June 12, 2001
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3
I started off my time with God this morning thinking about the words to a song...
"There is a balm in Gilead, to make the wounded whole..."
"There is a balm in Gilead, to heal teh sin-sick soul..."
Several times in the Old Testament we hear God's cry that there be a balm for his people. This is a reference to a healing ointment that would both help to soothe the wounds they were causing themselves and those they received at the hands of their captors. It tore at God's heart to see his people bruised and bleeding and to see wounds that were not being dressed properly. God had given his people priests and prophets to attend to those needs and he was greatly angered when they didn't fulfill their duty. Sometimes God inflicted punishment on his people to teach them a lesson, right along with that he promises to heal them. Healing is an important part of the heart and character of God and it is still true today. God wants to heal us.. he wants to be the one to place a balm on us, primarily to heal us of the sin that has battered us that is why Jesus is referred to as "the Balm of Gilead' but beyond that God wants to see us completely healed of everything that causes us pain in this life and he works to bring that about. I think about the definition of heal.. God doesn't want a temporary fix, he doesn't want a soothing that only lasts for a little while. He works in our lives to bring about a complete healing, a complete restoration so that our hearts can really be free from whatever has wounded us. Sometimes a deep healing takes a little more work up front but it is worth it in the long run. It's like a doctor cleaning a wound.. he will remove what's obvious and then cut and scrape a little more in the areas around that to be sure he got it all. God works for that kind of healing in our lives, he'll allow us to go through a little more or a little extra to ensure that we really are healed/freed from whatever is causing us pain.
heal
to make sound or whole, to restore to health
to cause (an undesirable condition) to be overcome
to restore to original purity or integrity
Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits--
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Ps 103:2-5
The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter,
like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his
people and heals the wounds he inflicted.
Isaiah 30:26
He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God
and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands
and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases
I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you."
Exodus 15:26
I will exalt you, O LORD,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
O LORD my God, I called to you for help
and you healed me.
Psalm 30:1-2
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
He sent forth his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.
Psalm 107:19-20
I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will guide him and restore comfort to him,
Isaiah 57:18
"Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us;
he has injured us but he will bind up our wound
Hosea 6:1