Proverbs 18:14, Hope for the Hurting!

December 1, Proverbs 18:14

2 Cor. 4:7-18; 1 Thes. 5:16-24 “Our light affliction… works for us.”

Hope for the Hurting!

Paul testifies, We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience; and patience experience, and experience hope: and hope makes not ashamed: because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rm. 5:3-5).

1. A Sustaining Spirit (v.14a): Infirmity is related to sickness, disease. Those proverbs that refer to heart, body, bones, or spirit encompass the entire “person.” Malachi asks, But who may abide the day of his coming (Mal. 3:2)? Abide is the word used here for sustain. Who can endure that Day? Only the person who has the inner strength to sustain him in whatever trials come from outward infirmities and troubles (Job 1:20-21). Only he will abide that final Day of trial! Is not that a “wonderful spirit”? This is not speaking of some “stoic mentality” that steels itself against “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” No, this is one who feels acutely the pain, the anguish, and the loss, but doesn’t go down under it. He or she may stagger, even groan inwardly, or cry outwardly, but still won’t fall apart. Recall Paul’s way of putting it. He was often cast down, but not destroyed. Why? Paul knew that the things that happened to him, and all events, are not the result of some “blind chance” but rest in an All-Wise Providence (Job 23:10; 2 Cor. 4). He was one who lived with eternity’s values in view because he had been regenerated and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. “Hope is a good anchor, but it needs something to grip.” Paul’s hope was safely anchored within the veil, the best gripping place of all (Heb. 6:19)! So it can be for every child of God who is upheld by the Spirit of Christ and sustained by the spirit of prayer.

2. A Stricken Spirit (v.14b): Many of the afflictions that come our way are of our own making! As long as Adam kept a pure conscience, he enjoyed happy fellowship with God and Nature; but once he sinned, both his joy and peace were gone. Paradise hadn’t changed. The sun shone as before, birds sang as sweetly, fruits and flowers still grew and bloomed, but Adam no longer had the pleasure that was once his. He was now tortured by a “stricken” conscience. He had “unparadised Paradise” (Spencer). A wounded spirit is often the result of a “guilty conscience.” When sinful passions and lusts control, the torments of spirit that result are, of all others, the heaviest, and the most bitter (1 Pet. 1:6). A grieved soul is far worse than a pained body (2 Cor. 7:10). Oh! is it not sin that causes this unbearable anguish here, and if so, what must hell be like? The Psalmist says, The Lord heals the broken in heart and, binds up their wounds (Ps. 147:3). Praise God there is hope, for though you cannot bear your wounded spirit alone there was One Who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities” (Isa. 53). Let us today return to the One who was wounded to provide the only balm for the sin-sick soul.

Thought: “Sometimes we see more through a tear than a telescope” (H. W. Beecher).

Prayer: I thank Thee Lord for being wounded for me.