I would like us to look at three verses from the books of Psalms and Proverbs in the Bible that are often used as assurance of healing.
As I’ve previously said in my video teachings on healing, we need to be careful that we don’t misuse God’s Word to promise people something that is not guaranteed in this life.
Psalm 41:3: “The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.”
Psalm 103:2-3: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,”
Proverbs 3:5-8 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. 7Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil. 8This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.”
Can we tempt God as Jesus was tempted to do as He was in the wilderness for forty days and nights?
Let’s look at that for a moment.
Luke 4:9-12 “And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 12And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Here we see the devil quoting Psalm 91. This psalm is all about God’s protection, deliverance, angels guarding and so forth.
Jesus could easily have stood on God’s Word, His promise to deliver if He threw Himself off the temple. But He didn’t. He wasn’t going to test God.
So often, we test God by praying for healing and expecting it to come. Why are we so self assured if, Jesus, the Son of God wasn’t?
We must always take scripture as a whole. There are many times in the Psalms where God doesn’t promise healing and protection.
Psalm 44:11 “You have made us like sheep for slaughterand have scattered us among the nations."
Psalm 44:22 “Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
In case you thought that was Old Testament only teaching, Paul quotes it in
Romans 8:35-39. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The important thing to remember is that no matter what we go through in this life, including death, NOTHING separates us for God’s love.
Are we sick? - we have God’s love
Are we poor? - we have God’s love
Are we alone and isolated? - we have God’s love
Are we persecuted? - we have God’s love
Are we about to die? - we have God’s love
Taking scripture as a whole we can see that God works in all things and in many ways. Some people will be healed in this life, others won’t. Some people will live a long and prosperous life, others will die young having very little.
Can we pray for healing to come to those who are sick? We can and we should but not on the basis of an isolated verse in Psalms or Proverbs. We do so on the basis of God’s grace and mercy knowing that He has the power but also knowing that He works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. Ephesians 1:11.
Proverbs 3 says that if we turn from evil it will be good for our health, for our bones. I think it’s common sense that if we mistreat our bodies through alcohol, drugs, gluttony, sexual immorality etc then our bodies will suffer along with our mental health. So it’s good advice that Proverbs is giving in order for our bodies to be as healthy as possible.
The promise I like to stand on is found in
2 Cor 5:1-5 “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee”.
As we continue on our own healing journey with our son Nathanael, we look to God everyday to bring more and more improvement to him. We so long for his speech to return and more mobility to be restored. These are our wants, in this life. But we also realise that he may not be fully realised in this life. That doesn’t stop us from asking, seeking and knocking. We will and we hope you will continue with us in that knowing that if not in this life, then most definitely in the life to come. Amen
Prayer - Father, thank you that we can trust You even in the midst of the most difficult of situations. May we be those who handle Your Word in a way that is honouring to You and those around us. Amen.