Category: Sadness

The Medicine of a Joyful Heart - Proverbs 17:22

4/6/2012

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.

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How Our Heart Condition Affects Our Face . . . Proverbs 15:13

2/15/2011

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A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken. Proverbs 15:13

The state of our hearts is vitally important to the way that we live - and whether we will live in joy or sadness. Also, as we will learn from this passage, the state of our countenance is also something about which we should be concerned. To say that we are Christians and know God's joy, yet for this joy never to reach our face (i.e. our countenance) is a bad testimony to those around us - and especially to the lost. This proverb holds a great deal of wisdom for us if we will open it and learn from it.

First, we have the joyful heart. This heart is the one filled with joy and as a result is exceedingly glad. This gladness does not come from mere human prosperity - but truly comes from and is maintained by the blessings of the Lord. In the New Testament this joy comes from knowing Christ Jesus and the salvation that He brings to us. It comes from knowing that God loves us and that we are saved from the wrath of God through Him. This is a joy that floods our hearts no matter what our outward circumstances. It is a joy, as Peter expresses it, that causes us to greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. The foundation of this joy - obtaining the outcome of our faith - which is the salvation of our souls (1 Peter 1:8-9). This joyful heart communicates with our countenance - and brings us to have a cheerful face. No matter our circumstances we can stop and remember that our sins are washed away - that we are made righteous in Christ - and that as a result - we are saved. That can bring a cheerful expression to any face.

I find it disturbing that some are what I would call, "lemon-sucking Christians." They seldom have a joyful or cheerful expression on their face. They always seem sour about something. It is almost that they are unwilling to be happy and joyful. This is a horrible witness to Christ and to the salvation that He brings. Sure there are things about which I am concerned - even heartbroken. But, in spite of everything that happens and can happen - the one constant is my salvation - that I will not face the wrath of God and I will enjoy fellowship with God here and now - and forever in heaven.

Then there is the sad heart. The word used for "sad" here is "assebet" which clearly refers to emotional suffering - and not usually to pain or injury. This is a sadness of heart. It is truly fascinating to look at what brings on "assebet" in someone Scripturally. This kind of sadness or grief is caused by idolatry (Psalm 16:4), by a fear of spiritual discipline over our sin (Job 9:28), or by those who "wink the eye" in evil plots (Prov. 10:10). Some might refer to this to speak of someone with a broken heart over sin or over the loss of a loved one - but that is not the way that "assebet" is used Scripturally. This is a sadness brought on by disobedience, sinfulness, and a walk contrary to the ways of God. This kind of sadness causes our spirits to be broken. The word "broken" here means that we are stricken, smited, or scourged. We have a bad situation in our lives due to sin - and our spirits are broken due to the consequences of our sin.

When you look at this proverb and the meanings of the words used in it, you see that wisdom therefore is to walk with God. When we do joy will come to us - and our countenance, our face will reflect it. But to walk in disobedience and rebellion is to invite a brokenness and sadness into our lives which will fill our hearts with emotional suffering. How many in our world walk in this kind of suffering every day. But, dear saints of God, we can alleviate this suffering by sharing the gospel with them and encouraging them to come to Christ - Who can deliver them from their sin and flood their hearts with His own joy. This Proverb truly helps us to see the difference between the lost and the saved - between those who embrace obedience to God versus those who mock such a lifestyle. The difference is the Source of their joy. The difference between a sad countenance - and a cheerful one - is the gospel and the joy of knowing that we are saved.

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Unknowable Bitterness and Joy . . . Proverbs 14:10

9/14/2010

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The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.
Proverbs 14:10

There are times when a person knows both a bitterness and a joy of soul that cannot be shared among humans. It is not that people do not try to empathize and sympathize with us, they do. It is just that certain experiences and certain things go so deep within us that the only One who can comfort and the only One who can understand is God Himself.

The heart knows its own bitterness. There is a pain that we can feel both in our physical realm - but much more - in the spiritual realm that is very deep. It is so deep that we need more than human comfort to deal with it. There are times when we face serious issues (often life threatening issues) that although we are possibly surrounded by human comforters, we need a superhuman comforter. It is in those moments when only God can offer us the comfort that we desperately need. The main reason we know this is because of how God used David to write songs about these moments.

Too often we forget that the recording studio that God used to record those songs were times of great suffering, sorrow, and trial. In those moments David expresses a depth of bitterness and sorrow that few have ever touched. He says things to God that make us step back and gasp when we read them. Truly he is in a "bitterness" of soul in the midst of such suffering and trial. And Job reminds us that when a man is suffering his words are like the wind. David is bitter of soul at times in the Psalms, but it is also in those times that he cries out to God with a passion that we may not know either. Remember this, it is those who go the deepest in suffering, sorrow, and struggle - who also know the deepest levels of passion for God.

David cries out to God with a bitterness of heart that can only be healed by God Himself. Actually, it is a blessing when God takes us to such depths because often it takes that kind of situation to make us wholly dependent upon Him. We see that, indeed as Jesus has told us in John 15, "without Me you can do nothing." In that moment of complete helplessness we cry out to Him as we've never done before, and we find that He is also, indeed, able to deliver to the uttermost!

Thus we come to the second half of this proverb. A stranger does not share its joy. David not only speaks of the bitterness of heart that comes with excruciating trials, he also speaks of the joy of God's deliverance from those trials. After coming through some fairly deep trials and sorrows I've begun to touch the hem of the garment of such joy. Just as I cannot grasp the cries of David in his deepest pain, there is also a tinge of realization as I read the Psalms that I'm not sure I am getting the fullness of His joy either. A stranger to God's deliverance will never share the joy of knowing that God is the One who not only walked in the midst of our firey furnace, but He is the One who kept our clothes from being burned - or even smelling like smoke.

Oh, the joy of those who know His working. Oh the joy of those who know when He Who took them into the depths is also the One Who will bring them out again. Oh the joys of the ones who know that He will wound us, but He will also heal us. Oh the delight of soul that comes to the one who knows a depth of pain and bitterness of heart that goes beyond human comfort - but who also knows the only One Who can reach beyond human comprehension - beyond human ability - beyond mere human comfort - and can touch our deepest and most bitter wounds and heal them. May God bring wisdom to you this day, dear saint of God, and may He be your Deliverer and Comforter in your every distress!

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Proverb A DAy

The Medicine of a Joyful Heart - Proverbs 17:22

How Our Heart Condition Affects Our Face . . . Proverbs 15:13

Unknowable Bitterness and Joy . . . Proverbs 14:10

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The Medicine of a Joyful Heart - Proverbs 17:22

How Our Heart Condition Affects Our Face . . . Proverbs 15:13

Unknowable Bitterness and Joy . . . Proverbs 14:10

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Proverb A DAy