Proverbs 17:22 - A Cheerful Heart Is Like Medicine.
Proverbs 17:22 (NIV) A cheerful heart is
good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the
bones.
Proverbs 17:22 (NLT) A cheerful heart is
good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a
person's strength.
INTRODUCTION
To be cheerful is to be ready to greet
others with a welcome, a word of encouragement, an
enthusiasm for the task at hand, and a positive outlook
on the future. Such people are as welcome as
pain-relieving medicine. [Life Application SB]
To insist on rejoicing in the Lord, even
when troubled or sick, is to release forces that
will soothe and strengthen both mind and body.
Cheerfulness often accomplishes what other remedies are
powerless to achieve. [SDA Bible Commentary]
The face glows with joy when the heart is
full of light and peace. But the spirit is broken
by continued sorrow of heart. When anxiety is
permitted to reign, resilience is steadily weakened,
until at last the resistance of the mind may be
broken. [SDA Bible Commentary]
COMMENTARY PEARL
The influence of the mind on the body, as
well as of the body on the mind, should be
emphasized. The electric power of the brain, promoted by
mental activity, vitalizes the whole system, and is
thus an invaluable aid in resisting disease.
There is a physiological truth - truth that we
need to consider--in the scripture, "A merry
[rejoicing] heart doeth good like a medicine." Proverbs
17:22. "Let thine heart keep My commandments," God
says; "for length of days, and years of life, and
peace, shall they add to thee." "They are life unto
those that find them, and health to all their
flesh." "Pleasant words" the Scriptures declare to
be not only "sweet to the soul," but "health to
the bones." Proverbs 3:1, 2, margin; 4:22;
16:24. Understand the deep truth underlying the
Bible statement that with God "is the fountain of
life." Psalm 36:9. Not only is He the originator of
all, but He is the life of everything that lives.
It is His life that we receive in the sunshine,
in the pure, sweet air, in the food which
builds up our bodies and sustains our strength. It
is by His life that we exist, hour by hour,
moment by moment. Except as perverted by sin, all
His gifts tend to life, to health and joy.
True beauty will be secured, not in marring God's
work, but in coming into harmony with the laws of
Him who created all things, and who finds
pleasure in their beauty and perfection. {Ed 197,
8}
The relation that exists between the mind
and the body is very intimate. When one is
affected, the other sympathizes. The condition of the
mind affects the health to a far greater degree
than many realize. Many of the diseases from
which men suffer are the result of mental
depression. Grief, anxiety, discontent, remorse, guilt,
distrust, all tend to break down the life forces and
to invite decay and death. Disease is
sometimes produced, and is often greatly aggravated,
by the imagination. Many are lifelong invalids
who might be well if they only thought so. Many
imagine that every slight exposure will cause
illness, and the evil effect is produced because it
is expected Courage, hope, faith, sympathy,
love, promote health and prolong life. A contented
mind, a cheerful spirit, is health to the body and
strength to the soul. "A merry [rejoicing] heart
doeth good like a medicine." Proverbs 17:22. In
the treatment of the sick the effect of mental
influence should not be overlooked. Rightly used, this
influence affords one of the most effective agencies
for combating disease. {MH 241}
COMMENTARY
Understanding Emotion
Long before modern medicine and
psychology, Proverbs taught that emotional well-being
was connected to physical health and well-being.
Envy rots the bones but a cheerful heart is good
medicine. Yet today specialization and
bureaucratization mean that physician, psychiatrist, social
worker, and minister often end up treating only one
isolated aspect of the person, without consulting one
another or looking at the person as a whole.
English minister Richard Baxter, even in
the seventeenth century, knew that depression
could be rooted in a physiological cause,
emotional trauma, moral guilt, or spiritual warfare
with evil forces. Baxter was not trained in
modern science. He knew this from the Scripture in
general and the book of Proverbs in particular.
Godly wisdom refuses to reduce depression, for
example, to any one cause. It does not have simply a
chemical or simply a moral or simply a spiritual
cause. All the dimensions of our nature are usually
involved. It is foolish to reduce the solution to just
"take a pill" or to just "repent."
Have you ever taken a too-simplistic or
reductionistic approach to a problem that turned out to be
complex - physical, emotional, and spiritual all at
once?
