“A tranquil heart is life to the body, but passion is rottenness to the bones” (Proverbs 14:30).
Other translations say: “a heart at peace,” or “a sound heart.” The Hebrew word has the sense of “a heart of healing or health.” To be healthy means to be at peace physically because the body is not fighting disease or feeling its consequences. Getting a “clean bill of health” from the doctor is a great blessing that we all desire.
But often the heart is sick because of sadness, grief, conflict, discouragement, or depression. It just feels “blue” and at times like those the heart just does not help us on our way to live our lives as we need to live them. As we have been seeing in our other studies on depression (look under the “Proverbs Wisdom” tab for these) from Prov. 12:25, where a good word makes the heart glad and defeats depression, and Prov. 18:14, where we learned that the spirit of man can endure his sickness, here we learn that when the heart is at peace, the body is filled with life. The Prov. 14:30 heart is the peaceful and calm heart, the tranquil and composed heart, because it has been and is being healed. We do not possess this peace by escape from life, denial of sin or trouble, or some form of worldly meditation that looks inward to find peace. Healing has taken place, and in the context of Proverbs, that healing is the fruit of wisdom, the fear of the Lord, and godly living. In the context of the whole Bible it is the fruit of Christ and the Gospel.
Amazingly, this man isn’t noisy inside. He isn’t busy-busy-busy. Not obsessed or on edge. Pressures to achieve don’t consume him. Failure and despair don‘t haunt him. Anxiety isn’t spinning him into free fall. Regrets don’t corrode his inner experience. He’s not stumbling through the minefield of blind longings and fears. He’s quiet. Are you quiet inside? 1
Prov. 14:30 speaks of two states of the heart. One is what we just described – the heart that is constantly being healed and is not ravaged with sicknesses. The opposite is “passion,” which Solomon says, “is rottenness to the bones.” The Hebrew word refers to strong, disruptive, or hostile emotions or passions. Prov. 27:4 refers to some of these: “Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, but who can stand before jealousy?” Envy is the passionate desire for what another person has, and jealousy is the passion for my own things or self. Prov. 13:12 speaks of another problem: Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” When life disappoints we become discouraged and even depressed. This too is a disruptive passion. There are so many things that make our hearts sick and disrupt our peace. We feel the effects in our bodies. We become sluggish and unproductive. Every ache and pain is magnified. We procrastinate and focus inward rather than on living life and fulfilling our callings.
Remember this important principle when studying any verse in Proverbs: Everything in Proverbs ultimately relates to wisdom. And the depression defeater of a healthy heart in 14:30 will be ours only through a life of wisdom. We tend to think that wisdom is a skill that we need to solve problems. It certainly is that. But wisdom is needed for defeating depression and healing heart ills. All of these disruptive emotions come from self and sin, from not knowing, fearing, and being right with God. Wisdom comes in fearing the Lord and trusting Him (1:7, 2:5, 10, 8:13, 9:10, 14:26-27, 15:16, 15:33, 16:6, 19:23, 22:4, 23:17). Read these and see how the fear of the Lord heals the heart and gives life to the body. “The fear of the Lord prolongs life” (10:27).
And remember this: A heart that has been and will always be healed is only found in Christ, the Greater-than-Solomon. I like what Paul said to Philemon: “refresh my heart in Christ” (v. 20); what he said to the Philippians in 2:1 is even better! “If there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion………” (and Paul is asserting that there are all these things!). Christ Himself and His Spirit are our great depression defeaters. Christ gives us the tranquil heart and subdues our passions by reconciling us to the Father through His shed blood and the pouring out of His Spirit upon us. Nothing can take our peace away when we have Gospel blessing and fullness in Christ! Tell your body: “watch out – a peaceful heart and the Holy Spirit are in thee!”
-Pastor John Reuther
1. David Powlinson, Seeing With New Eyes (Philipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2003), 75.
This article has been reposted with permission from http://cbclumberton.com/2013/04/08/depression-defeater-proverbs-1430.