Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Psalms

[Jean Valjean]

Could I ask you about this portion of scripture, particularly vs. 3? It says in vs. 3 how the Lord heals all our diseses. So...as you and I know, many times people are not healed—cancer, etc. Is it referring to another kind of healing, or does it mean, for those of us who know Christ, we will all be healed some day when we get to heaven? Just pondering this.

[jimwalton]

Glad to. The first thing you need to realize is that all Psalm are contextual or situational—pertaining to what was going on at the moment. Not all of what is written in them is for all believers at all times. For instance, when David writes, “Trust in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart,” we understand that the Lord just answered a prayer of his and that’s why he says that. It certainly doesn’t mean you always get what you ask for. His psalms are full of anger when things are going lousy for him, praise when things are going good for him, what sounds like promises when he has just been blessed, and terrible curses when he is affronted.

A second thing I’d like to say is that a lot of what looks like promises in the Bible are more like proverbs than they are promises. When Proverbs says things like “Keep commandments and you will live,” that’s a proverb, not a promise. It means that generally speaking, given the equality of all things, the righteous live longer lives than the wicked. But it’s not a promise that the good will never die young.

Now let’s go to Psalm 103.3. “Heals all your diseases” is the 2nd of 6 poetic strokes, in 3 pairs, each beginning with “who” and then attached to an “and” phrase. The pairs go together and give us a hint to the meaning.

“Forgiveness of sin” and “healing from diseases” go together.
“Redemption from the pit” and “crowned with love and compassion” go together.
“Satisfies your desires with good things” and “renewed like the eagles” go together.

Now let’s acknowledge a few things:

1. Disease and illness was rampant in the ancient world. Without the medical understandings we have now, there were a lot of sick people and not a whole lot to do about it.

2. In the entire Old Testament, we have a record of what, maybe 3 healings in the 1500 years of OT record? The son of the widow at Zarephath (1 Ki. 17.23), Naaman (2 Ki. 5.14), and Hezekiah (2. Ki. 20.7-11).

What I’m saying is this: It’s simply impossible that the text means that God heals all our diseases. What makes more sense is that diseases in the ancient world were often thought to be the result of sin. By pairing “forgiveness of sin” with “healing from diseases,” David is most like meaning that God is in the business of forgiving our sins, and one result of that (proverbially speaking) is that we will be more healthy. It’s not a promise, for one, and it’s speaking mostly of sin anyway, for two.

Hope that helps. Ask more if more questions come to mind in response to what I’ve written.