Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it [are] the issues of life.
Ver. 23. Keep thy heart.] Filth free, as much as may be; keep a constant counterguard against all inroads made by flesh, world, and devil. Keep the heart always supple and soluble, for else thou canst not be long in spiritual health. Quod sanitas in corpore, id sanctitas in corde. Keep it ever well in tune, and then all shall go well. If in a viol I find the treble string in tune, I make no question of the bass; that goes not out so easily. So here.
For out of it are the issues of life.] That is, as of natural, so of spiritual actions, Hinc fons boni et peccandi origo, saith Jerome. It is the fountain; Mat 15:19 the root; Mat 7:17-18 the treasury or storehouse; Luk 6:49 the primum mobile; the great wheel; the Pharos that commands the haven; the chief monarch in this Isle of Man that gives laws to all the members. Rom 7:1-25 Keep it therefore with all custody, or with all caution; or if the devil cast poison into it (as he will), cleanse it after. It is in vain to purge the stream, where the spring is defiled; but if the spring be clear, the streaans will soon clear themselves.