Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

Do any of you ever struggle with anxiety?

Worry?

In moments of anxiety or depression have you come across – or have others drawn your attention to – verses such as the following.

,

ESV).

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ( ESV).

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

( ESV).

ESV).

Maybe those verses bring a great deal of encouragement to you.

Maybe in lesser moments of anxiety, worry, or fear those passages are just enough to keep you spiritually encouraged and optimistic.

Or, maybe at times they feel like cliché or pat answers if not commands that make you anxious about one more area of life that you’re not managing well.

Have you ever gotten anxious about your anxiety?

Maybe those verses bring a great deal of encouragement to you.

Maybe in lesser moments of anxiety, worry, or fear those passages are just enough to keep you spiritually encouraged and optimistic.

Or, maybe at times they feel like clichés or pat answers if not commands that make you anxious about one more area of life that you’re not managing well.

Have you ever gotten anxious about your anxiety?

We can at times view these verses as spiritual pills.

In the same way that we wonder if our doctor really knows what prescription is right for us or if he’s just working through the list of available prescriptions, our Christian friends write out prescriptions full of verses.

All of them seem to fall short of our systemic issues.

“Take one and two readings of each day as your normal dosage against your chronic anxiety.”

Welch.

When the pill doesn’t work we have two choices.

We search for another treatment, or we confess that we are using Scripture as a self-help book for symptom relief, in which case it is time to get back to basics.

If you choose to get back to biblical basics, Peter’s exhortation to humble ourselves is a great place to start.[1]

It is true that in 1 Peter we are told to “cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you,” but we often jump to the part that connects with us and miss the only command in the passage – that being to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.

In the same way that Peter moves from acknowledging God to the point of tossing anxiety upon God, in Proverbs, Solomon moves from “trust in the Lord with all your heart” to the fact that when we do healing and refreshment will come to your body and your soul.

ESV).

The Benefits of Trusting (3:8)

The Benefits of Trusting (3:8)

Let’s start at the end.

It is in verse 8 that we connect to a desire to be relieved of the anxiety, worry, fear, and depression that bear down upon us.

“It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones” ().

Healing to flesh.

Let’s wrestle briefly with the first phrase “healing to your flesh.”

The KJV translates this phrase as “health to your navel.”

Odd as that may sound, it translates the word more consistently with its other usages in the Old Testament.

It is only used two other times in the Old Testament and in each of those it refers to the navel, if not more specifically the umbilical cord.

“The central region of the body is taken as the representative of all the vital organs.”[2]

Refreshment to bones.

Bones can refer to the entire body, the whole being, limb to limb.

Yet, I think the intent is to extend beyond the material aspect of mankind and address healing that comes to the immaterial spirit of mankind.

The NET Bible translates this phrase as “refreshment to your inner self” ( NET).

Similar usage is seen in other Proverbs as well.

“The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones” ( ESV).

“A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.

( ESV).

In these couple of instances, the meaning of bones moves from the basic notion of that which is just physical or material and moves into the immaterial.

“In sum, a right relationship with God leads to a state of complete physical and mental well-being, not simply to the absence of illness and disease.”[3]

Therefore, whatever commands we find in the previous 3 verses are going to result in the entirety of an individual, material, immaterial, physical, mental, and spiritual to benefit through refreshment and healing.

What it’s not going to do.

This verse is not leading us to conclude that if we follow the commands in the previous verses that are physical ailments are going to be taken away.

This is not a cure for all physical ailments.

This doesn’t mean that you’re not going to ever struggle with anxiety and fear.

It does however lead us to conclude that if we follow the preceding imperatives, all aspects of our humanity will be refreshed and will receive healing nourishment.

This does encourage us that when we trust in God, that we receive physical and spiritual refreshment.

Consider the effects of anxiety and shame on a person’s body and mind.

They can be drastic.

What are the imperatives?

Within these 3 verses we find 6 commands!

Why all the commands?

We tend to trust in our own wisdom instead of trusting in God.

We tend to want to depend on our own strength and logic instead of the logic and wisdom and council and commands that are found in scripture.

In what areas of life do you struggle trusting God? (1) Our happiness.

We may at times think that if we do what God wants and obey the Bible, we may not really be happy.

We think that happiness is going to be found outside of obedience to God.

Even though we don’t say this, we at times display this in our actions.

(2) Our finances.

We may not want to follow God’s direction in giving because if we do we think we won’t have what we “need.”

Maybe we’ll struggle with daily provisions or with retirement.

(3) Change in other’s lives or our own.

We can often try to change people ourselves instead of trusting God’s work in their lives.

We can often fail to trust the ability of the Holy Spirit in working in their life.

There may be areas in our lives in which we need to grow.

At times we struggle trusting in God’s work in our own lives and we do everything humanly possible to change, and we fail to rest in God’s work in us.

(4) And an unlimited number of other potential context.

The Importance of Trusting (3:5)

Trust in the Lord.

When we consider the idea of trust, there are two nuances that are present with that idea – a decision and an emotion.

As believers we often speak of trust as primarily a decision we make synonymous with belief.

Both concepts are found in Hebrew.

Batah speaks of a sense of safety or a feeling and emotion of confidence.

Hasa conveys more the idea of belief.

In this passage batah is used.

When we are told to trust in the Lord, we are being told to rest in or find our comfort and confidence in the Lord.

While we obviously should believe in the Lord, the emphasis in this passage is on the confidence we feel as we rest in the Lord.[4]

The story is told of a man who was crossing the Susquehanna River one winter’s day.

Since this man did not know how thick the ice was, he was crawling along on all fours, inching his way across the river.

He was startled by some racket and clatter coming up behind him.

He turned to see a local man from the area driving a wagon pulled by four horses.

Too many Christians are like the man down on all fours, creeping along, way too cautious.[5]

This word trust is a little dramatic.

It means to “throw one down . . . to throw oneself or one’s cares on any one.”[6]

Ortlund.

To lie down spread-eagle in complete reliance – to make it as graphic as I can, to do a belly-flop on God with all our sin and all our failure and all our fears.

We stake everything on the gospel promises of God.

If God fails us, we are damned.

If God comes through, we are saved forever.