These are some of the precious promises of this blessed Psalm.
III. What He expects of us in order that we may claim His blessing and His healing.
1. That we should abide in Him, dwelling in the secret place of the Most High, and abiding under the shadow of the Almighty. This is the secret of every blessing, fellowship with Christ, intimate union and abiding communion with our Lord.
2. We must confess Him as our Guardian and Deliverer. "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress." We must say it as well as feel it. We must commit ourselves openly and unreservedly to His care and as we do so He will honor our faith and be to us all we take Him for.
3. We must trust Him. We must say, "In Him will I trust," "Under His wings shalt thou trust." "His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." The shield is the figure of faith. The buckler represents the sort of faith that is so fastened to us that we cannot lose it, and like the ancient buckler it is part of our very dress and inseparable from us. This is the faith that G.o.d gives and that overcomes all things and makes all things possible.
4. We must give up our doubts and fears. This is not only a promise, but a command. "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night."
5. We must tread upon the lion and adder. We must take the place of victory. We must put our feet upon the necks of our adversaries. We must treat our spiritual enemies as conquered foes and we must do it in the very beginning, while they are young, before they get the mastery.
6. We must set our love upon Him, choose Him as our supreme object and desire and be wholly consecrated to His will and glory. It is of these He says, "Therefore will I deliver them." He is proud of our consecration and there is nothing He will not do for the heart that wholly belongs to Him.
CHAPTER IX.
DIVINE HEALING IN THE PSALMS CONTINUED.
These old Psalms are just waymarks for the pilgrims who have pa.s.sed on before and left for us these staves that supported them in hard places. And it will help you to take a Psalm that G.o.d has inspired, and turn it G.o.d and say, "This is Thy Word, Lord, and Thou wilt surely answer Thine own prayer."
PSALM NINETY-TWO.
Let us look at some of these precious promises of healing. In the ninety-second Psalm we read, "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon." Here we have both loftiness and strength; we have height and depth; the stature of the palm and the roots of the cedar. You may go through the woods during the spring days and you will see a little vine, the creeper, without any strength in itself, hanging to a great oak, and that little creeper is just as strong as the oak. It has not any strength of itself, but has all the strength of the great tree. It is the picture of a weak, helpless disciple leaning on the great, strong Lord. You do not need to be strong, but G.o.d is strong, and He gives you His strength.
It goes on to say, "Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our G.o.d. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing." Surely, that is a blessed kind of healing, for old age is usually barren, old age ceases to bear fruit. After a certain period almost all sorts of vegetable and animal life cease to produce and bring forth fruit. But like the ivy you can lean upon the giant tree, taking the strength of G.o.d.
PSALM ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE.
Pa.s.sing over for a moment one or two Psalms we come to the one hundred and fifth Psalm, and we find here some references to the children of Israel, and G.o.d"s dealings with them. "He brought them forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble person among their tribes." He brought them forth out of Egypt. He has just been telling us of the death of the firstborn and the leading of the Lord, and this is the way He brought them. He supplied their money, and He supplied their strength, because He had promised that He would do it. He had made a covenant at Marah: "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy G.o.d, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord that healeth thee."
G.o.d kept them strong. Caleb tells that he was as fresh at eighty-five as a man at twentyfive.
And they would all have been kept if they had not disobeyed G.o.d. But G.o.d works both ways-the covenant of death and the covenant of life, and so they perished for their disobedience and unbelief.
PSALM ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN.
And so again in the one hundred and seventh Psalm we have a series of pictures of G.o.d"s dealings with man. In the seventeenth verse, "Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted." They have done wrong, and G.o.d has no other way to wake them up. "Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saveth them out of their distresses."
He is a gracious Lord; He hears their cry. "He sent His Word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." He did not send a drug or a doctor or a prescription; He sent His Word. "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing." This is a beautiful picture of G.o.d"s tender mercy to the poor, troubled sinner.
PSALM ONE HUNDRED AND TEN.
In Psalm one hundred and ten, we have a Psalm for the young as well as the old. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning; thou hast the dew of thy youth." It is a picture of Jesus Christ, and the one that is addressed here is Christ, the Son of man, and the dew of youth means that it is His youth, and He just bedews us with His youth. That is divine healing. It is a little of the life of the Son of G.o.d, the freshness that bedews us with His Holy Spirit. "Thy people shall be willing [or shall be a free-will offering] in the day of Thy power," and then this shall be the result: they will be clothed with the beauty of holiness, they will be fresh from the womb of the morning and sparkling with the dew of Christ"s youth.
