(Proverbs) ch.17:4 - 18:3 — Zac Poonen

Proverbs 17:4–5: Gossip, Mockery, and Rejoicing at Calamity

We are considering verse 4 where it says an evildoer listens to wicked lips. Now we were just thinking a little bit about that, that it is not just speaking wicked things that makes a person guilty. It doesn't say here that an evildoer has wicked lips.

It says here that an evildoer listens to wicked lips. That means the person who is listening to gossip is as guilty as the person who is gossiping. And if the gossiper has got wicked lips, then the one who listens to that gossip is called here an evildoer.

That's an evil action. And as we considered in our last study, supply meets demand, which means that because people find that in a certain home they are glad to listen to juicy gossip about others, they come to such homes.

But they know also that in certain other homes, they are not interested in such gossip and so they don't go to such homes. So if you find a lot of gossipers coming into your home, you can be pretty sure that there's something in your spirit that attracts them.

Birds of a feather flock together and the gossiper is supplying a demand that he senses in your spirit. That's why such a person is called an evildoer. And it is a liar who pays attention to a destructive tongue.

A person who is tearing another person to pieces with his tongue is paid attention to only by a person who is a liar, who is a deceiver himself, a hypocrite we can say. A liar is a hypocrite, one who is giving a false impression of being spiritual.

Verse 5, he who mocks the poor reproaches his maker. And that can apply to mocking a person for any infirmity that he has. Maybe the way a person walks or the way a person talks or the way a person conducts himself in some way, that's maybe peculiar, maybe he's got an infirmity, maybe he's got a weakness, maybe he stammers, maybe he limps and somebody else sits and laughs at it.

Small children who have no wisdom doing that is one thing. But when parents who call themselves believers also laugh with their children at the infirmity of another person or at the poverty of another person.

Poverty can be of money, poverty can be of speech or of grammar or so many things. When we laugh at the poverty of another person in any area, we are actually reproaching his maker. Never forget that.

That when we mock a person, we are mocking the person's maker. And that's why a really God-fearing Christian will never mock another person. We have to be careful about children making fun of teachers and encouraging that type of thing.

No, that's not healthy. There's a little bit of a spirit of rebellion in that, which we've got to make sure we don't tolerate in our homes. This mocking others, particularly in areas where we ourselves are good, usually we mock others in some area where we ourselves are good.

And he who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished. Now I'll tell you that in all of our flesh, there dwells this evil thing. Not that we are happy when a misfortune falls upon somebody else, but we are not entirely sad.

That's a sad thing. We're not entirely sad when some misfortune happens to somebody else. That's how it is in the flesh. We're very sad if it happened to us, but we're not entirely sad when it happens to someone else.

And there's a little bit of that rejoicing in calamity spoken of here that dwells in our flesh. And we've got to be ruthless, because it says he who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished. Let me read you a verse in the book of Obadiah, one of those lesser-known books in the Old Testament.

Hosea, Jehoel, Amos, Obadiah. Obadiah, verse 12. This is what God spoke to Edom. Edom was the descendant of Esau, brother of Jacob. And he should have been concerned when he saw Israel suffering. But it says here, on that day, verse 11, you stood aloof on the day that strangers carried off his wealth.

Some calamity happened to the Israelites, and the Edomites just watched it and rejoiced. And foreigners entered his gate, and you also rejoiced in that, and you gloated over your brother's day in the day of his misfortune.

Do not gloat over your brother's day in the day of his misfortune. Because then it goes on to say how the Lord is going to punish you for that. This being just a wee bit happy when things don't go well with somebody else.

Particularly if that other person is someone with whom you don't have a very good relationship. If you have a very good relationship with someone, we'll never be unhappy when things don't go well. But if there's just a little bit of a coldness, then you find that you can detect it when something goes wrong there, and you're not rejoicing over it, but you're not entirely unhappy.

Proverbs 17:6–7: Family Honor and Truthful Speech

The Word of God says, do not rejoice when something unfortunate happens to someone else. Calamity. Because the punishment can come upon you. Verse 6. I'll read this in the Living Bible, in the Good News Bible rather.

Old men are proud of their grandchildren. Now that's very clear. I think almost all grandfathers throughout the world are proud of their grandchildren. In just as boys are proud of their fathers. Now let me put that in another way and try to understand that verse.

