Another “will worship” morning (Colossians 2:23). I’ll use Psalms 123:1-2 and 20:1-4.
My Shepherd met me looking about the Psalms for healing—it’s unusual for me to have a specific target during my devotions. He graciously met me in Psalm 6:2, the first psalm that mentions healing:
Psalms 6:2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.
Physical healing is needed! David cried, “Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak.” He complained that his “bones [were] vexed.” The word translated vexed suggests the idea of trembling, palpitating, to be made suddenly alarmed, or anxious. It does not appear that David was aware of a bone condition that needed healing. He asked for mercy because he was weak to the bone. Weak can refer to physical weakness brought on by sickness. We don’t know what the sickness was, but we know it caused serious alarm and moved him to pray for healing.
I noticed that David prayed for physical healing, and that the LORD would “heal [his] soul” (Psalm 41:4). In both instances, he associated the need for healing with a burdened conscience. In Psalm 6, he began: “O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure” (Psalm 6:1). In Psalm 41, when he asked for soul healing, he said, “for I have sinned against thee” (Psalm 41:4b).
In Psalm 60, he prayed that God would heal the earth because He had “broken it” (Psalm 60:2). This breaking of the earth could have happened at the Flood (Genesis 7:11), or when He brought down Nimrod’s tower (Genesis 10:25 with 1 Chronicles 1:19).
Along the still waters, the Holy Ghost directed my thoughts toward the wonderful truth that God hears these prayers: “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). He starts with the heart, then tends to the wounds.
He begins with mercy: “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities” (Psalm 103:3a), then He “Healeth all thy diseases” (Psalm 103:3b). James testified to this in his instructions regarding those sick among us (James 5:13-16):
Are any afflicted? let them pray.
Are any merry? let them sing psalms.
Are any sick? Let them call for the elders of the church to pray over them, anointing with oil in the name of the Lord.
His promise is “the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him” (James 5:15). He followed up on the theme of sin and sickness: “Confess your faults one to another, that ye may be healed” (James 5:16).
Nevertheless, sometimes God ministers to others through our afflictions and sickness. Paul testified to this in 2 Corinthians (afflictions and sufferings—2 Corinthians 1:4-6; physical weakness—2 Corinthians 12:9).
We would have God to “be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah. That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations” (Psalm 67:1-2).
In the valley, kneeling in the shadow of His Cross, I thought about David’s prayer that the earth would be healed (Psalm 60:1-2). The context suggests his heart was moved to pray this in response to a severe earthquake. But at least three thousand years have passed, and earthquakes continue to “shake terribly the earth.” Yet Paul’s prayer for healing, though in his day thrice denied, will be answered with yes at last. The body of every believer is destined for full and complete healing in the resurrection He secured for us by His Cross: we will be raised with His likeness (1 Corinthians 15:51-58; Psalm 17:15; 1 John 3:2). For our healing was secured “by [His] stripes,” and a new body by His death and resurrection (Philippians 3:20-21). As for David’s prayer for the healing of the earth, on the day He creates a new Earth, David will testify that “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions” (Psalm 107:20). All things are reconciled to GOD by the blood of His cross, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven (Colossians 1:20).
Always, it goes back to the Cross. All of history from Creation pointed forward to the Cross, and all of history from the Cross to the end of this world, and into eternity with the new heaven and new earth will reference back to the Cross. And I heard the voice as the sound of many waters: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). I embraced the Cross and met Him at His table.
There we commiserated a while in sweet fellowship. He showed me that temporal healing is active in this world as a witness to the full unfolding of His power when He abolishes the effects of sin and makes all things new. Presently, we need to pray for healing; then there will be no sickness to pray about! That earth won’t quake, and that body won’t be susceptible to sickness.
Selah!
Praying for revival! 🙏
Going live asap:
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