PSALM ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN.
Psalm one hundred and sixteen, the first nine verses, is a peculiarly beautiful note of praise.
"I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice and my supplications." It is not merely "I thank the Lord," but "I love Him because He is so good." Have you ever awakened refreshed and rested after weariness and suffering and said, "I love the Lord because He is so good?" Tell Him you love Him, do not wait until you get to heaven.
Well, what was it; what was the matter? "Because He has inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compa.s.sed me, and the pains of h.e.l.l gat hold upon me; I found trouble and sorrow." You see this is meant for hard cases; it is just framed for people who are in a desperate physical condition. It is the testimony of people who have been dreadfully sick and got well. I have been thinking since I read this over what a beautiful prayer book for the sick these Psalms of David would make!
Next he tells us what he did. "Then called I upon the name of the Lord; 0 Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul." He did not lose heart, he did not say what is the use, he just called. He put his whole strength in it and was determined that G.o.d should hear him. He called. He put his whole strength in it and called on the name of the Lord. "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do." Do not say, 0 Lord, Lord, Lord, why don"t You help me. But say, 0 loving Father, 0 dear Lord, You are so good. 0 Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my life." His life was in danger. He did not have to cry long. He only puts half a verse in his prayer, and all the rest is praise. He says, "Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our G.o.d is merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple; I was brought low and He helped me." He just knew little enough to expect the Lord to help him.
"Return unto thy rest, 0 my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For Thou hast delivered my life from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living." He is going to live now wholly for G.o.d, for He has been so good to him.
PSALM ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE.
Is there anything better for the home, the business, or the journey than the one hundred and twenty-first Psalm, especially the last verses? "Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy Keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; He shall preserve thy life. [For it means life.] The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore." He is our Preserver, our Keeper; keeping our bodies, keeping our spirits, keeping all our life.
PSALM ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN.
Is there a sweeter sedative than the one hundred and twenty-seventh Psalm and the second verse? "It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He giveth His beloved sleep." What is more necessary for health than sleep, what is harder than to force it, and what is more needful than rest? What a beautiful verse! "So He giveth His beloved sleep." He puts you in the place of His beloved before He gives you sleep. You have to be His beloved first. I dare say that many times when you have been nervous or weary or worn you have felt you must just get the love of G.o.d before you could sleep. And He wants to keep you that way. To His beloved He giveth sleep. Take the place of love and you will find rest and strength.
PSALM ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE.
We have here some precious promises for the time of physical need. We read in the 19th verse: "He will fulfil the desire of them that fear Him: He also will hear their cry, and will save them. The Lord preserveth all them that love Him; but all the wicked will He destroy."
PSALM ONE HUNDRED AND TWO.
And now we go the two Psalms that we have pa.s.sed over, because they are like the ninety-first, the mountain tops of healing. There are two linked together, the one hundred and second and the one hundred and third, for these Psalms often go in pairs.
In the twenty-third verse of the one hundred and second Psalm we read, "He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days"--sickness, decay, prostration, paralysis, helplessness, complete collapse, inevitable death. Everybody says so, strength gone, const.i.tution exhausted, "My strength is weakened and my days shortened." It was evident that his days were numbered. There was no hope; he might as well give up and die. That is the situation. He had quite made up his mind for a while that it was death. Then came the reaction; the breath of hope and prayer, the pitiful plea of helplessness and the prayer for help, and is there anything more pathetic than the prayer of helplessness?
Oh, it has often cheered our heart. "I said, 0 my G.o.d, take me not away in the midst of my days; Thy years are throughout all generations." You cannot fail to see the point. Man"s are days, G.o.d"s are years. With Thee, he says, a year is as much as a day with me. I have just a little bit of life, Lord; Thou hast all the ages. You have the ages of eternity, Lord. You that are so rich in time, rich in life, let me have my little store. Is it not pathetic, is it not beautiful, is it not enough to touch the heart of G.o.d Himself? It is like the child that cried, "Save me because I am so little." Get little and then the Lord will save you. Don"t try to be big, don"t try to be eloquent. It makes one tired when people say, "I cannot pray well." People that pray well are bores.
Then he says, "Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed. But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end." 0 mighty G.o.d, 0 Father of eternity, 0 rich Source and Resource of life, pity Thy little child whose life is like a span, and give me just a little more. And G.o.d hears the prayer, and the very next word is a burst of praise.
