A Prayer For Healing
Psalms For The Bride
Psalm 6
When Jesus took back Satan’s domain by healing disease and delivering the demon possessed He opened the door for us to cry out to Him for His healing touch. But long before that, David had an understanding of who the healer was.
Ps 6:1-5 O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 2 Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed. 3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long?
David opens his prayer acknowledging that he is a sinner and deserves God’s wrath but He asks for God’s grace in his sickness. What a blessing it is for us to know that, although we are sinners also, we do not have to fear God’s wrath. We can, like David, focus on God’s mercy and our weakness and the trouble we have in our soul.
It seems that so often when we are suffering some physical illness that our soul also becomes troubled. David says his soul was sore vexed. In the Hebrew those are very strong words (meod bahal), which means “exceedingly terrified.” We get the doctor’s report and immediately fear descends and tries to grip our mind, we get angry and in our pain that often turns to depression. I think that’s where David was when he asked God not to rebuke him. I’m sure he was asking “the” question—what have I done to deserve this, how long will this go on? His prayers were based on one thing that God wants from His children—honesty. If our prayers aren’t honest then they aren’t really prayers. God knows what’s on our heart and He isn’t offended if we honestly tell Him. But the key is not to leave it there; David didn’t.
Ps 6:4-5 Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake.5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
In the midst of his pain David lifted his heart to the Lord and prayed for deliverance from his sickness of both body and soul. And when we cry out in our pain we have so much more confidence in that prayer because of our salvation. When Jesus died on the Cross He not only delivered us from sin, He died for the restoration of the fallen creation and that means physical healing as well. And what a blessing that our salvation has given us hope of a future in heaven that David didn’t have. So David cries out in his terror and pain with his confidence in God’s mercy. And we in our mortal state also know that gripping terror, but in our faith we can know God’s power to restore us. Our prayers are wrapped in God’s promise that when Jesus died He took our sickness upon Himself:
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
We are healed is a statement of fact, but when our healing doesn’t come we so often turn to God and cry out… but Your Word says! Does that mean that we are only healed “spiritually?” I have wrestled with that question long into many nights when I have prayed for someone and their healing never came. Yes, it definitely means that we are spiritually healed but it also speaks to our physical condition.
One time the Lord answered that question for me and the logic of His answer set me back; why hadn’t I seen it that way? He said that some are healed instantly, some are healed by the restorative powers of the human body that He created, some are healed by medicine and some are not healed until He calls them home… but “all are healed.” We often lose sight of that fact and like David we think only in terms of the here and now. We live in a fallen world and death and decay are a real part of that world. That is why God exhorts us to pray for His Kingdom to come; a kingdom where there is no sickness and suffering. And therein is yet another reason for us to ensure that we don’t miss any opportunity to share the good news of the gospel that holds both a spiritual and physical healing.
In the remaining verses of the Psalm we see that David rallies after his prayer. He has released his anger and despair and confessed his confidence in his healer. And out of that comes new strength to deal with those workers of iniquity that have been taking advantage of his sickness and are attacking him. He closes with a statement of his assurance:
Ps 6:9 The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.
That’s where we need to be in our prayers for healing. We need to stand in faith on the promise of our healer, even if we don’t see any immediate change. Our spirit needs to remind our soul that no matter what the circumstances are, they are subject to change. And in the end we have the “blessed hope” to hold onto. In the midst of our pain, depression, worry and concern we have an eternal promise for a new body that will no longer suffer. However, greater than that we have the promise of eternity with our bridegroom, when we will exchange our betrothal for our wedding day and become His wife forever.
In the meantime we can be encouraged in the fact that God is still in the healing and restoring business here on earth. We see it happening all the time and as the day of His return draws closer we are going to see His healing hand like never before. We need to stand on His promise that those who believe (have faith and trust) will lay hands on the sick and they will recover (Mark 16:18). And that means that we need to step out in faith and stand firm on His Word. God is in the business of showing Himself strong on behalf of His people.
We have His promise. Do we have the faith to stand on it?