Praise Our God - Part Five
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The confirmation of David’s words:
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
PRAYER
Of David. 1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. 17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, 18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. 19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. 20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! 21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! 22 Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!
The Context of Healing
The Context of Healing
Your diseases - This is sickness. This is an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning. This word in only used in the Psalms here. However, it is used in other places in the Old Testament. This is rare noun that refers to deadly diseases.
Jehoram, evil king of Judah
18 And after all this the Lord struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease. 19 In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. 20 He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
We should ask ourselves the following question. What is the cause behind disease that leads to death? I believe there is a clue embedded in the verse before us today. David wrote:
3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
This is important because David has not completely left the the reality of iniquity and its impact on him personally and humanity in general. Remember the question, “What is the cause behind disease that leads to death? Certainly, there are medical explanations. There are explanations as it relates to science. There are explanations that come from philosophy and worldview. Some of these have legitimacy, however, they do not dig deep enough as it relates to the cause of disease and death.
Simply stated, sin is the cause of deadly disease. The ailments of the human body exist because we are living in a world infected by sin and impacted by all sins consequences.
Physical sickness and death are always the result of sin.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
However, disease does sometimes result from one’s particular sin.
9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed. 10 When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.
The Christo-Centric Reality of Healing
The Christo-Centric Reality of Healing
Who heals - David speaks personally of YahWeh as the the healer of his diseases. David reminds himself that his covenant keeping God has the ability and will heal him from this sicknesses and infirmities. Heal means to provide a cure or to make healthy again.
This is word for healing is used for both spiritual and physical healing. What we must do here is seek to determine, what does David mean as he writes. Is here simply uses this phrase metaphorically to refer to the forgiveness of sins. This is possible. However, I believe this would be and oversimplification. Why do I say this?
I say this because there is a physical result that comes from spiritual realities. Therefore, I do believe that David is saying that he as a child of God and by extension all true children of God will experience healing by the hand of their Father. It is important to note that David does not fully explain how, nor does he fully explain when, though he does mention the extent. He say. “all your diseases.”
As we seek to compare Scripture with Scripture, we learn that the reality of David’s words that fulfilled in the promise of the atonement. This is most clearly seen in Isaiah 53.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
A glimpse of victory of death and disease.
1 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
An explanation
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
In the atonement is everything to restore what was lost in the Fall. We are cured from physical death, spiritual death and the rescued from the second death.
The Completeness of Our Healing
The Completeness of Our Healing
All your diseases - This is not a matter of what, but a matter of when. The following are quotations from some of my favorites concerning the issue of when.
R.C. Sproul, “Whether healing is in the atonement is clear in terms of Isaiah 53: it is. But when that healing takes place is a matter of great debate. There are many people who claim this passage to mean that because the atonement has already been rendered by Christ and He’s offered that healing, then we should not, as Christians, ever suffer any kind of affliction or sickness. That is on a collision course with everything the New Testament teaches about the suffering of the saints in this life, concerning both disease and affliction, prior to glory.”
D.A. Carson, “The issue is not “what is in the atonement,” for surely all Christians would want to say that every blessing that comes to us, now and in the hereafter, ultimately flows from the redemptive work of Christ. The issue, rather, is what blessings we have a right to expect as universally given endowments right now, what blessings we may expect only hereafter, and what blessings we may partially or occasionally enjoy now and in fullness only in the hereafter.”
J.I. Packer, ““That total healing of the body, with total sinless perfection, are ‘in the atonement,’ in the sense that entire personal renewal in Christ’s image flows from the cross is true, but it is a potentially disastrous mistake to expect on earth what will only be given in heaven.”
Though we would conclude that we do not fully experience perfect healing in this life, it would be a mistake to say that we cannot experience some healing in this life.
John Piper, “In this world, God does heal. And all healing that comes to us, comes to us from God. And so, we should look for it, ask for it, and thank him when he gives it.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
But the final promise of no more death and no more disease will come in the future.”
50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Practical Application
Practical Application
Realize that ultimately healing is only found in the forgiveness of sin. To pursue health apart from forgiveness is to seek to cure heart failure with a Band-Aid.
The physical follows the spiritual and the physical highlights the importance of the spiritual. The atonement deals with man as a whole.
Do not assume all sickness is because of a personal, particular sin.
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
Realize that some sickness is because of personal sin and be careful.
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
Children of God, enjoy God knowing he has healed all your diseases,
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