PSALM ONE HUNDRED AND THREE.
"Bless the Lord, 0 my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle"s." This will not mean much to you, if you have not actually lived it. Some of you know what it is; the health that is out of weakness made strong, and that lives on the bosom of G.o.d.
One is impressed by the completeness of this doxology. It covers everything, all kinds of healing and health. It is the life of G.o.d, it is the mercy and salvation of G.o.d. "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities." He starts at the right place. There is always need for a fresh touch of grace. Do not try to walk on a plane of independence, but get right down at the foot of the cross. There may be things in your heart that you did not know were there.
There may be little films from the very atmosphere of the world, but, oh, it is exquisite to get right down at the feet of Christ and say, "He forgiveth all." He is so holy that the heavens are unclean before Him. And so, come, sufferer, come to the blood every time and take a fresh cleansing even for what you do not know, and just live under the blood. And then the healing is complete: "He healeth all thy diseases."
But that is not half of the blessing. When all your diseases are healed you are not half healed. He "redeemeth thy life from destruction." You are well today, but tomorrow you would break all your bones if the Lord did not hold you up. You are walking through death all the time and the elements of poison and disease. Why don"t you die? Why, the Lord "redeemeth thy life from destruction."
But that is not half yet. "He crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies." That is the sweet nearness that it gives you, the fondness and the oneness of the Father"s heart, for when He comes into your body He gets a closer hold of you. I do not know how we would know the love of G.o.d if we did not have Him in our very bones. When He is in every throb of the heart, in every bone of the body, He seems nearer to the soul. Do not try to be too stiff and cold, too regular and proper; there is a place for love and emotion, and the happy child and the overflowing hallelujah, and they know it best who are conscious that the Lord is for the body and the body is for the Lord.
But that is not all; the very best is still to come. He "satisfieth thy mouth with good, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle"s." That is divine life that comes after divine healing. That is being lifted to a higher plane and kept there all the time. That is being healed when you are well, as well as when you are sick. It is the overflowing life of G.o.d in the human frame and in the human heart. That is the ideal life of this beautiful Psalm. These Psalms are far beyond the experience of most lives. May G.o.d help us to live up to them and then help others to enter in!
CHAPTER X.
THE GREAT ATONEMENT.
Isaiah 53: 4.
Let us consider some reasons for applying this standard and cardinal pa.s.sage, in this greatest chapter of the greatest of the prophets, to the subject of divine healing.
SICKNESS.
The first reason here that we may apply this without any doubt as a ground for the Lord"s healing, is the use of the word "griefs" in this text, "He hath borne our griefs." The original word is found about one hundred times in the Old Testament, and every time but this it is translated "sickness." This is the only instance where it is translated "griefs," and this must be because the translator could not quite understand the sense of using "sickness" here. It might have been on the principle of trying to make the Bible sound more rational that this word was inserted. "Griefs" is not altogether a mistranslation, but the word really means "disease." This verse covers the atonement of Christ for our bodies, the provision of His redemption for these mortal attacks.
BORNE.
2. The next reason for applying this verse in the Bible is the word "borne." "He hath borne our sicknesses." This word is also a kind of technical term. It has a theological meaning which is most clearly defined in many of the pa.s.sages in which we find it. It is applied to the scapegoat that bore away the sins of the people. It is used in this chapter where we are told that He bore the sins of many. It is found in John where we are told that the Lamb of G.o.d "beareth away the sins of the world." So it means not mere sympathy or mere relief, but it means subst.i.tution, one bearing another"s death. Christ literally subst.i.tuted His body for our body. That is the meaning of the words, "Surely He hath borne our sicknesses." He took them upon Himself and relieved us of the load by His atonement.
CHRIST"S DEATH.
3. The third reason why we apply this pa.s.sage to divine healing is the use of the word for sickness later in the chapter, in the tenth verse, where we are told that it pleased the Lord to make Him sick. "He hath put Him to grief," or literally, as Dr. Young has translated it, "He hath made Him sick in smiting Him."
We are told by physicians who have explained the causes of the death of Christ, that He died from rupture of the heart. He did not die from the ordinary causes incident to crucifixion, but He died from a spasm that caused His heart to burst, and when they came to Him He was dead, while the others who were crucified with Him were still alive. He died from the disease which He bore for us. So there is a sense in which Christ was really sick, but it was in our place, for it is added in the next verse, "And with His stripes we are healed."
MATTHEW"S TRANSLATION.
