Proverbs 17:22-28

Proverbs 17:22-28
English Standard Version
​22 A joyful heart is good medicine,
    but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
23 The wicked accepts a bribe in secret
    to pervert the ways of justice.
24 The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,
    but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
25 A foolish son is a grief to his father
    and bitterness to her who bore him.
26 To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,
    nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
27 Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,
    and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
28 Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
    when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

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There is something that connects the spiritual, emotional and physiological parts of a person in that we are made in the image of God and are three-in-one.  Our bodies, souls, and spirits are different and yet the same person.  When we are full of joy, there is a physiological response that releases good endorphins that work like good medicine.  There is an old adage that laughter is the best medicine because doctors have learned the wisdom that Solomon is telling us here.  However, it's also true that those that those with anxiety and depression not only walk around with crushed spirits, but their bodies are less healthy as well.  Often times those with crushed spirits are more likely to get sick and to stay sick longer and have a harder time recovering from surgeries or severe illnesses.

A wicked man thinks he can live in darkness and that the darkness will provide cover for his plotting and scheming.  He takes bribes to pervert justice and to try to manipulate things to his will instead of him bowing his will to God's will.

The discerning, wise person will fix his eyes on Wisdom (that is the Lord who is the Wisdom of God).  We should fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith.  We may be surrounded by fools who say in their hearts that there is no God, but we should not put our focus and attention on them.  

The foolish child brings grief, pain and sorrow to their father and bitterness to their mother.  The wise child makes the heart of his or her parents glad, but the parents of a foolish child spend many a sleepless night wondering what kind of trouble that child has gotten themselves into.

It is wrong to pervert justice to punish the righteous man who is not guilty--either by fines or a beating they did not deserve.  The LORD hates when justice is perverted whether that is because the righteous are unjustly punished, or because the unrighteous have escaped punishment.  It is true that we have an imperfect justice system because we have imperfect justices, but the people of Israel have had a history in the Bible of having judges who would take bribes to pervert justice (and it gets worse throughout the times of the Kings and the Prophets).

A wise man will control his temper and his tongue, having a cool spirit and a level head in tough situation where many would be caught up by their emotions.  That is not to say that there is never a time for passion, but wisdom prevails when we are calm, cool and collected.  Out-of-control emotions lead to hasty, rash, and foolish decisions.  Even a man who is known to be a fool is considered wise when he shuts his mouth and says nothing instead of speaking the folly everyone knows flows from his mouth.  "Better to remain silent and let someone assume you to be a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."  As Solomon would say in one of his later books to his son, "There is a time to be silent, and a time to speak."  The wise and discerning heart lets the Spirit control them so that they know when to be silent and when to speak.