A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22

There is a healing effect when we are joyful, cheerful people. We read in today's proverb that a joyful heart is good medicine. The word used for "joyful" here is the Hebrew word "sameah" which means, 'to be glad, happy, or joyful.' The idea behind this word is that someone is choosing to rejoice - to consider the good that God has done, rather than the misery and the opportunity to be sad and depressed. That is why we are to seek to maintain a "joyful" heart.

The number of medical studies that reveal to us this principle is nothing short of amazing. Dr. Hans Seyle, former director of the University of Montreal's Institute of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, discovered that when rats are subjected to cold, fatigue, frustration, noise, and other stressful conditions, they develop physical symptoms. Their blood pressure soars, their vital adrenal glands become grossly enlarged, their thymus and lymphatic glands shrink, and they develop peptic ulcers. Research done by the American Medical Association by a Dr Seyle showed that in animals emotional stress causes fats to be drawn from the body, dumped into the blood, and deposited along artery walls. The lethal results are atherosclerosis and coronary-artery disease. According to Dr. Seyle, hatred, frustration, and anxiety are the worst stresses. If you forcefully restrain a normally active rat, deadly frustration results. If you put a mouse and a cat in adjoining cages, the mouse will die of anxiety.

This kind of "broken spirit" will, according to the Lord, dry up the bones. This is a horrible condition because our bones are not only our main source of strength and stability, but they are also the place where our blood is produced. Without our bones we will surely die in short order. What is difficult though is that we cannot go up to someone who is dried up in their affections and tell them to be joyful. That does not help them. They know they are without joy - and can sense the drying up of their vitality. An admontion to stop this is like asking the sun to stop shining simply by requesting it. What they need is a supernatural infusion of joy - or even better an infusing of a joy producing principle that will not go away with the seasons or the up and down existance of being alive.

Where can we obtain joy? That is the million dollar question. Fortunately, we are instructed in where to find joy in the gospels. When Jesus was born the angels made an amazing statement. "But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people, for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11) Joy comes when we are brought into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The true source of a dried up spirit is that we are separated fom God by our sin. The weight of our guilt along with the prospect of judgment and separation from God for all eternity will bring great pain and sorrow.

Jesus, when He came on the scene publically, read the following passage from Isaiah to the people in Gallilee. "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting." (Isaiah 61:1-3)

For those afflicted with sorrow, sighing, sadness, and a broken spirit there is wonderful news. Jesus came to bring great joy. He came to give us the oil of joy poured upon our heads rather than a spirit of fainting. The cause of the broken spirit is our separation from God - and its remedy is turning to God through Jesus Christ. That is how we can have our sorrow turned to laughter and our gloom to everlasting joy.

Joy is not just laughter. Some use this verse to promote Christian comediens. But I will say that although I enjoy their humor greatly - they are not the source of bringing men from sorrow to joy. Solomon also wrote Ecclesastes 2 which says, "I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself." And behold, it too was futility. I said of laughter, "It is madness," and of pleasure, "What does it accomplish?" (Ecclesiastes 2:1-2) So just getting someone to laugh will not solve the cause of a broken heart. David said it best when in the midst of his confession of sin he said, "Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation!" Joy comes from knowing God - knowing your sins are forgiven - knowing that you will stand in the judgment. When this aspect of our lives is not right - nothing will be.

The way to a joyful heart is by knowing God through Jesus Christ, crucified, buried, and resurrected from the dead. It is by coming to God in repentance and faith and turning from a self-centered life to one centered in Him. God offers such a gift freely to us - therefore joy is truly available to men. The problem is that they turn to other things than Him and His gospel to obtain it.

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." That is a quote from my dearest mother - and from mothers for generations. My mom was not wanting me to refrain from saying the truth if it was hard - but she was wanting me to learn the principle behind today's proverb of the day. That proverb tells us the wonderful value of speaking pleasant words to others.

The word for "pleasant" here is the Hebrew word, "noam." This word means something beautiful, pleasant, and delightful. The word was used to speak of things that were sen or beheld that were of this nature. The word is used in Psalm 27:4 of the splendor of the Lord. It means to say something that creates delight in someone - yet the words do this because they are wise words as well. The word is also used figuratively of a shepherd's staff and the comfort that is brings to the sheep as it guides them in a good way.

When we speak these pleasant words, we are speaking of God's wisdom - but speaking it in a way that befits the term "honeycomb." We remember a former proverb that told us that more flies are caught with honey than with vinegar. The idea here is that a wise man speaks his words of wisdom - but does so remembering that a harsh word stirs up anger - but soft words can break a bone. Therefore he tries as often as possible to speak pleasant words as he offers the wisdom of God to others. We read here that these words are like a honeycomb. This presents a wonderful picture of nature for us - that points to the value of these pleasant words.

