MENTAL HEALTH IN THE PROVERBS: GUARD YOUR HEART
PROVERBS 4:20-27
#mentalhealth
INTRODUCTION… Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: Unleash a Revolution in Your Life In Christ
I like to read. I enjoy a good story. I like a book that is useful to me. I am usually either reading or listening to one book for fun and one book for some betterment of myself. Some people listen to the radio, I am always listening to an audiobook I checked out from the library.
I was going over some books I wanted to read recently and I came across a book I already read. I read it in 2022 (so three years ago). The book directly talks about our current subject of mental health. It is a book by Peter Scazzero who was a minister in New York and now leads the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship ministry. I was looking over the book and noted some passages that I highlighted because they will warm our minds up to the Scripture passage we are looking at today and get us thinking about emotional and mental health. I had forgotten how good the book was and how much it challenged me:
For example, he said: “The Bible does not spin the flaws and weaknesses of its heroes. Moses was a murderer. Hosea’s wife was a prostitute. Peter rebuked God! Noah got drunk. Jonah was a racist. Jacob was a liar. John Mark deserted Paul. Elijah burned out. Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal. Thomas doubted. Moses had a temper. Timothy had ulcers. And all these people send the same message: that every human being on earth, regardless of their gifts and strengths, is weak, vulnerable, and dependent on God and others.”
For example, he said: “When we deny our pain, losses, and feelings year after year, we become less and less human. We transform slowly into empty shells with smiley faces painted on them. Sad to say, that is the fruit of much of our discipleship in our churches. But when I began to allow myself to feel a wider range of emotions, including sadness, depression, fear, and anger, a revolution in my spirituality was unleashed. I soon realized that a failure to appreciate the biblical place of feelings within our larger Christian lives has done extensive damage, keeping free people in Christ in slavery.”
For example, he said: “When people have authentic spiritual experiences—such as worship, prayer, Bible studies, and fellowship—they mistakenly believe they are doing fine, even if their relational life is fractured and their interior world is disordered. Their apparent ‘progress’ then provides a spiritual reason for not doing the hard work of maturing. They are deceived.”
TRANSITION
Today we are going to be digging into the Truth that we are all vulnerable and in need of God. We are going to be discussing that when we deny our pain, loss, and emotions year after year that we create in us a sink hole for our psyche. Ok, that was last week, but keep that in mind anyway. We are going to talk about being a mature believer in Christ.
We will be reading from Proverbs 4:
READ PROVERBS 4:20-27 (ESV)
“My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. 23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. 24 Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. 25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.”
TRANSITION
We are going to do an overview of Proverbs 4:20-27 and then take a deeper look at one particular verse. Notice again, like the other passages we have looked at, the passage begins with a “listen up!” sentiment. We are meant to pay attention. In Proverbs, we have statements like “be attentive” and “listen to me.” In the New Testament, Jesus says “I tell you the truth.” If you like the King James Version, this is a “verily verily I say unto thee” type situation. What do these verses say overall?
QUICK OVERVIEW OF VERSES 20-27
RE-READ VERSES 20-21
My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart
Mental health, emotional health, and for that matter spiritual health is nurtured by what we focus on. What we internalize shapes us. If we want to be real, this matters physically as well. We are what we eat for what we eat shapes us. What are what we take into our mind, heart, and spirit because those parts of us also shape us. We know this to be true because Jesus Christ teaches the same Truth. What we focus on shapes us.
READ MATTHEW 6:22-23 (ESV)
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
This passage in Proverbs advises being “attentive,” “listening,” and “watchful” for that which is wise. King Solomon is speaking to his son about wise living. It is not too far to interpret that God our Father is also saying these words to us. We saw last week, when we looked at chapter 3, that Solomon contrasted a way of life that has peace and security with a way of life that has chaos. King Solomon is again calling his son to pay attention to the words he is saying. We bear the fruit of what we sow into our soul.
Jesus shares the very same Truth again in Matthew 12:
READ MATTHEW 12:33-37 (ESV)
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
* Solomon’s son is to pay attention. Pay attention with his ears. Pay attention with his eyes.
* We are to pay attention. Pay attention with our ears. Pay attention with our eyes.
RE-READ VERSE 22
“For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.”
There is a mind-body connection presented here. If we bring in one of our words from last week, there is a psyche-body connection here. Thoughts centered on the kind of wisdom that God gives us brings healing and peace, while stress, anxiety, and toxic thought patterns can manifest physically as tension, headaches, fatigue, or other symptoms.
