Mental Health In The Proverbs: Sinkhole Psyche Series

MENTAL HEALTH IN THE PROVERBS: SINKHOLE PSYCHE

Proverbs 3:19-26

#mentalhealth

READ PROVERBS 3:19-26 (ESV)

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens; 20 by His knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew. My son, do not lose sight of these— keep sound wisdom and discretion, 22 and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. 23 Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. 24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. 25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, 26 for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

INTRODUCTION

MENTAL HEALTH FRAME OF MIND

The past few years we have taken time once a year or so to focus on the topic of mental health. I think this topic is important because when God created human beings, He created us as integrated beings with physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Sin entered into Creation and disrupts the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health in all of us. Because we are integrated beings, it is not a bad thing to focus on mental and emotional health.

We have so far been in the Psalms when it comes to the topic of mental health. The Psalms are mostly from King David who comes at life from a very emotional and chaotic state. We never wonder what David is feeling. We know he has issues and his issues have issues. Many of the Psalms are raw and if we are honest, unrefined in many ways. That’s because often our soul is also emotional, chaotic, has issues, raw and unrefined. We have been looking at mental health in the Bible from that perspective.

Proverbs is a little bit different because David’s son, King Solomon, is different. The Book of Proverbs comes at physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health from a perspective of wisdom. Solomon asked for wisdom from God (1 Kings 3, 2 Chronicles 1) and got it. Proverbs is about wise living. Proverbs us about learning and then living. Let me explain to you why I wanted to shift a bit in our focus on mental health.

I feel like we all start with a baseline in our mental and emotional health. That is also true in physical health as well. Our baseline is based on genetics, our family atmosphere, economics, access to healthcare, and so many other factors. Our family atmosphere could have been or is really stable and healthy or it could be terribly dysfunctional. Our baseline is where we start. I think about this more specifically when it comes to genetics and our default brain chemistry. When we live wisely or unwisely, it piles on top of whatever our baseline happens to be.

For example, and I think this is a good one, there are people who are predisposed towards addiction because of genetics, family atmosphere, and desire. If we have a good number of alcoholics, workaholics, or folks addicted to prescription or illegal drugs in our family tree, chances are the baseline from which we are working in our mental health is bent towards addictive tendencies. That is the way genetics works. That is how the sin nature works. That is sometimes what the Bible means when it talks about “generational sin.” Here is where Proverbs comes in…

* If we live wisely and stay away from substances that will impact us negatively, we are piling wisdom on top of the mental health baseline we inherit. We are living wisely in light of our baseline. Our mental and emotional health will be better because of our wise path.

* If we live unwisely and embrace substances that impact us negatively, we are piling unwisdom on top of the mental health baseline we inherit. We are living foolishly in light of our baseline. Our mental and emotional health will suffer because of our unwise path.

Insert into that example: anxiety, depression, worry, or any other issue we might deal with.

King Solomon and others lay out for us in 31 chapters in Proverbs the wise paths to live in light of our baseline and unwise paths to live in light of our baseline. It may not alter our baseline, but it can and will increase or decrease our ability to operate in mental health.

* Wise living will have a positive impact moving us in the right direction no matter where we start.

* Unwise living will have a negative impact moving us in the wrong direction.

TRANSITION

Let’s re-read our Scripture passage for today and get into it. When I read this passage, I see words like “soul,” “afraid,” “sudden terror,” “confidence,” and even the ideas of sweet sleep and walking securely as being completely in the realm of emotional and mental health. What wisdom does God give us in Proverbs 3:19-26?