"Why Won't Anyone Help Me"

English Standard Version Chapter 8

22  Is there no balm in Gilead?

Is there no physician there?

Why then has the health of the daughter of my people

not been restored?

Propositional Argument

There is medicine and the physician present that can heal your wounds and restore you to health.

Why Won’t Anyone Help Me

Has anyone ever suffered like he did? You may have looked up to the sky and say “why won’t someone help me?” Sure, others have lost all earthly possessions. Many have outlived their children. And countless have been afflicted with sickness that keep one up all night. Job, however, endured all of those things and unsympathetic friends at the same time! And you thought your life was tough. No. I’m not suggesting that you don’t have trials. We all do. God allows these challenges to remind us that we’ve been marked “perishable,” and that we are helpless when it comes to changing the outcome of our life. While we are helpless at staving off death, we’re not hopeless. That’s a fact that Job struggled to remember throughout his ordeal. It’s a fact that we can count on because God gives meaning to our life, no matter how difficult that life may be, by changing the meaning of our death.

When we think of Job don’t we usually think of the man who, upon hearing that all of his possessions had been destroyed and his children killed, said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21). For some of us that would not have been our response would have been “why won’t anyone help me?” We marvel at that amazing declaration of faith and forget that Job was more like us than we imagine. Satan, who was causing all the heartache, wasn’t satisfied to destroy the things that Job owned and enjoyed; he wanted to destroy Job himself. So he afflicted Job with such terrible sores that Job couldn’t stand, sit, or lie down and find relief from his pain. Job said of his condition: “When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’ The night drags on, and I toss till dawn. 5 My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering” (Job 7:4, 5).

I’m not sure if there is anything more frustrating than not being able to fall asleep, especially when you’re sick and desperately need the rest and relief only sleep can bring. It’s bad enough having to spend one night like that, it seems that Job spent months tossing and turning (Job 7:3). Things got so bad that Job said: “I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine… Let me alone; my days have no meaning” (Job 7:15, 16b). Job had had enough. He was at the end of his tether. There was nothing he could do to improve his life. He was helpless and he was beginning to feel hopeless (Job 1:3, 6).

Aren’t you glad that God saw fit to allow Job to go through these trials? It shows us that there is no shame in feeling that we are helpless. In fact that’s a good thing. Only when we despair of ourselves will we look to the one who does help us. In his desperation Job called out: “Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath” (Job 7:7a).

Job turned to the right person but almost accusingly, as if God had forgotten him. Had God forgotten about Job? Hardly. It was God who allowed Satan to do what he was doing to Job. That might seem like a scary thought but it’s actually a comforting one. For it shows us that God sets definite limits for Satan’s activities. God had told Satan that he could not put Job to death. So while Job was very much helpless, unable to do anything to comfort or make himself feel better, he was not hopeless. God was looking after him. Like a father who won’t give his five-year old the heaviest suitcase to carry out to the car, God doesn’t let anything into our life that we can’t handle with his help and by his grace. But that’s the key isn’t it? We can handle anything; we can do all things, but only through him who gives us strength (Philippians 4:13). So are you feeling helpless right now? Great! Let God work in and through you. Like the child who doesn’t attempt to drag the heavy suitcase up the stairs by himself but waits for Dad’s help, believers who entrust themselves to the Lord will see God do great things for them. On the other hand children who insist they can carry the heavy suitcase themselves will only become frustrated and may even hurt themselves.

Yes, as sinful human beings we are helpless but we are not hopeless. We’re sure that our life has meaning because God has changed the meaning of our death. Death is no longer a token of defeat; it’s a prelude to a wonderful victory. Job himself knew this and would confess: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25, 26) #HealMeJesus

I’m Hurting Too

The prophet’s lament here is that his brokenness would continue as long as his people remained broken. When you lead God’s people, there are moments when the people won’t follow God or you for whatever reason. God’s wrath towards sin is usually emphasized, but his suffering is equally intense. It is like that of the parent watching a wayward child destroy his or her life by wrong choices. Nothing will deter us from sin quite so effectively as the awareness of how much God suffers when we sin. Some are like the people of Judah here, they’ve turned away from God through willful ignorance, lies, and claiming peace when there was none. Jeremiah’s intense pain over suffering of his people led him into another lament. He asks God to listen to the cry of his people in captivity who wondered if God was still there (8:19). Their suffering was the result of their sin, but Jeremiah was still broken by the brokenness of his countrymen (8:21) and longed for God to apply the healing balm in Gilead to their wounds. May the church of Jesus Christ have the same concern and compassion for the suffering among God’s people. God who suffers Judah’s rejection intends healing and restoration for them. The prophets asks two questions: Is there a balm and is there a physician to bring healing? The answer is yes to both, and God still desires to restore them. #HealMeJesus

There is Medicine for your Malady—Is there a balm in Gilead?

David Oyedepo says: ‘There is no drink, capsule or medicine that can be compared to the flesh and blood Jesus.”

