Healing the Wounded Spirit (2)
Prov.15:13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance; but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
This headline exploded on my computer screen as I sat down to write this blog: “New York City school kids are losing their minds over the zonked-out drug addicts and raving vagrants they encounter every day – and are flocking to therapists to find ways to cope with the stress.” (NY Post)
Wounded spirits are everywhere and come in all ages. In part one I emphasized that it is vitally important to heal a wounded spirit, because a crushed spirit becomes an overwhelming weight to any man. Proverbs 18:14 says, “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?” An answer to this question is: not you or me. When a person’s spirit is smashed to pieces, weighed down in fear, crippled with disappointment, and destroyed like an earthquake in the soul, we will be crushed under its weight.
The good news is God says we can heal our wounded spirit and have a “merry heart.” Here are five ways God can heal our wounded spirit.
First, we must reject “when and then thinking.” Refuse to buy into the notion that our physical circumstances must change before we can have joy. Rather, believe that rejoicing in Christ is possible right now! God says we can have a merry heart NOW. We can rejoice in the Lord, now (Phil.4:4). We do not have to wait. The difference between joy and depression depends on a person’s spiritual resources and not on one’s physical circumstances.
Second, desire first in your heart who can never be lost: God Himself. Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; but when the desire cometh it is a tree of life.” Since postponed hope makes the heart sick, hope for what you can have now and can never lose, which is the Lord. Make it your goal to desire nothing except God, and what is for His glory. You will eat of the tree of life, which speaks of a fruitful and flourishing existence. This will make your life the closest thing to “Garden of Eden living” in this life under sin’s curse. Make God Himself THE desire of your soul, and when that is the case, you will only desire what is for His glory (see also Isaiah 26:8,9).
A third principle is filling your heart with good words. Proverbs 12:25 tells us, “Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.” “Heaviness” signifies anxiety and fear which causes people to fall and lose heart in their task. So let encouraging words fill your heart. Since good words make glad the heart, fill your heart with God’s truth, the ultimate good word. When we read God’s Word, we will feel His arms of love surrounding us with grace and lifting us up with hope and peace. We may not have all the answers amid our trouble, but we will have loving arms in which to fall. Fall into God’s loving arms with His great and precious promises abiding in your heart, and you will be glad (see also Jeremiah 17:7-8).
A fourth vital truth to heal a wounded spirit is speak healthy words of truth. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life; but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit (Proverbs 15:4). The word “breach” means destruction, and a perverse tongue can cause an earthquake of destruction in each of us (Psalm 60:2). So do not descend to perverse speech but speak wholesome words that build up and demonstrate your faith in our sovereign and loving God.
A “wholesome” tongue is healing, healthy and profitable. Speaking right words is a second way to restore a lost paradise in this sin-cursed world. Profitable words result in a flourishing life. The words you speak are critical to healing your spirit. You will eat sweet fruit when you speak healing words. Proverbs 16:24 says “Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”
A final principle to heal a wounded spirit is rest in the glorious person of Jesus. Proverbs 18:14 asks us an important question: “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?” While we cannot bear it, Jesus can, and only Jesus can. Jesus Himself was wounded in body and soul for our sins. He bore a wounded spirit for the sins of the world. After bearing the sinful wounds of the world, He conquered sin and death and bodily rose again. Yes, He can bear your wounded spirit because He was wounded for us and rose again.
Isaiah 53:5; “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him: and with his stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 61:1 says the Messiah would have the Spirit of the Lord GOD upon Him to “bind up the brokenhearted.” Only Jesus can forgive your sin and cleanse your conscience from dead works (Hebrews 9:14). If you would be healed of the bleeding wounds of your heart, flee away to Christ and rest in His glorious person! He will bear your wounded spirit.
Matt Recker is the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in New York City.