Let your son be proud of you, as grandfathers are proud of their children. In other words, if you're a father, live in such a way that your son can be proud of you, that you're his father. Your daughter or your son can be proud of you, that you're his or her father.

In the same way as grandparents are proud of their grandchildren. Think of that. Think of being able to be such a father, or for that matter such a mother, that there's no cause for reproach, that your children ever have to be ashamed of their parents in any way.

Verse 7. Excellent speech is not fitting for a fool, much less are lying lips Prince or as the Living Bible says, truth from a rebel or lies from a king are both unexpected. We know that a person who is foolish does not really have the ability to bring forth excellent speech.

We know that. I mean that's clear. A man who doesn't have wisdom does not have the ability to speak for that which is excellent. But just as much as that is not possible, I mean that's not fitting, equally here is another thing which is quite unfitting.

That a person who claims that Jesus Christ has made him a king and a priest, that he tells a lie in some situation. For a person who calls himself a king in the kingdom of God, a prince, for him to tell a lie, for him to give a false impression, for him to say something which is not truthful, for him to exaggerate something which is just another form of lying, that's quite unfitting.

Quite unfitting. Verse 8. The Good News Bible reads, some people think a bribe works like magic. They believe it can do anything. There are many verses in the book of Proverbs about those who receive bribes and in other portions of Scripture too, that one should not receive a bribe.

But this is one of those very few if not the only verse which refers to those who give bribes. It says those, these people who give bribes think that a bribe works like magic, like a precious stone or a charm and they believe that it can do anything.

That's what they say in the world, money can do anything. What they mean by money is a bribe. A bribe can do anything. That's exactly what the book of Proverbs says. That's what the people in the world are like.

They have a bribe in their hand and it's like a magic stone. It can accomplish anything they want and that is the mark of the people in the world. But in the New Testament Jesus taught us that God can do anything and he who has faith in God can do anything.

And that is the great conflict there is. Satan says money can do anything and then God has his representatives, who are very few, very few, because many who claim to be his representatives also believe that money can do anything.

But there are a few among his representatives who believe that God can do anything. And that is a fantastic thing to be one of those whom God can say there's a man who proves that I can do anything, who does not depend on mammon like the people out there in the world.

Proverbs 17:9–10: Covering Sin and Receiving Correction

So that's the verse that speaks about those who give bribes. Verse 9. He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends. Now we have considered that many times, that one of the clearest marks of love is that when you see a transgression, you want to cover it.

You don't want to talk about it. You see something in a brother. It's wrong. If at all you do speak, you go to that brother himself. It says very clearly in Matthew 18 .15. It's one of those commands of Jesus, which almost no believers obey at all.

Very few believers, I think, in the whole world who obey that command, which says if your brother sins against you, go and speak to him alone. Most believers go and talk about it to somebody else, to some other believer, some other brother or some other sister in the church.

They say this person came to my house and did this or this person did that. Why don't you go to that person himself like Jesus said you must do? One who is God-fearing will not repeat a matter. It says he who repeats a matter goes somewhere else and repeats that.

He's either seeking self-pity or trying to justify himself or herself. Both are equally satanic and evil. And on top of that, they're separating this brother who may have been a good friend of that brother or this sister who may have been a good friend of that sister.

You go and repeat something and you separate that. There we need wisdom. There we need wisdom that we don't have to say everything that we know. We know something and we don't have to repeat it. Let it die with us.

Or let's do what it says in 1 John 5 16. If anyone sees his brother's sin, what must he do? Let him ask God and God will give him life. That also hardly anybody does. Those are the two things the Word of God says.

Go to him and speak to him privately, Matthew 18 15 or pray for him. If you can't speak to him, pray for him that God will forgive him and give him life. One of these two. But to repeat it to somebody else is forbidden unless it is a sin which you want to help him from but you feel you can't help him and you go and speak to one of the elder brothers who have responsibility, who can help that person.

That's all. That is spoken with a good spirit to help that person. Otherwise, all repeating of matters to others is evil. Verse 10. A rebuke goes deeper into a wise man than a hundred blows into a fool.

Think of that. Think, dear brothers and sisters, as the book of Proverbs speaks so much about this as one of the marks of wisdom. That is, our attitude to rebuke and correction. Amazing how many times it comes in the book of Proverbs.

