The spirit of man and a man’s gift
[Proverbs 18:14, 16]
Last Sunday we learned that one of the blessings given to those who fear God is the blessing of the family, based on the words of Psalm 128. Here, the family blessing refers to the wife (spouse) and children. In other words, God blesses those who fear God with their wives and children. In Psalms 128:3, the Bible says, “… Your children like olive plants Around your table.” Children are God's blessing and peace to the parents’ hearts. How grateful it is for us to have a good family life with joy when we sit around the table with our little ones at home. However, if our children, the blessings and gifts God gave us, are living in sin by breaking God's commandments and not fearing God, how much will this worry the parents’ hearts? Especially if our children are children who dishonor us, the parents (Prov. 29:15), it will be a great concern for us and will hurt our hearts.
In Proverbs 18:14, 16, King Solomon speaks of “The spirit of a man” (v. 14) and “A man’s gift” (v. 16). Focusing on these two verses, I would like to meditate on the word of God under the title of “The spirit of man and a man’s gift”. I hope and pray that we can enjoy the blessings God gives us by listening to and obeying the voice that God wants us to hear while meditating His word.
First, I want to think about “The spirit of man”.
Look at Proverbs 18:14 – “The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, But as for a broken spirit who can bear it?” At the early Morning Prayer meeting on Tuesday last week, I thought about a woman who had suffered from bleeding for 12 years, focusing on Mark 5:25-34. We also thought about the fact that she suffered “a great deal” and “had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse” (v. 26). Can't you imagine? If we had a rare disease, wouldn't we spend a lot of money on treatment (if there was a treatment fee, of course) as we met a lot of doctors to try to cure it? But what would happen to our spirits if our sickness became worse without any efficacy? Won't we be discouraged and desperate? In Proverbs 12:25, 15:13 and 17:22, King Solomon says: “Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad” (12:25), “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken” (15:13), “A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones” (17:22). d
The anxiety of the heart not only makes us annoy, but it hurts our spirits. Why there anxiety in our hearts? One of the reasons is because of disease. If we are suffering from illness for twelve years, not one or two days, like the woman who had suffered from bleeding, not only our hearts will become anxious, but our hearts will be discouraged. In particular, if we have met many doctors with a lot of money to cure our disease like her, but not only has no benefit, but rather our disease is getting worse and we are in a lot of suffering, then our hearts will be broken and will be discouraged for sure. At that time, what is more terrifying than our disease is the loss of hope in our hearts. King Solomon says in Proverbs 18:14, “The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, But as for a broken spirit who can bear it?” What does it mean? Here, the word “a broken spirit” refers to being disheartened and helpless in front of tribulation, disease, or other difficulties (Park). If our spirits are healthy, we can fight our sickness and overcome it. But if our spirits are hurting and discouraged (sick), then we cannot fight our sickness and overcome it. One example is the general emotional response after cancer diagnosis when we have cancer. It is said that the emotional response of cancer-diagnosed patients can be divided into three major stages (Internet): (1) The initial reaction stage is when people experience infidelity, mistrust, and despair within a week of being diagnosed with cancer. And it is said that some patients may make false judgments about tests or treatment methods due to severe anxiety. (2) The second stage is a period of emotional turmoil. Patients at this time are said to have difficulty maintaining their daily life as they repeatedly come up with thoughts about cancer or death and suffer from depression, anxiety, insomnia, difficulty concentrating, and loss of appetite for one to two weeks. (3) The third is the adaptation stage, which is called the stage where each patient accepts the diagnosis and treatment process and finds his or her own coping method and returns to daily life. It is said that 50-70% of cancer patients experience adaptation disorders such as insomnia, anxiety, and depression due to difficulties related to cancer. In addition, 10-20% of cancer patients are accompanied by depression that needs treatment. And at this time, they suffer from various physical symptoms such as decreased mood, decreased motivation, and insomnia, as well as inability to eat or have many sore spots. In addition, fear of death, anxiety about recurrence and metastasis of cancer, fear of uncertainty in the future, worries about the changes and pains to come, and anxiety about whether it is a big disease even with small physical changes are experienced. Rarely, it is said that family members have a delusion about whether they want the patient to die or whether the treatment staff is deliberately doing the wrong treatment (Internet).
