Scripture Journal 8.20.25 – Our Great Physician

The Promise

“He heals up the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Ps 147:3)

The Practitioner

The two subjects in this verse are both the Living God, YHWH, and his creatures. There are two verbs that help us understand who God is: heals and binds. From these two words, we can infer that God reveals Himself to be a healer. But unlike a Doctor who goes through extensive training for a great job with great pay, God does so because of His nature; you may say His heart “yearns” to heal out of compassion and out of pity. (Mt 9:36, Mk 2:17, c.f. Lk 12:32). He is the Doctor that sees the pain in the world, and devoid of any thought of gain gives Himself to cure the pain and suffering.

The Patient

                The condition in which God does heal is the condition in which we must see ourselves: brokenhearted. A patient who comes to the doctor to buy painkillers instead of accepting the necessary medicine to cure the disease will not be seen (2 Cor 7:10). No, he must know the nature of his illness (sin) and then take the medicine that is available to cure it: the blood of Jesus (Mt 9:12). This is a tincture provided not from a laboratory by combining chemicals, but something that was given by the very heart of God Himself, His only begotten Son in His sacrifice on the cross.

The Prescription

                Two applications for this text. First, see your sickness before God and come to Him for healing. In short, repent and believe the gospel. See if any areas of your life are not under God’s care and direction for healing, and bring that wound to Him lest it fester and turn into gangrene. Second, believe that this Doctor knows what He is doing and put all of your trust in Him to cure and to save you from this illness.