God’s first question was surprisingly not where is God, but he asked in his pain for the balm that bring healing. Too many times, brokenness sits in our pews, sings in our choirs, prays our prayers, and among other things. What we constitute as healing maybe just wound care, replacing a few bandages and getting right back up and performing yet again. The prophet is asking why is there not healing for the wound of his people. Even though their wounds were self inflicted, the prophet laments at the fact that his people are wounded...Even in the midst of the brokenness and pain, there is a balm in Gilead and that balm is repentance. Gilead is a region in the Transjordan, north of Moab; it was an area known for its healing resources. This verse is familiar from its use in the spiritual, “There is a Balm in Gilead.” This spiritual claims that there is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole and to heal the sinsick soul. The song assumes a Christology, namely, that Christ is the Gilead where balm can be found; or, alternatively, that Gilead, being across Jordan, is the goal of the life of the Christian. The song rightly connects the balm with issues of spiritual sickness, and its effects on the whole person; but one wonders where the lyricist got the idea that there was a balm in Gilead that in fact had such healing powers. While the text claims there is a balm in Gilead, it also claims that the balm is insufficient to heal what is wrong with Israel. Somewhere along the line, Gilead has gained a symbolic value beyond this text. At the same time, if related to healing texts in the Book of Consolation (Jeremiah), the text implies that only God can be a healer of this people. For Christians ,Christological connections are close at hand. The balm in the Old Testament was a plant product taking the form of an ointment applied for the purpose of medicinal healing or to provide a pleasant aroma. The balm Jeremiah metaphorically refers to is the balm made in Gilead. The balm was not made in Gilead, but it may have received its name from being exported to Egypt and Phoenicia from Gilead. The substance supposedly had astringent, antiseptic, and other therapeutic qualities. An astringent is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin word adstringere, which means “to bind fast.” An antiseptic is an antimicrobial substance or compound that is applied to living tissue to reduce the possibility of sepsis, infection or putrefaction. God desires to bind up our wounds and protect us from infections that produce a bad smell. The scripture speaks of God binding up: Job 5:18

Job 5:18 ERV

For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and his hands make whole.

Psalm 147:3 ERV

He healeth the broken in heart, And bindeth up their wounds.

Isaiah 30:26 ERV

Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the hurt of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.

Isaiah 61:1 ERV

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good things unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

There is a balm in Gilead that binds up the broken hearted, there is a balm that brings healing and relief to our soul and spirit...

There is a physician for your predicament--Is there a physician there?

Some years ago we had as a member of All Souls a petite but very hardworking American lady doctor. She’d lived many years in the UK and had a practice in Cavendish Square.

She was a mixture of chiropractor and physiotherapist, so [she] worked with her hands. Once a year without fail she’d ask and come to church for [the] blessing of her hands.

One of us would kneel with her at the communion rail and together we’d present her hands to God, and pray that he would perform his work of healing through them.1

1 John Stott, The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott, ed. Mark Meynell (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018).

At length they begin to see the hand of God lifted up. And when God appears against us, every thing that is against us appears formidable. As salvation only can be found in the Lord, so the present moment should be seized. Is there no medicine proper for a sick and dying kingdom? Is there no skilful, faithful hand to apply the medicine? Yes, God is able to help and to heal them. If sinners die of their wounds, their blood is upon their own heads. The blood of Christ is balm in Gilead, his Spirit is the Physician there, all-sufficient; so that the people may be healed, but will not. Thus men die unpardoned and unchanged, for they will not come to Christ to be saved.

Funny thing about doctors.....they can only help when you actually go see them. If repentance is the “balm” that bind what is broken or torn, then the physician is the prophet that carries God’s Word to the people. The word physician here is רפא, rapha meaning to cause or promote restoration of health or a right state after being sick, diseased, injured, or in a bad state (Gen. 20:17). The people refused to listen to the prophet, thus the people continued to walk around acting healed but wounded (Jer. 8:11). Pulling back the layers, those who are wounded find some type of joy in smiting the shepherd because that cause the sheep to scatter....a smitten shepherd creates problems for the sheep...the healing they seek is in the word of God. Psalm 107:20 says that “He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.” “There comes a point where theology and therapy must meet for complete healing.” There is more to healing than just praying it away, but it may take the combination of prayer and physician to bring healing. No matter what ails you, Dr. Jesus said he would make everything alright

God desires to restores us--Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?

“Healing does not occur is there is not a desire to be healed.”

Yes there is a balm in God and the physician is present to apply the balm that brings healing to body, mind, and soul. There are wounds we know, and wounds we don’t know that guide how we handle and treat people. God did not intend for us to remain battered, broken, and wounded. He desires for his people to be healthy. The word health here is אֲרוּכָה (aruka(h)), properly the new flesh that grows at the wounded spot. In the spiritual sense, the word means spiritual reform or healing from sin and faithfulness (Isa. 58:8). Jeremiah uses this language in Jer. 30:17 and Jer. 33:6 to speak to God’s willingness to provide healing to his people. Contrary to popular belief God wants you healed and restored to back to health in every area of life, but it takes you first acknowledging your wounds, then, accepting God’s balm for your wounds, and trusting the Great Physician and your physician (pastor) to provide with you the balm in Gilead that stimulates the closing of the wound and protection from infection making our wounds worse. There could be no healing, or the new flesh without submitting to the doctor’s orders. Yes, God intends to restore the health of his people through his word that heals and sets captives free. Since the fall of man, the meta narrative of Scripture crescendoes towards Calvary in the hope that by one man’s death would bring healing and life to fallen man. The health of God’s people mattered to the prophet so that it grieved him to point of asking God why won’t He help them heal, not just get better. There is a difference between getting better and being healed....getting better does not mean you are healed, only in the process of healing. Healed is a state where what afflicted your is completely gone

There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole.

There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.

Sometimes I feel discouraged, And think my work’s in vain

But then the Holy Spirit Revives my soul again.

Don’t ever feel discouraged, for Jesus is your friend,

And if you lack for knowledge, He’ll not refuse to lend.

If you can’t preach like Peter, If you cannot pray like Paul,

You can tell the love of Jesus, And say, “He died for all.”

God offers wholeness if we will, in ways that Judah would not, receive God’s offer of healing balm.1

1 John M. Bracke, Jeremiah 1–29, ed. Patrick D. Miller and David L. Bartlett, Westminster Bible Companion (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000), 92.