Take Your Medicine

 

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:
but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”

Proverbs 17:22

1. A joyful and cheerful spirit is therapeutic for your body and soul. It is healthful all around.
2. A discouraged or defeated spirit is destructive for your body and soul. It is damaging.
3. What is a merry heart? One that is cheerful and joyful in the Lord and in circumstances.
4. What is a broken spirit? One that is cast down to the point of destruction and pain.
5. Is the issue here … Fate … temperament … personality … circumstances … or choice?

 

“All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he
that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.”

Proverbs 15:15

1. The afflicted man is not a man afflicted by God or circumstances, but by his own heart.
2. Have you ever met a person that complains and criticizes all the time? Have you been one?
3. The man with a merry heart is a man that chooses to be happy and joyful no matter what.
4. Life to this man is a continual feast, regardless of things that would crush others into pity.
5. Is the issue here … Fate … temperament … personality … circumstances … or choice?

 

“A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance:
but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”

Proverbs 15:13

1. What makes a person walk with a bounce and smile, full of joy and delight? A merry heart!
2. If you have a merry heart, it will show to others; if you do not, it will also show to others.
3. A sorrowful heart breaks the spirit that ordinarily animates and excites the countenance.
4. Sorrow is part of every human life, but only the weak or rebellious allow it to break them.
5. Is the issue here … Fate … temperament … personality … circumstances … or choice?

 

“The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity;
but a wounded spirit who can bear?”

Proverbs 18:14

1. A person can endure almost anything, if their spirit is strong and merry as described above.
2. If your spirit is solidly anchored and established, then you will be able to handle trouble.
3. However, if you have allowed your spirit to be broken and destroyed, you are miserable.
4. No one wants to be around the man with the wounded spirit, for he is negative personified.
5. Is the issue here … Fate … temperament … personality … circumstances … or choice?

 

 

How do we get a merry heart?

1. We set our affection on God and His word (Ps 73:25-26).
2. We choose to be joyful in the Lord (Phil 4:4; I Thess 5:16).
3. We choose contentment over things (I Tim 6:6; Heb 13:6).
4. We choose thankfulness over complaining (I Thess 5:18).
5. We forgive others and ignore any offences (Prov 19:11).
6. We emphasize giving more than getting (Acts 20:35).
7. We find the clear conscience of godly living (Prov 28:1).
8. We anchor our souls with the hope of Christ (Heb 6:17-20).

How do we break our spirit?

1. We set our affection on this world and seek joy in it.
2. We get bitter by holding grudges and letting them fester.
3. We are discontented like Ahab and Amnon.
4. We are unthankful and always wishing for something else.
5. We envy the advantage of others until it eats our vitality.
6. We live with unconfessed sin and the guilt that it brings.
7. We forget the word of God and live without hope in life.
8. We think about the past instead of trusting God to bury it.

 

“Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop:
but a good word maketh it glad.”

Proverbs 12:25

1. Why do we have a church? To help one another have a merry heart and a continual feast!
2. The health of each soul and the overall health of the church is by what every joint supplies.
3. Are you a strong joint, making up for weak joints, or a weak one that exhausts other joints?
4. If you do not take your medicine yourself, you are pulling this church down from prosperity.
5. If you do not help others take their medicine, you are hindering them from great prosperity.

For Further Study:

1. The Proverb commentary, “Proverbs 17:22.”
2. The Proverb commentary, “Proverbs 15:15.”
3. The Proverb commentary, “Proverbs 18:14.”
4. The Proverb commentary, “Proverbs 12:25.”