A Word in Season: Goodness and Gladness (Proverbs 12:25)

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The language of Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 25 is both careful and insightful and expressive.

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Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.

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The image is of somebody who is carrying too much stuff, who is weighed down by burdens.

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Some of the older translations talk about heaviness in the heart making it stoop.

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It's somebody who's got a great weight upon their shoulders and they're bowed down under that weight.

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And here the weight is in the soul, and it's a weight of worry and fear.

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That crippling anxiety about what we think we have to face or what we're afraid we might have to face that just clusters in upon us, that stops us from seeing things clearly, from processing things effectively.

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It twists our perspective and we are bowed down with a weight of care.

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And for some of us, perhaps we are more inclined to that. Or perhaps for some of us, we have more troubles in our life that are coming in upon us and that have that beating down, that weighing down, that bowing down effect upon our souls.

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There can be an unhealthy fixation on the problems that we face. It's all we think about, all we talk about, all we want to talk about with others.

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And so the problem, which in itself may not be as great as we first feared, actually becomes greater in our sight simply because it's all we're looking at and everything else fades into lesser significance.

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Now what is the remedy for such heaviness of heart that bows down the soul?

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A good word makes the heart glad. And this is a wonderful privilege for those who have such words.

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It is a cheap and an easy way, says one of the old commentators, to bring real blessing to a soul.

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Now clearly, first of all, we need to have the wisdom and the grace to discern when a heart is bowed down by that heaviness within.

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And then we also need the wisdom to discern what are the right good words, for there are many good words that may not always be most fitting for that precise occasion.

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But once we see the need and once we're able to discern the right medicine for the soul, then it can be the privilege for God's people to speak that good word that lightens the heart.

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Now, you may be one who needs such a word. If there is no human being who can speak it to you, then you need to open your

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Bible and you need to go to God's good words. Many Christians, we find ourselves, when we're bowed down, turning back to those passages which are particularly sweet to us, which have been proven over and over again a blessing to us, so that God speaks even when men do not or cannot.

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And it's not wrong for us, then, to search out those good words of God that apply to our specific circumstances.

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Perhaps we're in need of a good word and others don't seem to recognize it. Maybe now is the time to open your burdened heart to a trusted friend or a minister of the gospel and to seek counsel and encouragement from them.

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Perhaps you might also consider that, though you are burdened, a good word might proceed from your lips to unburden another heart, and in serving another you might find yourself, comfort and joy in what you speak and share.

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Or perhaps it will be your privilege today to speak that good word that gladdens the heart of another.

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For that, we need our hearts to be well -stocked with the sweet truths and promises of the word of God.

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And, as we've said, we need eyes to see the need, wisdom to discern the remedy, and then grace and kindness in the application of it.

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Let's not ruin the medicine by a rough application, but rather come with grace and goodness of heart and with good words drawn from the scriptures.

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First of all, perhaps for somebody under conviction of sin, to point them to Christ and the peace and joy that is found in Him.

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But also for those who are facing the heaviness of this life, that our good words might make them glad as they consider the goodness of God towards sinners like us.