At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
“Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: But a good word maketh it glad” (Proverbs 12:25).
We learn from this proverb that a discouraged heart is burdened and weighed down. Heaviness of heart, the proverb says, makes a man’s heart stoop. He staggers as he is carrying the weight that he is carrying. This is something we have all experienced.
But we also learn here that there is a possibility of relief, and that this relief comes as the result of a “good word.” A good word, we are told, “maketh it glad.”
If there is a particular word here that we should italicize, it would be “good.” A good word maketh it glad.
We learn elsewhere in Proverbs the importance of setting the word right. “A word fitly spoken Is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). A word fitly spoken is an elegant thing. It is beautiful and accomplishes what the jeweler intended for it to accomplish.
But if a friend is weighed down with the troubles of his heart, a good word would not be a brusque version of “What’s the matter with you? Cheer up, man.” You cannot expect raw exhortation to do the trick here. If a person is beset by all kinds of troubles, it does not help matter to saddle him with another one, that being the fact that he does not know how to cheer up.
Nevertheless, there is a way to gladden the heart by means of words. This might happen because you are bringing good news on the matter he was worried about. It might happen because you are in a position to assure him that the risks are much smaller than what he was supposing. It might happen because you are able to tell him that no matter what happens, he still has a friend in you.
It takes wisdom to know how to place a good word. And this is the kind of wisdom that arises from long practice. It would be good to start practicing now.