Lord, as a modern person I love quick
solutions for problems that you can access on a short
YouTube video. But the world you've made has far
more dimensions than anyone can imagine. Help me
to be patient, to seek much advice, and to
depend on you in order to make progress with my
problems. Amen. [God's Wisdom for Navigating Life by
Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller re Pro. 14:30,
17:22]
A Cheerful Heart
Earthquakes! Prison riots! Economic
pressures! Divorce! No jobs! Drugs! Disease! Death!
Pretty serious scene, isn't it? Yet that is the
emotional environment in which we live. No wonder
someone has dubbed this the "aspirin age." Small
wonder more of us are not throwing in the towel.
In spite of these bleak surroundings - or
perhaps because of - I firmly believe we need a good
dose of Solomon's counsel. Listen to David's
wisest son: "A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,
but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken
All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a
cheerful heart has a continual feast A joyful
heart is good medicine [the Hebrew says, 'causes
good healing'], but a broken spirit dries up the
bones" (Prov. 15:13, 15; 17:22).
Have you begun to shrivel into a bitter,
impatient, critical Christian? The Lord tells us that
the solution is simple: "A joyful heart" is what
we need and if ever we needed it, it is
now.
By a sense of humor I mean that necessary
ingredient of wit: those humorous, enjoyable, and
delightful expressions or thoughts that lift our
spirits and lighten our day. When we lose our
ability to laugh - I mean really laugh - life's
oppressive assaults confine us to the dark dungeon of
defeat.
Personally, I think a healthy sense of
humor is determined by at least four abilities:
The ability to laugh at our own mistakes.
The ability to accept justified criticism
- and get over it!
The ability to interject (or at least
enjoy) wholesome humor when surrounded by a tense,
heated situation.
The ability to control those statements
that would be unfit - even though they may be
funny.
James M. Gray and William Houghton were
two great, godly men of the Word. Dr. Houghton
writes of an occasion when he and Dr. Gray were
praying together. Dr. Gray, though getting up in
years, was still interested in being an effective
witness and expositor. He concluded his prayer by
saying: "And, Lord, keep me cheerful. Keep me from
becoming a cranky, old man!"
Let's ask our understanding Father to
remind us frequently of the necessity of a cheerful
spirit and to give us an appreciation for
laughter.
I think a healthy sense of humor is
determined partly by the ability to laugh at our own
mistakes. [Chuck Swindoll www.insight.org.]
Healing Hearts
They call it "broken heart syndrome." It
may sound like a cross between a medical report
and a country tune, but it's real. The risk of a
heart attack increases 21-fold within the first 24
hours after the loss of a loved one. And even if
one does not suffer a full-fledged myocardial
infarction, the syndrome can lead to serious medical
complications.
Who hasn't experienced negative emotions
impacting their health? Sometimes, it's no more than
increased heart rates, sweaty palms, and queasiness.
Other times it's serious, such as a heart attack,
ischemia, depression, hyperglycemia, insomnia, and
dangerously high blood pressure, to name a few.
On the other hand, who hasn't experienced
how a light mood, "a merry heart," does the body
so much good? Which is why the promise for
today is so relevant. The Hebrew word translated
as "medicine," gehah, comes with the notion of
"healing." Interestingly, the only other place gehah
appears is in Hosea 5:13, where it is used as a
verb: "Nor heal you of your wound."
But how, in a day and age of severe
stress and tension, can we have a "merry heart" and
not a "broken spirit"? The answer is found in
focusing on the Lord: "You will keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he
trusts in You" (Isaiah 26:3).
No matter who you are or how "merry" your
heart is, sooner or later, your mortality will
catch up with you. Until then, you can find hope
and healing by faith in Jesus and what He has
done for you.
Lord Jesus, help me to find healing and
peace in You and Your promises. [The Most Amazing
Bible Promises by Amazing Facts]
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY
Proverbs 17:22 - A Cheerful Heart Is Like
Medicine.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2024/20240306-0942.html
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20230421-0907.html
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2022/20220917-1028.html
Proverbs 17:22a - A Merry, Joyful, Happy,
Cheerful Heart Is Like Medicine.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2016/20160331-1405.html
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
https://abible.com/links/