A honeycomb is a wonderful thing in the physical world. It is the place where bees store their honey when they work gathering nectar from flowers around them. They honeycomb was considered the nectar of the gods by the early Greeks because of all the healing properties that they found in it. First it is very healing to skin - even fuctioning as a wonderful antiseptic for skin wounds. It is also healing in that it has been found to have a tremendous amount of anti-oxidents within it. There is also an aspect of honey's usefulness that applies to allergies. In the early days of history people would chew on the honeycomb to help relieve severe allergies. Allergists today say that if we will get local honeycomb and chew on it one to two weeks prior to spring, our sinus and eye allergies would be greatly reduced.

The blessing here is to the soul and the bones of the body. The bones are the source of our blood supply - therefore were seen as the very life-force of the body. Therefore what we are told here is that we become such a blessing to others when we speak gracious and pleasant words to others. Such words will be a soul-healing thing to those who hear them. Just as honeycomb is healthy for our bodies - so beautiful words are to our souls.

Think with me for a moment or two of the majority of words that we hear in our world today. We are currently in an election cycle in our country. We cringe as we realize that once again we are going to be bombarded with the most negative statements made by each candidate about their opponents. The air is heavy with the negativity and the stench of character assassination. This seems to spill over into our world as just about everyone gets caught up - not in pleasant and beautiful words - but in the dark, evil, damaging words of the campaigns. It has gotten to where the two sides are so hateful to each other that there is no middle ground - or ways that we can even speak of the other side without incurring the wrath of someone thinking that we are selling out.

Let me encourage you in the midst of this time to do something to counter our culture. Do you very best to speak as many "pleasant" words as possible to one another. Take the time to notice something good about as many situations and circumstances as possible. Make it your goal to look for the pleasant every single day and speak of it glowingly. Do your utmost to find as much to say about the goodness and grace of God as possible. This way we can be a healing influence in a society that desperately needs a little good news that actually nourishes our souls!

Bright eyes gladden the heart; Good news puts fat on the bones. Proverbs 15:30

It is a good thing to be bright-eyed and fat-boned as a Christian.  Ok, there is a sentence you won't hear everyday.  Yet the fact is that today's proverb tells us that this is a good thing - and that the wise man will fully embrace it.  Therefore it would definitely be good to understand just what this proverb speaks about - so that we can be blessed in this way.

Bright-eyed . . . We hear of people who wake up each morning being "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed." This is an expression that refers to someone who wakes up and is truly awake.  The idea of being bushy-tailed refers to a squirrel who when his tail is bushy means that he is fully alert.  These are English expressions, but what we are dealing with here is a Hebraism.  It was an expression that meant something to a Jewish person - just like our sayings mean something to us.

This proverb is a "restated" proverb, meaning that each half restates the other.  Thus this brightening of the eyes - is similar to the good news that puts fat on the bones.  So we can know that the effect on the eyes here is from seeing good things.  What is fascinating though is looking at the word "bright" in the ways that it is used in other places in the Old Testament.  The overwhelming use of this word is in reference to the light of the seven-fold lap in the tabernacle of Moses.  The reason this is fascinating is because of the imagry that this picture.  The lamp was filled with holy oil - a picture of the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit.  The lamp was the only source of light in the Holy place.  It illuminted two things in that room.  There was the table of showbread - which is a type of God's Word.  There was also the altar of incense - which is a type for us of prayer and worship.  Now in light of these things, let's look at at this proverb again. 

What is the news that fattens our heart?  It is when we have the full measure of the illumining work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  When that is the case we have Him opening the Word to us.  We have Him opening our hearts to pray and to worship God.  This would definitely make our hearts glad.  This is the best news of all - God is worthy - God wants us to make our requests known to Him - God wants to speak to us through His Word! 

This also makes wonderful sense when we see what the Hebraism, "fat-bones" means.  This particular Hebraism means a sense of prosperity.  When someone has fat on their bones - they are prosperous and blessed.  It is good news that does this.  Indeed there is a sense that this proverb can simple mean having eyes that are brightened by seing good things and ears that hear good things - makes us glad and prosperous.  But there is also a deeper spiritual meaning that takes us to a different level.  When we hear and see the good news that the Scripture tells us about God - it brings joy to our heart and spiritual fatness to our bones. 

It is a wise thing when a man submits himself to the work of the Holy Spirit.  This will brighten his eyes and bring great gladness to his heart.  He will see the gospel, which indeed is good news.  He will see the truth of God which will put some serious fat on his bones.  He will find himself prospering greatly in the Lord - blessed with spiritual growth - and delghted in the goodness of God.  No doubt about it - it is a good thing to start your day with a quiet time where you seek the Lord - and submit yourself to the Spirit of God as a teacher and guide.  Doing that will truly make you a bright-eyed and fat-boned Christian!