Proverbs 14:30 – “A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.”
Psychiatrists and psychologists aspire to be to the soul what medical physicians are to the body—scientists devoted to the care of the human condition. While medical doctors validate their diagnosis through observations and scientific tests, secular psychiatrists, those self-appointed experts of the soul, analyze their patients apart from divine revelation and in denial of man’s Creator.
Beginning with the false premise that man is a blank slate when he is born and neither good nor evil, the secular study of the human spirit apart from divine revelation makes every man a victim of environmental influences and his home, authority and religious teachers his antagonists.
Solomon challenged his son that the thoughts and ponderings of man, not his environmental influences, contribute to the condition of his mind and soul. Proverbs 14:30 offers us a simple, straight forward diagnosis of the soul’s condition.
Proverbs 14:30 – “A sound [calm; whole] heart [mind; thoughts] is the life [health] of the flesh [body; physical being; person]: but envy [jealousy] the rottenness [decay] of the bones [body; physical strength].”
A “sound heart”, a heart ruled by principles that are eternal truths imparted by divine revelation [i.e. the Word of God] contribute to man’s health and well-being. A sound heart, a heart not ruled by anger, strife and envy, but a heart free from the turmoil of petty jealousies and blame-shifting irresponsibility, contributes to man’s emotional stability and physical health. King David stated a similar principle when he wrote:
Psalm 1:1-3 – “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
My friend, you may find temporal solace in a secular psychiatrist’s diagnosis and mask the emptiness of your sin with medications, but only a heart given to God in humility and honest confession of sin will find peace for the soul.
1 John 1:8-9 – “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Copyright 2015 – Travis D. Smith
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