THE MERRY HEART

Proverbs 15:13-23 (KJV)

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.

All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.

Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.

A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.

The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.

A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother.

Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly.

Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

Many things are said  in the Proverbs of the value of:

·   Joy[1] (seven of them)

·   Gladness[2] (eight of them)

·   Laughter[3] (three of them)

And the merry heart.

Besides the two that are found in our passage for this message there is, Proverbs 17:22 (KJV)

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

·   I want to be happy, don’t you?

·   I want to have a merry heart that doeth good like a medicine.

But how does one attain a merry heart?

I believe our passage tonight gives us the answer. There is a lot here so I need to get right to it.

If one wants a merry heart first,

I. HE SEEKS KNOWLEDGE

Proverbs 15:14 (KJV)

The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.

There are some things in this world that are worth pursuing and some that just – are not.

Our founding fathers believed that the pursuit of happiness was not only worth it, but an inalienable right.

Knowledge is one of those pursuits that tends to happiness.

·   A little knowledge puffeth up and

·   Some people are ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth

So there are traps to be had in the pursuit of knowledge.

But there are worse ones in being ignorant.

Seeking certain kinds of knowledge can be better than others:

·   Knowledge of the promises of God

·   Knowledge of the prophesies of the future

·   Knowledge of the instructions for life and godliness, even the

Knowledge of the true sciences

Proverbs 25:2 (KJV)

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

Many of the greatest scientists of history were Christians who believed God had given it to men to discover the secrets He had hidden in the Creation.

Some that we would recognize are:

·   Isaac Newton

·   Michael Faraday

·   Johannes Kepler

·   Sir Francis Bacon

·   Galileo

·   James Joule and

·   Louis Pasteur

If one wants a merry heart second,

II. HE FEARS THE LORD

Proverbs 15:16 (KJV)

Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.

I found this little piece I think will be helpful to you…

“The fear of the Lord is an awareness that you are in the presence of a holy, just, and almighty God and that He will hold you accountable for your:

·   motives,

·   thoughts,

·   words, and

·   actions. 

To fear God is to desire to live in harmony with His righteous standards and to honor Him in all that you do.

We must choose to walk in the fear of the Lord. The psalmist David prayed, “Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name” (Psalm 86:11).

Throughout the Bible, many promises are given to those who fear the Lord, such as Proverbs 22:4: “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honor, and life.”’[4]

A merry heart comes from a healthy fear of the Lord.

If one wants a merry heart thirdly,

III. HE VALUES LOVE

Proverbs 15:17 (KJV)

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.

This was a part of my Sunday school lesson this morning but it applies tonight:

·   Some of you didn’t get to hear it this morning and

·   Those who did could stand to hear it again

The idea of the verse is that it would be better to eat the things that grow naturally along the side of the road like blackberries do here and asparagus did around the Tri-Cities than to eat the most expensive cuts of beef from animals raised in privileged environments specifically to be prepared by the best chefs.

The merry heart will always focus on relationships rather than resources.

If one wants a merry heart forth,

IV. HE IS SLOW TO ANGER

Proverbs 15:18 (KJV)

A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.

There is a time when anger is appropriate and just.

It just isn’t as often as most people think.

·   I am going to fight before I surrender to communism

·   I am going to fight before I allow my family to be harmed

·   I am going to fight before I cower in fear

But the guy who fights because that is the first response he has is going to be a very unhappy man.

There are some things its not worth fighting:

·   It’s not worth fighting the authority of your parents

·   It’s not worth fighting against your spouse and

·   It’s not worth fighting against the conviction of God

Anger isn’t always wrong.

But it is always wrong to get angry quickly.

The merry heart will be slow to anger.

If one wants a merry heart fifth,

V. HE IS RIGHTEOUS

Proverbs 15:19 (KJV)

The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.

I have said this so many times that I wonder if anyone here can tell me what I believe the definition of righteous is?

The definition of righteous is, saved.

God views all of our righteousness as filthy rags.

We just are not good enough, pure enough, honest enough to be righteous on our own.

The only kind of righteousness God will accept is perfect righteousness.