4. Here is the fourth one. Matthew 8: 16, 17 confirms its application to physical healing. "Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses." There you have the literal translation of the word "sickness," and there you have the double use of the verb. Matthew"s translation bears out in every part the application of this verse to the healing of the body. Both words, "infirmity" and "sickness," denote physical difficulty and disability.
The one may be a lack of strength, the other may be a condition of physical disease. Still further, the use that Matthew makes of the verse makes it quite positive that he was referring to the body alone, for he quotes the pa.s.sage in direct connection with Christ"s miracles of healing. "When evening was come He healed all that were sick." The reason that He healed the people was because Isaiah said He would. Now, if Isaiah did not mean healing, this verse would be irrelevant. Isaiah must have meant healing, or Matthew would not have quoted it.
HEALED BY HIS STRIPES.
5. Once again, to strengthen the argument, we have the closing clause of this great verse, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastis.e.m.e.nt of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed." Here we have all the different phases of Christ"s death. "Wounded for our transgressions," or actual sins.
"Bruised for our iniquities." Iniquities are different from transgressions, they are something in us. It has reference to the state of our heart, to our moral and spiritual condition. What a man is, is much worse than what a man does, so Christ died for what you are as well as what you have done.
"The chastis.e.m.e.nt of our peace was upon Him." That means our spiritual blessing, our new life, our happiness, our peace and rest, our deliverance from the curse of sin and consciousness of it, our union with G.o.d in the Holy Ghost. All this was bought for us by His chastis.e.m.e.nt.
So we have three things in this Gospel: transgressions atoned for, our sinful nature laid on Him, our new life bought by Him.
"With His stripes we are healed." That makes the inventory complete. Without that it is only a partial list; with that it is fourfold and entire. But to say, "By His stripes we are healed" just means spiritual healing is a tautology. He has said that in the previous clause, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastis.e.m.e.nt of our peace was upon Him." It must mean something else-physical redemption through His agony as our subst.i.tute.
Now, if you will put those four points together, I do not see how any unprejudiced mind can doubt for a moment that this pa.s.sage covers the healing of our bodies through the atonement of Christ.
6. But, again, we want to notice the force of the word "surely," in this pa.s.sage. "Surely, He hath borne our sicknesses and carried our pains." Why did He say "surely"? Why did He say it here? Well, to say the least, it is an underlining of the pa.s.sage intended to mark it as very important. It makes it not only important, but absolutely true. It is because in the beginning of the chapter he stepped out with diffidence and hesitation, and said, "Lord, who hath believed our report?
Lord, they will not believe what I am going to say, and especially when I say anything about the power of the Lord, they will be sure to doubt it. If I talk about historical facts they may believe it, but if I go and tell them about a divine arm that can take hold of man"s weaknesses, if I reveal a power that can do great things, they will doubt my testimony." "Lord who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" Therefore, the Lord just says, "Isaiah, tell them it is true, and put My oath behind it, and say, "Surely, this particular part of the Gospel is true, because it does reveal the arm of the Lord, it does show the power of the Lord.""
OUR SORROWS.
7. But we want to call your attention still further to the other word in this text, "sorrows." "Surely, He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." We have told you that the word "griefs" means physical disease, sickness of the body. That is the ordinary meaning of the word ninety-nine times out of one hundred. Here is added another word, "sorrows." I have no doubt that it is a true translation. The only variation that I have seen suggested is the word "pains." It might mean "pains," but I think I like "sorrows" best. It may mean a good many things.
It may mean the sensitive, suffering part of sickness. It may mean that which accompanies disease. The worst diseases are often painless, and sometimes the severest pains are connected with the least important diseases, so you can see at once the difference between disease and pain. But, blessed be His name, He covers both. He will not only take away disease, but He will take away the symptoms which accompany it, too. You can bring Him your racking headache just as well as the consumption or the heart disease that is eating away your life.
Again, it may mean mental disease-the ills of the mind, and you know what a large catalogue they are, insanity in all its forms. Doubtless it can be healed, and G.o.d does give many instances of the healing of mental diseases through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and if you know of any dear friend, suffering from this most fearful of all ills, do not hesitate to ask and expect G.o.d to help and heal.
But this word "sorrows" has another meaning. Doubtless it means the heart break, and the inward griefs that affect our feelings and affections, and bring an anguish worse than sickness-the burdens of Gethsemane. The more of joy you know, the more of sorrow you will always have, the nearer you get to Him, the oftener will you walk through the gardens of Olivet. But, thank G.o.d, He hath redeemed you from sorrow, and while pains will hurt, there will come a joy a little sweeter for their hurt; there will come deliverance from their bondage.