We must not be discouraged even if we encounter any tribulations and difficulties, whether it is a disease called cancer. Rather, we must keep our hearts at ease and joy by trusting God. Proverbs 15:13 says “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face …” and Proverbs 17:22 says “A joyful heart is good medicine ….” Even if we have a disease, if we have the joy of our hearts, we will try to fight it. With this will, we must fight the sickness. Pastor John Piper wrote a book called “Don't waste your cancer” before cancer surgery. This is what he said: If we don't believe that our cancer is designed by God for us, we will waste it. … In 2 Corinthians 1:9, God's design is clear: “indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.” God designed it to deepen our love for Christ. When we die, we don't win cancer. Cancer wins when we don't value Christ. Cancer is designed to obliterate the desire for sin. ... Don't just think about fighting cancer. Think of fighting (my sins) with cancer. Cancer is a great opportunity to testify Christ (Lk. 21:12-13) (Piper). Let’s hold onto the words of Exodus 15:26 and pray to God: “And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.” God who heals us will heal us if we listen to and obey His word. Even He doesn’t heal us, I hope and pray that we can give thanks and praise and worship God as we experience God's great and deep love through our disease.
Second and last, I want to think about “A man’s gift”.
Look at Proverbs 18:16 – “A man's gift makes room for him And brings him before great men.” Here, “A man's gift” doesn’t refer to bribery. Looking at Proverbs 17:8, 23, the Bible says, “A bribe is a charm in the sight of its owner; Wherever he turns, he prospers” (v. 8) and “A wicked man receives a bribe from the bosom To pervert the ways of justice” (v. 23). What do they mean? Since God doesn’t accept bribes (Deut. 10:17, 2 Chron. 19:7), God's people also must not accept bribes. The Bible says “a bribe corrupts the heart” (Eccle. 7:7). In particular, the judges were severely warned (2 Chron. 19:7) because bribes pervert the way of justice (1 Sam. 8:3; Prov. 17:23). That's why Proverbs 15:27 says, “He who profits illicitly troubles his own house, But he who hates bribes will live.” In Proverbs 18:16, the “gift” that King Solomon refers to is not a “bribe,” but a gift we give to others. For example, look at Genesis 32:20-21: “and you shall say, 'Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.'" For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me. So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.” In the process of returning home after about 20 years, Jacob heard the news that his brother Esau was coming to him with 400 people (v. 6). Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. And he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies (v. 7). Then he prayed to God (vv. 9-12) and prepared gift for Esau from his possessions (v. 13). What was the reason? Look at Genesis 32:20 – “… For he said, ‘I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.’” Jacob tried to relieve his brother's feelings by giving the gifts to Esau. Then Jacob thought that if he faced Esau, Esau would accept him. When I thought of this Jacob's story, I thought of Proverbs 21:14 – “A gift in secret subdues anger, And a bribe in the bosom, strong wrath.” King Solomon says that the secret gift subdues anger. In the end, Jacob was trying to relieve his brother Esau’s 20 years of anger by giving gifts Esau. No matter how angry you are, can you still be angry with a person who gives you gifts?
King Solomon says in Proverbs 18:16, “A man's gift makes room for him And brings him before great men.” In other words, the gift leads us to great men. An example is found in Genesis 43:11. In that verse, Jacob told his ten sons to take some of the best products of the land of Canaan in their bags, and carry down to to the Prime Minister of Egypt, “a little balm and a little honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.” Also, in 1 Samuel 25:27, a wise woman named Abigail, Nabal's wife, meets David, who was angry and was about to retaliate against Nabal, and offered him a gift. In this way, the gift brings us before great men. Do you know who the best gift is? The best gift is Jesus, the only begotten Son of God and the Passover Lamb, who was offered on the cross. Through Jesus, we can be brought to the throne of grace of glorious God (Heb. 4:16). In other words, we are saved through faith, which is God's gift, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, who is the best gift (Eph. 2:8). Not only that, according to the gift of God's grace given to us, we became God's workers who preach the gospel of Jesus Christ (3:7).
In Isaiah 38:16, there is an account that Hezekiah king of Judah wrote when he became ill and was healed: “O Lord, by these things men live, And in all these is the life of my spirit; O restore me to health and let me live!” Sine God loved Hezekiah (v. 17) and God answered Hezekiah's prayer. Not only God heal his sickness, but He also casted all his sins behind His back (v. 17). In a word, God saved Hezekiah (v. 20). God loves us and gave His only Son Jesus on the cross in order to save our spirits and our lives. And He gave us faith as gift of grace to accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord. God has given us the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ. What should we do with this wonderful gift? We must preach the gospel of Jesus Christ that saves the human spirits. The reason is because the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16). I hope and pray that this best gift, eternal life, is given to us so that the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ that saves the life of the human spirits will be revealed through our preaching the gospel.