The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness

....  but who can bear a broken spirit? (Proverbs 18:14). Hebrew poetry, which we see over and over in the Psalms and Proverbs,  takes a thought and then restates it in a slightly different way in the next stanza. And by means of such parallelism we can understand that there is a strong association in Hebrew thought with spirit, and heart. We read in Psalm 34:18, for example, that “the LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” With this understanding of the connection between heart and spirit, Proverbs  15:13  throws light on what is being said in this morning's  title verse. It says “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”

 We hear of people who are diagnosed with cancer who simply seem to give up and die shortly afterwards. And then we hear of those with “spirit,” who fight it tooth and nail either to life, or they go down fighting.  It is the this second “spirit” that sustains a person  in sickness, that gets them through,  and gives them the determination to not give up. It is worth saying then,  that how we approach an illness makes all the difference. Perhaps you know of people who have this fighting spirit, perhaps you are one of them.  The joy of the Lord is our strength. Likewise the way we approach the whole of our existence, this makes the difference between life (in all its fullness) and (a kind of living) death.  We are admonished to life, we are more than conquerors, and we are  to count it all joy when we  fall into manifold trials (Romans 8:37; James 1:2).

There is a difference between a broken heart (spirit) that is destroyed, and a broken heart in the sense of contrition. In his struggles Job cries out of a destroyed spirit (or heart)  “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, the grave is ready for me (Job 17:1). Job could easily have cried out “Who can bear a broken spirit?” On the other hand David,  in his repentance over the  Bathsheba incident declares “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart O God, You will not despise (Psalm 51:17). The movie “The Horse Whisperer” comes to mind. In it, teenager Grace MacLean is riding her horse, when it is hit by a truck. This breaks the horse's spirit in the first of the above senses. In this beautiful story,  the bruised and broken spirits of both the troubled girl,  and the horse are eventually restored through love. Likewise it is love of God that heals the broken heart (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18).

Father, we can be poor in health or in circumstances, but we need to be rich in spirit. Thank You for Your Word that tells us how.  It starts with trust and obedience and with Your help,  a determination to be the men and women of God that You call us to be. We need to work this out with fear and trembling Lord, for when we do our part, then You do Yours working in both our desires and the wherewithal to do Your good and perfect will (Philippians 2:12,13).  And Your are perfectly able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or imagine. And we will give You the glory in Jesus Name Amen