At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
“The tongue of the just is as choice silver: The heart of the wicked is little worth”
Proverbs 10:20
This proverb compares the mouth of the righteous with the heart of the unrighteous, but we need to remember how Jesus teaches us that the two are closely connected. The proverb actually invites us to compare heart to heart, and mouth to mouth.
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45).
Jesus gives us the principle, which is that the mouth is the overflow valve of the heart. Whatever it is that the heart contains, that is what is going to come out of the mouth, one way or another.
This means that we can tell from this proverb something about the nature of a righteous man’s heart, as well as infer something about the nature of the wicked man’s speech. We are told that the tongue of the just is as choice silver. That means that his heart is a deep silver mine. He speaks silver because he is a source of silver. This lines up with what the Lord teaches in Luke 6. A good man brings forth good from the good treasure of his heart.
The wicked man is in a different place altogether. The shaft that is in his heart reveals nothing but worthless gravel all the way down. And so it is that we understand why there is nothing but gravel strewn about at the mouth of the mine. Because his heart is of “little worth,” what is down in his heart is what is brought up into the daylight.
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
