The Lord Is My Healer
Psalm 103:1-5 (NIVUK)
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits –
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
In the UK, the beauty and wellness industries generate billions of pounds annually with promises of health and vitality. Many people buy into the claims of various treatments or products in the hope that they will look and feel better. Years ago, I came across a ten-step skincare routine that involved ampoules of serum, face masks and moisturisers. Not only was it a time-consuming process, it was also a reminder that focusing on such things is superficial: we might feel refreshed in the short-term, but the rejuvenation that is referred to in the psalm above is on a completely different level.
The promises of Psalm 103 are not found in a product or a bottle, but in God himself. ‘I am the God who heals you’ (Exodus 15:26): Jehovah Rapha: the God who heals. I have personal experience of being healed physically and I have heard incredible testimonies of God healing people from all sorts of illnesses.
There have also been times of praying in earnest, and not experiencing the healing that I had hoped for. However, God has shown me how he wants not only to heal physically, but to restore us spiritually and emotionally. God’s desire is for us to be made whole in him, so that we praise him from the depths of who he has created us to be. He is the God who forgives, heals, redeems, crowns us with love, satisfies our desires and renews us. Let us draw closer to God and through the power of the Holy Spirit allow him to heal us so that we will experience the wonderful truth that ‘in him we live, move and have our being’ (Acts 17:28)
Prayer — Lord, I praise your holy name! Thank you that you are The God Who Heals and that you do not change. I ask you to heal me and others (I name) who need to be healed physically, emotionally and spiritually.