Maybe you are not unaware, but our physical bodies absolutely respond to our state of mind. Our flesh responds to our psyche:
Changes in appetite or weight; Digestive issues such as nausea and stomach pain
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Fatigue or low energy; Feeling like choking or lump in throat
Grinding teeth or jaw clenching; Headaches or migraines; Hair loss
Lack of sexual desire
Muscle tension or pain in the shoulders, neck, and back; Tightness in the chest
Rapid heartbeat or High blood pressure; Restlessness
Shortness of breath or hyperventilating which leads to numbness in hands/feet
Sleep problems such as insomnia, waking up frequently, or oversleeping
Sweating excessively; Trembling or shaking; Weakened immune system
You might wonder how any of that could happen. Mental illness and great emotional struggles severely impact brain chemistry, hormone levels, and the nervous system… which directly impacts our body. We know this to be true and see this truth present in the life of the Prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 19 after Elijah has a literal mountain top experience with God. After his mountaintop experience, he becomes riddled with anxiety, depression, and thoughts of death.
READ 1 KINGS 19:4-7 (ESV)
“But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”
This is a prophet of God who is dealing with deep depression and he is so depressed that he is oversleeping. The angel from God even tells him that what he is enduring is “too great for you.” Elijah’s emotions impacted his body. Absolutely.
RE-READ VERSE 23
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
We are going to come back to this verse because King Solomon states a foundational principle that is very helpful when it comes to mental health. How might I summarize Solomon’s divinely inspired statement in verse 23?
Check yourself before you wreck yourself; Guard your inner world
Keep your psyche pure; Pay close attention to what and who you let in your heart
Slow your roll before you lose control
As I said, we will come back to this verse in a few minutes, but needless to say, verse 23 is very important for us as we look at mental health in the Proverbs.
RE-READ VERSE 24
“Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.”
If we are keeping our emotions and mental health in mind, this verse commands us to watch what we say. Our words reflect and shape our mental state. Jesus might say “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). He did by the way, in Luke 6:45. Negative self-talk, manipulating others, seeking out drama, or constant complaining feed emotional turmoil in us and in others. “Crooked speech” leads to crooked places. I also thought of the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:
READ PHILIPPIANS 2:14-16 (ESV)
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”
What we think about ourselves and what we say about ourselves matters. Words have power. We know that what we say to others has power, but often we miss the truth that the words we say to ourselves also matter and have power.
RE-READ VERSES 25-27
“Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.”
If verse 24 is about “crooked speech,” then the passage we read this morning finishes out in verses 25-27 with crooked actions. If we don’t think it’s crooked actions, then being distracted is definitely in view in these verses. If not distracted, then definitely… drift. King Solomon shares with his son, and God with us, that we should be mindful of the path we go in our lives. Our actions and path matters! Distraction is real. Drift is real.
Verses like Deuteronomy 5:32 says the same Truth and is repeated often in the Old Testament:
READ DEUTERONOMY 5:32 (ESV)
“You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.”
Jesus says something similar in Matthew 7:
READ MATTEW 7:13-14 (ESV)
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
SUMMARY: Overall, what is Proverbs 4:20-27 saying?
Proverbs 4:20-27 emphasizes the importance of guarding one's heart and mind in order to live a righteous-based wise life full of mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Solomon advises his son and us by extension to pay close attention to God’s wisdom. We should keep God’s Word close to our heart and as the focus of our attention. This allows us to avoid evil and deception.
TRANSITION
We looked at an overview of Proverbs 4:20-27. Now let’s look deeper at verse 23.
DEEPER INTO VERSE 23
RE-READ VERSE 23
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
The first word in this verse is “keep.” The word used here, “keep” is connected with “all vigilance” in the phrase and so intensifies the “keeping.” “Above all else” is a great way to describe this. As we will see in a minute, “guard” is also an appropriate word to use here to explain what Solomon means. Let me show you 2 other of the 460 times this word is used in the Bible which will give us a more direct flavor of what we are talking about:
First, in Genesis 2:15 the same exact word is used:
READ GENESIS 2:15 (ESV)
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”
Second, in Matthew 27:54 the word is used:
READ MATTHEW 27:54 (ESV)
“When the centurion and those who were with Him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
The very first word and the forceful emphasis of this verse is that you and I are to tend and watch over our heart like Adam was supposed to tend and watch over the Garden of Eden. The very first word and the uber-strong emphasis of this verse is that you and I are to tend and watch over our heart like the centurion guarded Jesus while He was on the cross. Neither of those activities is passive, unimportant, full of slack, or easy. This is intensity. This is constant. This is of high importance.
This then should make us ask the question… what are we “keeping with all vigilance and above all else guarding?” Verse 23 is specifically talking about “the heart.” In the cultures of the Old Testament and the New Testament, the heart is the location of knowledge and the place where decisions are made. Our heart is who we are. Our heart is the core of our being. Our heart directs all our thoughts, emotions, reactions, worldview, and everything about us. Our heart is our center. Solomon even says that the heart is our center in this very verse.
