“Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease. 11 He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.”
--Proverbs 22:10-11 KJV
“He who begets a scoffer does so to his sorrow, And the father of a fool has no joy. 22 A merry heart [g]does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.”
--Proverbs 17:22 NKJV [g] Or makes medicine even better
A broken spirit (a broken heart) dries up the bone marrow, resulting in a compromised immune system, often resulting in disease. What often breaks one's heart? The psalmist says that "reproach has broken my heart:"
“Reproach has broken my heart, And I am full of [Lit. sickness] heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none.”
--Psalm 69:20 NKJV [brackets inserted from NJKV footnote]
Remove the reproach at its source (or root), and we remove the broken spirit (healing the broken heart). Then healing in the body can manifest, for a cheerful heart does good like a medicine or cure. How do we remove or take away reproach? According to Proverbs 22:10, "Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave; Yes, strife and reproach will cease." (NKJV)
How then do we “cast out the scoffer” or “scorner?”
First, can we identify and recognize who or what that scorner is?
Where or with whom do we feel contention, bitterness, pain, strife, or reproach in our lives?
Where are those thoughts and feelings coming from?
How do we get rid of those accusing thoughts?
If we have a broken heart due to reproach, that memory may resurface and its pain can be removed as we apply the next verse as our solution: "He who loves purity of heart and has grace on his lips, the king will be his friend." --Proverbs 22:11 NKJV
Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords (see 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:16). The pure in heart shall see God (see Matthew 5:8; Isaiah 33:17; Psalm 24; 45). Friendship with this King of glory is sufficient to remove any reproach or shame. For how can abuse from the world compare to the healing power of friendship with God? To use an earthly example, say that as children we were publicly shamed, beaten, abused, and violated. From that point on we are ostracized, criticized, despised, rejected, and hated by everybody for years. Or even if not everyone truly looks down on us, because of those painful memories, we might “beat them to the punch” by isolating ourselves from others, while we go about our day under a constant barrage of those accusing voices that we are rejected and not worth anybody’s time, attention, or affection.
Then one day, the president or king of your country comes to you and strikes up a conversation. He is practically the most powerful man in the world--feared, loved, and hated by many. Despite your low self-esteem, this ruler of your nation takes a total 100% interest in you, and he is captivated with delight in your personality and with everything about you. He initiates friendship and is dead set on taking you home with Him to become a new member of his family and a trusted friend with whom he shares his secret counsel about the decisions he is going to make as the nation's leader (see Proverbs 3:32; John 14-15).
What would that do to your shame, reproach, and low self-esteem? Wouldn’t that public recognition, honor, love, and healing friendship from the world’s most powerful man have more authority over your sense of identity than all the abuse you suffered under deluded, bitter, confused, dysfunctional people with less authority over your life? Furthermore, no matter how powerful, influential, loved, feared, respected, and hated our imperfect national leader(s) may be, their power, influence, and authority does not compare to the power, influence, and authority of God (Jesus Christ). National leaders come and go; they die, get removed from office, and/or get replaced. But everybody throughout eternity will either despise, reject, hate, and dread Jesus and his [loving and perfect] leadership, or they will submit to, love, obey, enjoy, and delight in the way Jesus leads and gives orders.
So how then can we have this King as our friend? The condition, according to Proverbs 22:11, is loving pureness of heart and having grace on our lips.
How do we get purity of heart? How can impurities in our heart get removed? The King (Messiah) Jesus shed all his blood in order to give us a new heart, purging our hearts from everything that does not match his perfect love which casts out fear. See Hebrews 1:3; 8:10-12; 9:14,22; 10:14-17; 1 John 4:14-19.
When Jesus died, he experienced all the world's violation, abuse, shame, bitterness, dread, guilt, fear, reproach, mocking, and pain that we ever experienced when "He made his soul an offering for guilt." See Isaiah 53[:10]; Romans 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22-24. Then He rose from the dead in order to prove that death, reproach, fear, shame, guilt, bitterness, and any idea or lifestyle that violates his commandments is worthless compared to His wise leadership and that removes everything that hinders His perfect love.
For more information on entering into this kind of friendship with God, see my post: Which Fiery Furnace Will You Choose?
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