A rebuke from God or a rebuke from a brother or a rebuke from a father. And think, this verse says that if I'm really a wise man, when I get a rebuke, that will have a far deeper effect on me. Just a few words that I heard will have a far deeper effect on me than a person getting a hundred lashes on his back.

Just think of a hundred lashes. One hundred lashes to frighten a person from stealing or they do these things in the Islamic countries nowadays, public lashing. And think that one hundred lashes cannot teach a fool more than one word of rebuke can teach a wise man.

That's a mark of a wise man, that he's quick to respond to rebuke and correction. How is it, children, when your fathers correct you? Is one word of correction enough or one hundred beatings don't accomplish it?

That's the difference between a wise child and a foolish child. What about a wife? Think if your husband points out something in you and you get so offended, you won't speak to him for the next one week?

Then you are a fool indeed. One hundred lashes would be better. That's a bad thing. God wants wise children, wise wives, wise brothers and sisters. Wisdom in our homes where a word of correction can really be taken seriously so that we grow wise.

Why do we get so offended? Because we think, oh, that person thinks so little of me. Well, why should that bother us? Why not we humble ourselves and see if there's any truth in that word of correction or rebuke?

Maybe there is. If our interest is cleansing ourselves, we'll be glad for correction. But if our interest is honor-seeking, then we get very offended. And then we find that a word of correction actually exposes what we are really seeking in life.

Proverbs 17:11–12: Rebellion, Death, and Uncontrolled Anger

So correction is a very wonderful exposer of our real motives and desires in life. Verse 11. Let me read that in the Good News Bible. Death will come like a cruel messenger to wicked people who are always stirring up trouble.

Yes, that cruel messenger is death. And a person who continues to create trouble and to rebel against God and do things which are contrary to his word, God will speak to him through his word first. God will speak to him through sickness.

God will speak to him through more sickness. He still doesn't listen. Death will be sent as a cruel messenger to those who are always stirring up trouble. God loves those who seek for peace. Verse 12.

Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly. Think of that. Think of the way the Holy Spirit describes a man who is not wise. A fool in his folly. What is it particularly referring to here?

If you were to meet a bear in a jungle who has been robbed, a mother bear who has just been robbed of her newly born cubs, what sort of attitude do you expect to meet in that bear, in that mother bear?

Fury, anger that will tear you to pieces. And it says a fool who loses his temper is like that. But it's better to meet that bear than to face someone who calls himself a human being or calls herself a human being and behaves like that bear that's been robbed of her cubs.

What are we usually robbed of that causes us to lose our temper? Our rights. A right to be respected and to be honored. This person has robbed me of it and then I'm like this bear. Robbed of that which is most precious to me.

The kingdom of God is not most precious. My rights, my honor, my reputation. I've been robbed. Let a bear meet a man robbed. A bear robbed of her cubs meet a man rather than a fool in his folly. There's a saying in English that anger is temporary madness.

For a few moments the person's gone insane. Doesn't know what he's saying, doesn't know what he's doing. He behaves like an animal. The word of God speaks much about anger. That's why Jesus spoke about our having victory over it.

Overcoming Evil With Good

Matthew chapter 5 verse 13. He who returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house. Now that's a terrible thing. Jesus taught us to return good for evil. Overcome evil with good. You see evil has got tremendous power in the world and the only power greater than evil is not more evil but good.

Good has got greater power than evil. And if you want to overcome evil in a person, the only way to overcome it is by good. We can try any other way for 6 ,000 years from the days of Cain. People have tried the other ways of evil and it's never succeeded.

But good overcomes evil. But think of this, where a person can be so bad that when somebody has treated him kindly that you return evil to him. And we can sit there and say, oh I'll never do such a horrible thing.

Just wait a minute before you judge someone else. Think, dear brothers and sisters, have you had a kindness shown to you by someone? Maybe you take it for granted that that person should show you kindness and yet perhaps you've spoken words which are not too kind concerning that person who has shown you some kindness at some time.

What is that? That is returning evil for good. And it can happen in the brotherhood. Returning evil for good. That person's only been good to you. But you've said things which are not at all good and kind concerning that person.

That's returning evil for good. It says here, it says, terrible thing, evil will not depart from your house. Think of that, brothers and sisters. Think that such a calamity can come upon us. God forbid that it should ever happen.

We reap what we sow. We throw it out like a boomerang, it comes back. It's good to walk in humility and peace, rooted in goodness. And think, and let's examine our lives and see whether we have ever been or said that which is evil to people who have done some kindness for us, done something good.

