THE HEALING OF THE SOUL

Psa. 41:4

Morning Meditation 4/27/16

In Psalm 41:4 tells us, “I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.”

The soul is not the body. We are living souls created by the breath of God. God created a body in which to house the soul. When the rich man of Luke chapter 16 died, verse 23 says, “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” The bodies of both these men were in the grave. But they could still talk, they had tongues, fingers, memory and were in the one case in torments and the other in the “bosom of Abraham.”

Watchman Nee says, “The soul comprises the intellect which aids us in the present state of existence and the emotions which proceed from the senses. Since the soul belongs to man’s own self and reveals his personality, it is termed the part of self-consciousness. (Quoted from The Spiritual Man Vol. 1 p. 26). Others have identified the properties of the soul as mind, emotion and will. I am sure in my own mind that this much is true. Paul by inspiration of God divides man: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23).

I had to say all of that to say that the soul is a part of man that can get as sick as the body. Man can live in a healthy body and be sick in the soul, i.e., mind, emotion and will. So with this in mind I want to comment on two requests David made along with a confession.

First lets look at David’s confession. This confession identifies the cause of his soul’s sickness. Sin is the cause in David’s case and he admits it.

John Phillips says, “Psalm 38, 39, 40, and 41 were all born out of the same womb. Each of them was written around the circumstances which surrounded the rebellion of Absalom against his father David. Many a man has a rebellious son but not many have sons who have hated them as much as Absalom hated David. No rebellion takes place in a vacuum. Behind Absalom’s rebellion, and ever haunting David’s conscience, was David’s sin with Bathsheba and the consequent murder of her husband. These hideous crimes had been forgiven, but the human consequences pursued David through the remaining years of his life.” (Exploring The Psalms Vol. One, p. 313).

David loved Absalom and it seems that it would have been his desire to reconcile with him and enjoy a father-son relationship. But it never happened. There has to be a willingness on the side of both parties for reconciliation to take place. Absalom was never open to reconciliation. He lived and died a rebel. David blamed himself. There are certain penalties built into the sins we commit that forgiveness does not remove. One can be forgiven of a life of alcoholism but the forgiveness of that sin does not remove the possibility that he will not die of cirrhosis of the liver or some other alcohol related disease.

One can be forgiven of the sin of adultery like David. But there are damages done to the soul that the believer will have to struggle with. Let me illustrate. A man is saved from a life of deep sin and his conversion is so dramatic that it amazes the Christian public. If you have that man come to your church and give his testimony, you can probably fill the building with people who are anxious hearers who “wow” as they hear him tell his story for two hours and nobody notices the time. Now lets don’t take anything away from this great conversion. I rejoice as I write this even though I’m just making up this story!!! Of course you know this “made up story” does represent facts.

On the other hand, here is a young man who has been reared in a Christian home. He has never touched dope or alcohol. He has never murdered anyone and has never been arrested for anything, much less served time in prison. You announce, “We are going to have this brother who was raised in a Christian home and has never been arrested for anything in his life, has never touched alcohol or dope come and give his testimony this Sunday night.” Now I hate to say this. But there are many in the churches who would stay home and watch T.V. rather than to come out and hear such a “dull testimony.” We are one awful MESS aren’t we?

What is the difference? The man who has been saved from a deep life of sin will have to struggle the rest of his life with the consequences of his sin even though he has been completely forgiven. I want to ask you a question. How many people have you heard give a glowing testimony of forgiveness and deliverance of a deep life of sin that hasn’t gone back into it within a year or two? Or at least faded into the woodwork of the family of God not to be heard of after the sudden popularity of their initial conversion. The other man is just as saved. The Christian life is not easy for him because it is not easy for anyone. But he will be around serving the Lord and setting a godly example for our youth to give their life to Christ at an early age BEFORE alcohol, dope and sex.

David confessed, “I have sinned.” This is the first step anyone has to make on his way to God whether it is salvation or the healing of a damaged soul.

Then David declared the damage. He requested “heal my soul.” The word “heal” (rapha) and is translated in our KJV: heal 57 times, physician 5 times, cure 1 time, repaired 1 time, misc.. 3 times; for a total of 67 times. David is asking God to be his Physician, to heal or repair his soul. Do you have soul damage? I have and have to struggle with it. We need to recognize soul damage in our lives and realize God is the one to whom we must resort for help. It will not go away permanently until the rapture. But when we go to the Lord he will assure us again that we have been forgiven. Then we can forgive ourselves once again and enter into the joy of the Lord.

Then David asked for grace. This is what David is saying when he prays, “LORD, be merciful unto me.” The word “merciful” (chanan) means “to be gracious, to show favor, to show pity.” David was acquainted with grace. Grace is God’s unmerited favor and all of us need it. We do not deserve to be restored.. But God can be approached on the grounds of grace: Heb. 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Thank you David for a great verse. It helped me today.

May the Lord bless each of you.

In Christ

Bro. White