Proverbs 15:13 A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.… The emotions that thrill in the heart mark themselves in legible lines on the countenance. This is a feature in the constitution of man, and a useful feature it is. The wisdom of our Maker may be seen in the degree of its development. Joy in the heart can do more than make the aspect winsome. Besides enlivening a dull countenance, it heals a diseased nature. There is nothing equal to cheerful and even mirthful conversation for restoring the tone of mind and body when both have been overdone. Mirth, after exhaustive toil, is one of nature's instinctive efforts to heal the part which has been racked and bruised. Even a dull observer may see wisdom and goodness in the habitual cheerfulness of the young. To maintain a patient's cheerfulness often hastens the patient's cure. A bright hope within will sometimes do more to restore the wasted strength than all the prescriptions of the physician. If Christians could get living hope lighted within, and let it beam like sunlight all the day through an open countenance, their lives would be more legible as epistles of Christ, and more effectual to win souls. (W. Arnot, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.WEB: A glad heart makes a cheerful face; but an aching heart breaks the spirit. |
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