Usually it's because we've sat back and said, yeah, they've got to do that. After all, that's why the brothers and sisters are here for. They've got to do that for me. That's terrible. May God save us from such a calamity.

Proverbs 17:14–15: Stopping Arguments and Rejecting Partiality

Verse 14. The Good News Bible says, the start of an argument is like the first break in a dam. Stop it before it goes any further. Sometimes you read in the papers of a dam that burst and the waters flooded some village, drowned so many people, but it didn't break all of a sudden.

It started with a little crack. And the engineers and the people who were responsible for that dam never took it seriously. A little crack. And it says here, the start of an argument, and that argument can be between a husband and a wife.

You can sit there, and it's just starting. You know when the argument starts? With one sentence. With one sentence, you've started an argument. And blessed is the man or the woman who knows how to patch up that crack immediately.

We are to avoid argument like we avoid hellfire, or like we would avoid leprosy. We've got to see that. We've got to hate arguments. Nobody ever got built up spiritually through arguments. Not even through religious arguments on doctrinal matters.

We speak the truth, but we do not argue with anyone. Because the Holy Spirit has to open the man's blind eyes. It's not by argument. And particularly in our homes, dear brothers and sisters. The start of an argument is like a crack in the dam.

Remember that next time when an argument begins in your home, that's a crack in the dam now. Now if you add to it, you're taking a chisel and hammer and making that hole bigger, and then only death can come.

Like all dams when they burst bring death, the only result can be death. So let's take the word of God seriously. Verse 15. He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them are an abomination, alike an abomination to the Lord.

That is where in judgment, a person says this wicked person, he knows he's wicked, but he just justifies him and he condemns the righteous because this person happens to be his special friend. And that can happen sometimes.

If we have not cleansed ourselves from partiality, and we've got partiality, sometimes parents can be foolish like that. They can be partial towards some of their children. And then they take sides with one of their children against their other child.

And that scar can affect that child for years as it grows up. Because of a foolish father or mother, who had one favorite son, who was good looking or clever or smart or some worldly thing usually, or maybe even one was spiritual.

And the father or mother is not wise enough to love a son who is not spiritual. Like the father who could love the prodigal son, think of that, what a father he was. Think to be of no partiality towards our children.

That's a wonderful thing. That's a godly nature. Even if one's converted and one's utterly worldly, no partiality. That's godly. They're my sons. That's my son and that's my son. There's no difference as far as I'm concerned.

I love them equally. Now that's godliness. But there we can take sides. Or it can be in one, when I think of this brother and that brother and I see there's a little difficulty, I can take sides with this one.

That can happen in assemblies. I take sides and that's the way an assembly is destroyed. Because I've not cleansed myself from partiality. Why do I take sides with this person? And I can't see the error in him.

I only see the error in that person. Then this verse applies. Justifying the wicked and condemning the righteous. Because this person happens to be a little closer to me than that person. And I haven't been godly enough to be righteous.

Exodus 23: Justice Without Favoritism

Let me turn you to an Old Testament law in the book of Exodus. Chapter 23, where God was very careful when the instructions he gave to Israel to tell them to be righteous in their judgments. Exodus in chapter 23, it says here in verse 3, this is an amazing verse 2.

You shall not follow a multitude in doing evil. That means you think most of the brothers are taking the side of this man, so I'll also take his side. Don't do that. Most of the brothers are carnal. You be a spiritual man.

In every assembly, most people are carnal. Very few are wise and godly and spiritual and free from partiality. All the sisters are taking that person's side or are against that person, so I'll stand with all the sisters.

Don't be such a stupid idiot. Do not follow a multitude in doing evil. Nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude to seek numbers in order to pervert justice. Stand alone for the truth.

And verse 3, here's another great danger. Nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his dispute. What does that mean? That means, here is a rich man and here is a poor man. And you feel sorry for the poor man.

And you become partial. You think that is godliness, you know. You think, yeah, God must be on the side of the poor, so I'll take the side of the poor. It's ungodliness. God says, don't take the side of that poor man.

Seek for justice. In the world they do that. You see that out in the streets here. If a scooterist knocks down a pedestrian, who's wrong? Who's wrong? Always the scooterist. Always. Even if it was 100 the pedestrian's fault.

