Mensa Otabil - The Merry Heart
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We end our discussion on the heart today and talk about the merry heart. Proverbs chapter 17, verse 22: «A merry heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.» 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 earth He has placed us in, along with all the blessings He has made available to us.
However, we know that life on earth has many challenges, and each of us has some experience of pain, sorrow, and desolation. It comes with the terrain; it’s part of life here on earth. But in the midst of all that, God still wants us to have a merry heart. Our passage today shows us the kind of effect that the heart has on our well-being and our lives. The passage presents two types of heart: one that does good like medicine, and the other that dries the bones. In other words, one condition of the heart brings healing to us, and the other actually makes us sick.
A merry heart brings health to us, while a broken spirit or a sad spirit makes us sick. Sometimes people are sick not just because of a physical ailment, but because they have a broken heart or broken spirit. A merry heart does good like medicine. So, what is a merry heart? A merry heart simply means to be cheerful. It doesn’t mean that you trivialize life’s experiences or that you don’t take life seriously; that’s not what a merry heart is.
A merry heart is a heart that looks at life in its fullness, and when it considers all the ups and downs, the impossibilities, and the difficulties, it factors God in. The moment you bring God into the equation, it changes the equation. If you only focus on the difficulties, hardships, pain, betrayal, and downsides of life, life will seem worse for you. But when you bring God into this equation, then your heart becomes hopeful. That’s when you have a merry heart—a heart that is joyful, that rejoices in the Lord, that is hopeful and anticipates God’s blessings, and it brings healing to us.
A broken spirit has a crushed attitude; it looks at life with a bowed head, weighed down by the vicissitudes of life and constantly brooding and complaining about what is wrong, what is hard, what is impossible, and why things are going wrong. People who talk like this have not factored God into the equation, and that’s why their hearts are broken. But the moment God comes into the equation, He changes the outlook, and your heart begins to be hopeful and joyful, which is what God wants us to have.
So today, you have a choice. You have a choice regarding the kind of heart you want to have. Do you want to have a merry heart, a heart that includes God in the equation and rejoices in the Lord, or do you want to have a broken heart that only sees the problems without factoring God? That kind of broken heart will make you sick, and you deserve better than a sick life. May God give you a healthy life, an overcoming life, because He is the Lord of the storm. He rules in the affairs of man, and He makes all things work together for our good. The moment God comes into the equation, our hearts rejoice. We light up because we know our champion is on the scene and that things will work out well for us.
I trust this has been a beneficial week for you as we’ve looked at all the conditions of the heart. Take time to listen to these messages again; they will bless you deeply.
Let’s pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, I rejoice in You today. You are my rock, my strength, and my fortress. My trust is in You. In Jesus' name, Amen.»
Well, I’ll start something new from tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.