That’s what we get when we get saved.

For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.[5]

If one wants a merry heart six,

VI. HE WALKS UPRIGHTLY

Proverbs 15:21 (KJV)

Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly.

Righteous is what we are when we are saved.

Uprightness is what we do when we are saved.

To walk uprightly is to walk in obedience to the things we learn in the Word of God.

To walk uprightly is to seek to understand the Bible and then to follow it to the best of our ability and with the help of the Lord.

It is a sure thing, the Christian who refuses to obey the Bible will experience anything but a merry heart.

·   He will experience conviction, but not a merry heart

·   He will experience shame, but not a merry heart

·   He will experience depression, but not a merry heart

·   He will experience fear, but not a merry heart

·   He will experience doubt, but not a merry heart

The merry heart belongs to the one who, though not perfectly, walks uprightly.

If one wants a merry heart seven,

VII. HE LISTENS TO COUNSEL

Proverbs 15:22 (KJV)

Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

It was in this morning’s message too, that when the need was urgent, Daniel sought the aide of his companions; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

God has given Christians a built in source of counsel when we obediently unite with a local church and forsake not the assembling of that church together.

·   We have the counsel of God’s Word

·   We have the counsel of the hymns and songs of faith

·   We have the counsel of our pastor’s preaching

·   We have the counsel of the prayers that are offered in the services and

·   We have the counsel of our brothers and sisters in Christ

A merry heart seeks and heeds the multitude of counselors God has given him.

If one wants a merry heart finally,

VIII. HE THINKS THROUGH HIS WORDS

Proverbs 15:23 (KJV)

A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

This ties in with point four and being slow to anger.

You ever heard that phrase, “It’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”?

John Adams was, in everybody’s estimation, one of the brightest and most magnificent influences in the cause of the American Revolution, except for this – he just could not remain silent.

Early on in the Revolution he wrote a series of letters that got intercepted and were read by the wrong people.

It had potential for real trouble in the war.

Later on, as Washington’s Vice President, he said things in congress that made him seem as if he wanted a new King in America.

·   Adams motioned that a Declaration of Independence be written

·   Proposed Jefferson to be the chief author of it

·   He was our county’s first vice president and second president

·   He is the first and one of only two presidents whose son has also served in that office.

·   He was the first president to live in the White House in Washington DC.

And yet there is no monument to him in Washington DC.

To this day the government resists giving much honor to him specifically because he spoke too much, too soon.

He is also the only president to not attend the inauguration of his successor.

So hurt was he that Jefferson won the presidency from him that he rode out of town in the middle of the night before Jefferson became president number three.

·   I don’t think he was wrong in everything he said.

·   But that doesn’t mean the best course of action was to say it.

·   I think he had earned the right to speak his mind.

·   But that doesn’t mean it was wise of him to do so.

Conclusion

Proverbs 15:13-15 (KJV)

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.

All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.

Truly a merry heart doeth good like a medicine.

Be wise enough to have one.

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[1] Proverbs 12:20 (KJV)

Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace is joy.

Proverbs 14:10 (KJV)

The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.

Proverbs 15:21 (KJV)

Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly.

Proverbs 15:23 (KJV)

A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

Proverbs 17:21 (KJV)

He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy.

Proverbs 21:15 (KJV)

It is joy to the just to do judgment: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.

Proverbs 23:24 (KJV)

The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

[2] Proverbs 10:1 (KJV)

The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

Proverbs 10:28 (KJV)

The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.

Proverbs 12:25 (KJV)

Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.

Proverbs 15:20 (KJV)

A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother.

Proverbs 17:5 (KJV)

Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.

Proverbs 23:25 (KJV)

Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

Proverbs 24:17 (KJV)

Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:

Proverbs 27:11 (KJV)

My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.

[3] Proverbs 1:26 (KJV)

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

Proverbs 14:13 (KJV)

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.

Proverbs 29:9 (KJV)

If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest.

[4] https://iblp.org/questions/how-can-i-learn-fear-lord, accessed 10-7-17

[5] 2 Corinthians 5:21