That's out in the world, it's like that. But we're not to be so stupid. What is the reason for that justice on the streets? Because they say, scooterist is richer, this poor man's walking, so he's poorer, so he must be right.

And that's the very thing God condemned in the Old Testament law. He says, be careful that you don't take sides of the poor man just because he's poor. That means you're ungodly. God doesn't do that. He's righteous.

At the same time, the other side, verse 6, you shall not pervert the justice due to the poor man in the dispute. The two sides. That means don't take the side of the rich man just because he's rich. And don't take the side of the poor man just because he's poor.

No, to be just for sin. And they study BD and MTH and all the other BDs and doctrines of devils and everything else. They study all that in order to deceive all the poor Christians in this country. No, what's the use of money?

Wisdom Cannot Be Bought With Money

You can't get wisdom with money or with education. With money. Simon Magus came to Peter and said, give me money. He gave him money and said, give me power that I can lead people to the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And Peter said, your money perish with you. You're in the bondage of iniquity. No, what's the use of money in the hand of a fool if he doesn't have a heart for wisdom? There's no way of getting wisdom unless we have a heart for it.

We can't get it by money. And a person who charges money for his services is a fool. Sure. He's gathering other fools. Verse 17. Now, here is a verse which we can read. And it's a question of, I tell you, the word of God really searches the thoughts and intents of the heart, like it says in Hebrews 4.

How do you react to this verse? When you read a verse like this, a friend loves at all times and you say, yeah, that's how I know who my true friends are. They love me at all times. That shows you're a fool because you apply that verse to somebody else.

You apply that verse to see how other people love you. And you say, yeah, that's the one who loves me at all times. That's a real friend. That one doesn't love me all the time. That's not a real friend.

That's the mark of a fool. That he doesn't read the word of God to see how does it apply to me. He tries to find out from this how it should apply to other people and judges all the other people in the assembly to see who are my real friends and who are the real brothers who stand by me.

A brother who is born for adversity. I was in a difficult situation and that brother came and helped me. What a fool and a spiritual idiot I am that after all these years I still don't know how to apply the verse to myself.

The verse is for me, the volume of the book. It's not written about any other man under the sun. It's written about me. That if I am a friend, who I love, am I a brother born to help a person in adversity?

That's really a verse that searches us out. Because many people use it. There are other places like this. All of a sudden you come across a verse that really searches out the thoughts and intents of your heart.

And it's a verse that people were not to use it to expect other people to treat us like this. No. But how we are to behave towards others. Another translation of this verse reads like this. The friend becomes a brother in the time of adversity.

The friend gets converted into a brother at the time of adversity meaning that through trial God brings believers closer to each other. And their bonds of fellowship as brothers become closer. Verse 18.

Proverbs 17:18–20: Money, Trouble, and Suspicion

A man lacking in sense pledges and becomes surety in the presence of his neighbor. This is another thing the book of Proverbs speaks about and that is to stand guarantee for another person. Somebody comes to you and says brother will you stand guarantee for me that if I don't pay up this debt which I am buying a scooter or a house with you will take care of that.

And you say well as a Christian I've got to be loving and I go and stand guarantee for that person. It says here that is love without wisdom. A man without sense. Think of that. Why do you want to go and get into debt like that so foolishly?

The Bible says oh no man anything. If that brother wants to be so stupid as to go and borrow money and get into debt don't you go and hold hands with him and be a guarantor and signing that debt certificate along with him to show love.

There is a fantastic amount of foolishness in many believers when it comes to this matter of money and they think it is love to go around helping people like this and giving and giving. But they don't have any wisdom and they actually hinder God's work more than help.

Tremendous amount of wisdom needed. Wisdom is the mother of love. Remember that. That means if love is like a child and wisdom must guide the love as to which way it goes so that it can do the right thing.

And there is a lot of love without wisdom. And verse 19. Let me read that in the Good News Bible. To like sin is to like making trouble. You know the Bible speaks about Jesus hating iniquity. How do we know whether instead of hating iniquity we love iniquity.

One mark is we go around making trouble. Don't be a brother who goes around creating confusion. Don't be a sister who goes around visiting other homes and creating confusion. Get out of that. Get a reputation for wisdom.

Brothers and sisters. Particularly sisters because there can be tremendous amount of folly in this area. Going around creating confusion instead of seeking peace. Seek God for wisdom. Then those who make trouble are those who love to sin.