It is one thing to weep, it is another thing to triumph through your tears and have your sorrow turn to joy. There are people that are crushed with sorrow, and there are people that rise through their trials and their cares, and you may rise and triumph through Him. You may go through life with a chastened joy, with a gladness that has in it a touch of gravity, but without a bit of the graveyard. It is yours by the redemption of Jesus Christ.
CARRIED.
8. Our text is growing bigger and bigger. Why are the two verbs in it? "Surely, He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." Ah, that is the best of all. It means that He did not only take them when on the cross, and a.s.sume them as our Subst.i.tute, but it means that He keeps taking them still, and that evermore His hands are reaching out, one by one, to take them from you and carry them for you in the priesthood of His ascension. "Borne" means on the cross, but He carries them every moment on the throne.
So there are two things. First, you are to believe that He took them once for all, and then there is the putting them over, the laying them on Him, the transferring of every burden as it comes to you, and living out that beautiful verse, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto G.o.d." Now you cannot stop being careful for everything just by mere negation, as the folly of Christian Science teaches. That will not do. I cannot say there is nothing the matter with me when there is. I may say there is no trouble. But there is trouble. I cannot cancel my debts by saying there are no debts. But I can hand them over to another.
Here is a letter from a friend: "Send your creditors to me. Send your bills to me, call upon me." And you just go to his office, and hand them over, and your friend takes them, and you can say there is nothing the matter; everything is all right." "You can be careful for nothing," but not like a blind Buddhist, or a silly ostrich, who hides his head behind a leaf and thinks there is no hunter because he cannot see him. "Be careful for nothing" is only half the remedy-listen: "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto G.o.d." That is the way to hand them over. Give them to Him; tell Him about them, and He that bore them on the cross will carry them day by day, and then the care will disappear because the load is gone.
CHAPTER XI.
DIVINE HEALING IN ISAIAH.
We have already referred to that great chapter which is the cornerstone of the Gospel, the fifty-third of Isaiah. And we have seen in it what abundant reason there is to appropriate and apply the great atonement therein set forth to our physical needs. But there are many other pa.s.sages in this great evangelical prophecy that may be equally applied to the needs of our body and the quickening life of G.o.d in our mortal flesh.
THE PROMISE OF STRENGTH.
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isa. 40:31).
In the previous verses we are reminded of the fallibility of human strength and the divine sufficiency for them that have no might. Here we learn that they may exchange their weakness for the strength of G.o.d by waiting on the Lord. This brings us at once to the heart of the subject. The very essence of the Lord"s healing is the imparting of the life of Christ to the human frame by the Holy Spirit. This is obtained by waiting on the Lord, not the habit of pa.s.sively waiting until our prayers are answered, but the att.i.tude of receiving from Him in living communion the imparted strength of His own life.
Just as the branch draws its life from the vine, just as the graft attached to the trunk of the tree becomes adjusted to its new sources of supply and draws from the sap its nutriment and life; just as the dew gathers round the plant and fills the flower cup and refreshes the whole vegetable creation, so the heart can learn to receive from Him who is the Fountain of life, breath by breath, vital energy and physical renewing. This is an exchange of strength. We lay down our strength and receive His instead.
The effect is a great uplift. "They shall mount up with wings as eagles." This is the first effect of a great blessing. We need not these hours of elevation and even if the high alt.i.tude is not always maintained, yet it prepares us for the reactions that follow and the quieter plane of daily life. For next we are brought the earth again and called to run the race of some supreme exertion, some difficult undertaking, something that requires the putting forth of our utmost energy. And G.o.d does give strength for these emergencies, the nights of watching, the days of unremitting toil, the pressure of extreme labor or suffering.
But this is not the normal att.i.tude of life. And so we come to the next stage, "They shall walk and not faint." This is the plod of life. This is the plane of the commonplace. This is where the hardest strain really comes and where the grace and strength of G.o.d are most manifest. But it is the long pull that tells and wears. And for this the strength of G.o.d is adequate. "They that wait upon the Lord shall walk and not faint." Yes, there is in Christ physical help for the daily, hourly steppings of duty and toil, that will put zest into our labor, spring into our steps and freshness into our spirit. Happy they who have learned the secret of waiting on the Lord.
RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HEALING.
"I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will restore comforts unto him and to his mourners."