Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.
Proverbs 12:25 sets two forces against each other inside one person: a weight pressing the heart down, and a word that lifts it. The proverb never says who speaks that good word. Commentators ask two things: what the weight does to a life, and where a word strong enough to lift it comes from.
What Anxiety Does to a Person
Older translations render the first line as heaviness making the heart "stoop." One writer describes what that stooping costs a person day to day:
William KellyHeaviness in the heart makes the hand powerless, and stops the eye from seeing the opportunities that God takes care to present.
Whether Anxiety Is Ever Justified
Does a believer ever have a right to carry such a weight? One writer answers, working from a translation that reads "causes depression," and names what takes anxiety's place:
L. M. Grant"Anxiety in the heart of one causes depression." Is there ever a good reason for anxiety? No! For the Word of God tells us, "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6-7). So instead of depression, believers are entitled to the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. What a precious alternative! This will certainly produce "a good word" to make the heart glad (v. 25).
Where the Heaviness Comes From
The proverb puts the trouble in the heart. One writer asks where it starts, and shows the same heart under two different beliefs:
A. PridhamFaith produces its emotional results. A sense of sin fills the believer's heart with despair and dread, because he believes God is just while he still does not know the mystery of His grace. For the same reason, believing the truth of God's great salvation fills it with the joy and peace of God. As the spirit of wisdom has already declared: "Heaviness in the heart of a man makes it stoop; but a good word makes it glad" (Prov. 12:25). The heaviness is in and of ourselves, and encouraged by the devil. The good word, or gospel, comes from outside us — from God, who could take vengeance, but who chooses mercy.
The Good Word Itself
So which word qualifies as a good one? One writer points to Scripture as a supply that never runs dry, and then to one message in particular:
William KellyA good word gladdens the heart in the middle of many trials; and what an unfailing supply Scripture gives us! If that is so with the Old Testament, marked as it is by the law, how much more with the New Testament, where the gospel sets the tone! The very word means glad tidings. Its blessing is not only that it comes out of the infinite love of God, who gave His one and only Son and, in Him, eternal life. It is also that He, as Son of man, met everything that could hinder or disable us, in the cross where God made the sinless One to be sin for us. So it is meant, plainly and on purpose, for those who have neither goodness nor strength, but are sinners and enemies. It breaks their hard hearts with grace, to fill them with His light and love. He told it out with matchless simplicity and fullness when He said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Christ Speaking It
The Gospels show the proverb in action. One writer applies it to a woman whose long illness had defeated every cure, and to the words Jesus spoke to her:
The Bible TreasuryThere are many instances of the Lord removing such feelings of distress by His word. To the trembling woman in front of Him He spoke words that were both tender and strengthening: "Daughter, be of good comfort." Her fears may have come from the wasting disease she had just been freed from, or from a worry that she had offended the Great Physician.
The Timing of It
Timing matters as much as content. One writer draws out what "in season" means for someone worn out:
J. Wilson SmithHe speaks His word to the weary, we read, "in season." That is, He knows the exact moment to whisper into the tired ear. He knows just when to support the breaking heart.
Summary
- Weight. Anxiety bends the heart down. It drains the hand of power and blinds the eye to the opportunities God sets in front of it.
- Source. The heaviness is in and of ourselves, and the devil works to keep it there. The good word comes from outside us — from God, who chooses mercy.
- Word. The good word that lifts it is the gospel. The name itself means glad tidings, and it goes straight to those who have neither goodness nor strength.
- Voice. Christ speaks it Himself, and He speaks it in season, knowing the exact moment to support a breaking heart.
- Result. Where depression stood, the peace of God guards heart and mind. That peace produces a good word to make the heart glad.