And the other part of that verse says he who raises his door. That is somebody trying to build a fancy house seeks his own destruction. In other words one who exalts himself in some way. Boasting in some way.

If you brag. Making a show of your wealth. You are asking for trouble. And there is so much of that in the world today. Trying to make a show for vanity. So many things purchased without any function to be fulfilled.

Only for show. For vanity. You are asking for trouble. Verse 20. It reads like this in the Living Bible. An evil man is suspicious of everyone. A crooked mind does not find anything good in anyone. And if you find that your attitude is such that always you are a bit suspicious of every brother, every sister.

Something wrong with that person. Something wrong with that person. This thing is wrong here. That thing is wrong in the other brother. And that thing is wrong in the other sister. There is one thing that that attitude shows very clearly.

What does that show? That you yourself are a very evil brother. If you can be called a brother. Or a sister. If you can be called a sister. An evil man. Says in the book of Titus chapter 1 verse 15 that to the pure, all things are pure.

But to the perverted, everything is perverted. You know what that means? You see somebody doing something. And you are suspicious. You say, yeah, I know what his motive is in doing that. You don't say it but you think it.

Because you are an evil person in your thoughts. You think, yeah, I know why he is doing that. And then the other person does something else. You say, yeah, I know why he is doing that. And that sister does something.

You say, yes, yes, I know why. You are just there judging and always it's bad. Always it's suspicious. Nobody is sincere except yourself in your eyes. And that conceit is what robs people of the grace of God.

That they don't get grace in their time of need. They are defeated in sin. And that's God shouting at them. You are not getting grace. Because you are too proud and haughty. You think you are the only sincere person and everybody else is insincere.

Suspicious of this person. Suspicious of that person. That's the mark of an evil person. Brothers and sisters, that dwells in our flesh. We can never think that someone does something with a good motive.

And therefore, we suffer, suffer. When will we learn? When will we learn to humble ourselves and get God's grace? A suspicious person is, evil man is suspicious of everyone and tumbles into constant trouble.

He goes into trouble all the time. So let's learn to get rid of that habit. Why in the world do we want to judge another person? Like we've considered before, Almighty God Himself has decided to judge a man only at the end of his life.

But if God can be patient to wait for a man to finish his life before judging him, hoping that at least when he's 70 years old he may repent, and then God can blot out all the 70 years of his sinful life.

But we are such impatient creatures. We can't wait till a man finishes his life. We've got to judge him right now for this and that and the other thing and the other thing. That shows how ungodly we are if we are like that.

Praise God we can cleanse ourselves from this ungodliness that dwells in our flesh so that we can be godly. God is in any case the one who judges. Why in the world do I have to suspect him of this and suspect him of that and suspect the other person and be so evil myself?

He who is perverted in his language, the latter part of verse 20, falls into evil language or speech. Be careful of that perversion that comes into our language because of the suspicion that dwells in our heart.

Proverbs 17:21–23: Joy, Bribes, and Spiritual Fruit

Sometimes it can be so subtle the way we express it. Verse 21. He who begets a fool does so to his sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy. We can apply it like this. When a person calls himself a child of God and behaves like an absolute fool spiritually, that brings no joy to our Heavenly Father.

It brings sorrow. The father of a fool, he's got sorrow. There's no joy. Think of the sorrow there is in God's heart when he sees so many people around the world calling themselves as children and behaving in such ungodly ways.

Now that's a challenge for us. Verse 22. A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. I want to read that in the Living Bible. A cheerful heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit makes one sick.

Listen to that. There are a lot of illnesses that can never be cured with pills and injections. It can be cured by the joy of the Lord. A cheerful heart that rejoices in the Lord, that's not always suspicious, not always judging other people, it's not always grumbling and complaining about this thing, this is not there, that's not there, the other thing.

Make your life miserable and you get sick in the body too. A cheerful heart. Think to be like that. So what if something's broken, something's lost and something's gone? Why should you lose your joy and get sick because of all these things?

If it's gone, it's gone. Let it go. If it's broken, it's broken. Let it be broken. All is corruptible on this earth, I find. Somebody cheated you, alright. He cheated me of my money, but he's not going to cheat me of my joy.

A cheerful heart. Otherwise, I can have all types of ailments which any amount of pills and injections will never cure me. In the Good News Bible, it says there, translates it like this, being cheerful keeps you healthy.