RE-READ VERSE 23
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
THE POINT
This is the point so please don’t miss it. If you checked out, please check back in. King Solomon warns his son with all the parental wise divinely inspired force he can muster to “keeping with all vigilance and above all else guard his heart.” If I may be so bold, with all the pastoral wise force that I can muster, please “keep with all vigilance and above all else guard your heart.” If you don’t…
… emotional ruin is the result. Emotional ruin can lead to mental illness.
… mental damage is the result. Mental damage can lead to mental illness.
… spiritual baggage is added unto you. Spiritual baggage can lead to mental illness.
The reason why King Solomon has to forcefully warn his son to guard his heart is because none of us are good at it. None of us are good at “with all vigilance and above all else guarding our heart.” We don’t. We don’t do it and as a result ruin, damage, baggage, illness, brokenness, guilt, addiction, distracted faith, and a tainted heart are the result. We are a mess because we don’t guard our hearts. We invite mess when we don’t guard our hearts with all vigilance.
Now it is very important for me to say that mental illness has a variety of factors. We must not miss that fact. Remember what I said last week about our baseline. We can live wisely and help our baseline or we can live unwisely and hurt our baseline. To use those same words as last week, this week we need to guard our baseline.
None of us are good at “with all vigilance and above all else guarding our heart.”
* We unwisely allow unfiltered influences into our heart. We consume media, conversations, teachings, relationships, or environments without discernment and think we will be just fine. But we aren’t. They damage us mentally and emotionally little by little and bit by bit. We watch shows or listen to music that normalizes sin and dysfunction without considering its mental impact.
* We unwisely harbor unforgiveness in our heart. We let bitterness or resentment take root which poisons our emotional health. Do you want to know why God commands us to forgive others… it has absolutely nothing to do with the other person! Nothing! It has everything to do with us and the mental and emotional wholeness God wants for us. Holding grudges instead of releasing them to God and seeking reconciliation when possible damages us. The longer we do it the deeper the damage goes.
* We foolishly court temptation and think we control the dance. We flirt with sinful thoughts or behaviors instead of fleeing from them. Listen to me, Barna Research tells us that 75% of Christian men, 40% of women and 67% of pastors regularly use pornography. If you don’t think that is a mental, emotional, spiritual, and relationship contagion in Christianity then thou art wrong. It’s here and it is making us ill. We justify small compromises in integrity or purity which drags us away from God into large compromises which leads to mental distress.
* We neglect prayer and Scripture thereby failing to strengthen our heart through communion with God. This leaves us vulnerable. This leaves us ungrounded in God’s Truth and grounded instead in self, stress, uncertainty, worry, anxiety, depression, and anything else that slings mud at our souls. Because we gave up on God, our foundation is not what it should be.
* We swing wide the door of our heart to fear and anxiety allowing those powerful forces to shape our decisions instead of trusting in God’s sovereignty and His character. We let fear and anxiety win when we don’t pray, don’t abide in Christ, and don’t think Jesus will make a bit-a-difference. Letting worries about finances, health, or the future overwhelm our faith leads us to be overwhelmed. Living in a state of being overwhelmed hurts us.
* We love the world over God. We think it no big deal to prioritize worldly pleasures, achievements, or the approval of others over obedience and relationship with Christ. When we define success ourselves by perhaps…material gain or job success… rather than how God defines success we open the door for unwisdom to pile on top of us.
To "guard your heart" means to be intentional about protecting our psyche, our thoughts, and our emotions from influences that could lead us away from God's will and towards a different way of living. It involves being mindful of what enters our mind and spirit and actively cultivating a heart that is aligned with God's Truth. This includes being aware of our own vulnerabilities.
Keep in mind that our heart matters. The heart is the wellspring of life so whatever you dump in there is going to come right back out.
Keep in mind that spiritual battles are constantly taking place around us and for us. Our heart is the primary target for the enemy. Guarding our heart is a form of spiritual protection. I believe that is why in Ephesians 6 we have both the breastplate of righteousness and the shield of faith. Both should protect our heart.
Keep in mind that guarding our heart is… not… passive. It requires actively choosing to focus on things that are pure, lovely, and of good and avoiding things that could lead to temptation or compromise.
I believe and I want you to believe that YHWH God provides the strength and guidance necessary to guard the heart. The blood of Jesus can guard our heart. The presence and filling of the Holy Spirit absolutely guards our heart.
Actively praying for wisdom and discernment is part of this.
Actively staying away from influences that are unwise is part of this.
Abiding and studying God's Word is part of this.
Reducing sinful habits that we marinate in is part of this.
Seeking fellowship with other believers is part of this.
Ignoring those influences who want to draw us away from God is part of this.
Prioritizing worship is part of this.
Watching out for what we actually worship is part of this.
SUMMARY
What am I saying?
Check your part before you wreck your heart
Guard your inner world
Keep your psyche pure and be mindful of the lure
Pay very close attention to what you let in your heart
Pay very close attention to who you let in your heart
Slow your roll before you lose control
And according to King Solomon, that is mental health.
PRAYER
INVITATION
