of hurting a person’s body for a few minutes or an emotional state for a while, it can leave permanent scars on a person’s reputation and character, the more valuable parts of a person. Consider it.

The heart of man is desperately wicked and will do anything it can to defame or injure others (Jer 17:9; Rom 3:13-18). One of the easiest ways to hurt another’s reputation is to spread private information that does not need to be told. So it is this sin that the proverb condemns.

Faithful men will hide private information they happen to learn. They will conceal such things; they will not repeat them to anyone. They will do all they can to protect the reputations of others, no matter what their personal feelings about the person might be. Such integrity and faithfulness makes a man great in the sight of God and men.

Guard your tongue, reader. Do not let it spread secrets that should be concealed. It does not matter at all whether the information is true or not. If the matter is not needed for the proper exercise of authority, then bury it. If the matter could hurt a person’s reputation, then bury it. If the matter is not uplifting or commending or helpful, then bury it.

How important is it to avoid this sin? The proverb here teaches that faithful men will not do it. Psalm 15:3 teach that a mark of eternal life is not doing it. Since God hates it and mentions it often in Scripture, all fathers must include it in their training (Eph 6:4). Great men and women, those called faithful and having integrity, work to protect others.

Jesus Christ is Faithful and True (Rev 19:11). He forgets the sins of His people forever (Heb 8:12). He would never reveal them, for it is His glory to cover offenses (Pr 25:2; Ps 103:10-12). It should be your pleasure to love others with the same compassion and commitment to protect them from damaging reports (Pr 10:12; 17:9; I Pet 4:8).

Under Gods Command 

Proverbs 10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.  

Think before you speak. Do your words fit the situation? Will your speech help and please those listening? A godly man knows what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. He makes sure his words and speech are acceptable to others, and they love him for it.

But a wicked man does the opposite – he impulsively lets out of his mouth whatever is in his contrary and foolish mind. He does not care what others desire or need to hear. His words offend others, so they consider him rude and obnoxious, and they avoid him.

The way you talk declares your character. The way you talk determines how influential you will be.

Of course, everyone thinks his own speech is good and right (Pr 21:2). Human pride and inborn folly presume that others love the way you talk, and pride and folly are in great supply in every child of Adam. Only by the mercy of God, learning grace and wisdom, and strict ruling of the tongue can men learn to speak in a way acceptable to others.

Speech is for the hearers – so it is their perception and opinion that counts, not yours! It is others that determine whether what you say is acceptable or not. It is your duty to learn what they expect, so you can speak acceptable words. If you think being conventional is weakness or sinful compromise, you are too foolish and selfish to learn wisdom. Paul made sure as far as he could to avoid offending any (I Cor 9:19-23; 10:32-33).

Righteous men study to answer, but fools pour out the evil in their hearts and minds (Pr 15:28,2; 16:23; 13:16; 29:11). While studying to answer includes correct facts, necessary knowledge, and a wise response to the matter at hand, consider it well that studying also means to know your audience and what they consider acceptable (Ac 17:22-31; 23:6).

Your lips only say what is already in his heart, according to Jesus (Luke 6:45). The heart of the righteous loves what is good and acceptable, so their choice of words is pleasing to God and men. But the heart of the wicked is depraved and selfish, so his speech is obnoxious and rude. Only by a change of heart will his speech ever improve. And only the Lord can change his heart by regeneration to deliver him from the power of the devil.

Speech is one of the ways you can glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, for pleasant words will be a beautiful testimony to His grace and glory (Col 4:6). Your difference from the world will be great, for they are guilty of filthiness, foolish talking, and jesting, which will soon bring God’s judgment on them (Eph 5:3-7). Let every reader learn to speak acceptably.