"A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones" (Proverbs 17:22).
A merry heart is a joyful heart. God wants us to be happy. He wants us to enjoy the life He has given us and the world He has created. However, life on earth has many challenges. Each one of us has experienced pain, sorrow and desolation. It comes with the terrain.
Our passage today shows the kind of effect our heart has on our body’s well-being. The passage presents two types of hearts to us. One heart ‘does good like medicine’; the other ‘dries the bones’. In other words, one heals, and the other makes sick. We have a choice as to the kind of heart we want to have when life’s unpredictable events hit us.
- A merry heart. This refers to having a cheerful attitude. This attitude does not encourage us to trivialize our experiences or ignore the realities of life. A merry heart is a heart that takes a full view of life and not just one experience.
A merry heart is a hopeful heart, grounded in the confidence of God’s goodness no matter what we go through. In the valley, the merry heart walks in God’s assurance and sings of His faithfulness.
Such an attitude brings healing to us when we are wounded. It helps us recover and bounce back from adverse situations.
- A broken spirit. This refers to having a crushed attitude. This attitude allows itself to be weighed down by the burdens of life. A broken spirit refuses to hope in the Lord.
Instead, it will enable the enemy of our soul to perch on our shoulders to whisper words of despair and failure to us. A broken spirit settles itself in the valley and remembers all the wrongs that have taken place.
Such an attitude dries us up from within. It dries up all our energies and destroys our confidence in the Lord.
You have a choice. I encourage you to choose the merry heart. Rejoice in the Lord, and again, I say, rejoice. The joy of the Lord is your strength.