Discovering
Spiritual Healing
Psalms
119:25-48; Matthew 5:6
Jim Davis
I ran across a prayer of Michael Easley on
Oneplace.com, which he had written out. I believe it exemplifies the
battle raging in each of us. Listen:
“Why is it hard to
obey when I know a thing to be right, when I know a thing to be true,
when I know anything else is sin? Why does my flesh crave the physical
pull, the natural bend, the ‘here and now’ so control? Forgive me for
tasking my children to obey when I do not. Forgive me for expecting
others to obey when I feign. Forgive me for pointing out others’
disobedience when I conceal. Make me see my sin clear and present so
that I may deal with You, on Your terms and not mine. Create in me a
cleansed heart. Refresh my longing to obey. Enthuse me to submit.
Transform me so that I will live by faith. Dear Sovereign who has paid
my all, help me find a clear and faithful path to always want to obey
more eagerly than I want to sin. I pray this in my Savior’s name, amen.”
It is no problem for us to pray for a
long lost uncle who just got in touch with us because he is dying with
cancer. But to pray the kind of prayer we have just read is so
foreign to us. Someone suggested those who lead public prayer should
record the prayers and go home and listen to them. It would be much like
me trying to listen to my own preaching. I am so self-critical I can
hardly listen to them.
This prayer reveals the never-ending
challenge of Christianity to allow God to establish his kingdom in our
hearts. We need something more lasting than self-help and
self-improvement. We can not fight spiritual battles with carnal
weapons. Carnal weapons are simply fleshly weapons. The flesh is weak.
The flesh will not defeat itself, because its own selfish interest is at
stake.
The spirit is willing but the flesh is
very weak. I don’t know how many times I have decided to go on a
diet tomorrow or to exercise more tomorrow. The flesh is always telling
me tomorrow is certainly a perfect day for either. Tomorrow never comes.
Why? There is something about this old fleshly body programmed to look
out for its own interest. Fighting spiritual battles with fleshly
weapons is like pitting one demon in our life against an opposing demon
in our life. There is no way either demon will let us win, because their
job is to make you lose. Demons hardly cooperate with each other for
their own good much less our good.
When Jesus went into the area of the
Gerasenes he came upon a demon possessed man. His name was
Legion because he had many demons. Yet, the man had been driven out into
the graveyard to live. He had been chained, but the demons broke the
chain. They had enormous power. They knew Jesus for they were afraid he
would torment them before their time. Yet, they couldn’t cooperate with
each other as they possessed this man. The man was in a confused stupor.
The demons couldn’t even cooperate inside his body for their own good,
much less his. This is what the demons want to do to us today in a much
more sophisticated way. They throw us into confusion as we seek God’s
will for our lives. The demons over power us in our confusion. We need
Christ to focus our lives and cast out our demons.
Seek God’s Protection
The greatest thing I need when I decide
to engage in battle with these demons is assurance. I spoke to
my nephew who is a new Army recruit going to Afghanistan soon. I ask
him to be careful and watch out for himself. He told me, “The people I
am going with have been there and have returned safe. They will take
care of me.” We need to have this kind of confidence when we face
Satan’s onslaught. We have a savior who has been through it and he knows
how to take care of us.
Paul encourages us to put on Christ in
baptism. Putting on Christ allows us to be secure in Christ’s
righteousness. God offers us his protection through the righteousness of
Christ. The psalmist writes, “Preserve my life in your righteousness”
(Psalms 119:40).
Galatians
3:26-29
26 You are all
sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were
baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is
neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all
one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise. NIV
Clothing yourself with Christ means to
be clothed with Christ’s righteousness and his power. Our new
self is none other than Christ. We have been crucified with Christ. We
no longer live for self. Christ is now living through us in his
resurrection power. We fear what men may do to us, but once we are in
Christ our security is with God.
We shouldn’t only fear what man will do
to us. Men may take our lives. God can save or destroy our
souls. If we choose to live in fear, let us fear of God. It is more
rewarding.
Matthew
10:25-33
If the head of
the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his
household!
26 "So do not
be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be
disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in
the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim
from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but
cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both
soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not
one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don't be
afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 "Whoever
acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father
in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him
before my Father in heaven. NIV
Wherever God rules his power is exerted.
Jesus prayed for God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
I want to simplify it—he was asking for me to pray for God to
rule in my heart, in my mind, in my actions, yea, in my life. Where God
rules his power is felt. Jesus indicates this should be the focus of our
every prayer.
Focus your Life through
the Word
We may want to experience the power of
God before we acknowledge his ways for our lives. We may desire
the wisdom of God without obedience. This is not the way it works. The
wisdom and power of God comes as we obey. You can’t experience the power
of a car engine without first filling the gas tank. There is no chance
of experiencing the power of God without first being filled with the
knowledge of God. There is no chance of experiencing the power or wisdom
of God without allowing the knowledge of God to rule our hearts.
God works out his plan to salvage our lives as
we seek to work out our own salvation in the scheme of life. It is our
response to God that allows his wisdom and power to enter our lives.
Philippians
2:12-13
12 Therefore,
my dear friends, as you have always obeyed — not only in my presence,
but now much more in my absence — continue to work out your salvation
with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and
to act according to his good purpose.
I want you to listen to a prayer of one
of the psalmist. Listen to how he’s pleading for God to rule in
his life. It’s the kind of praying that leads to a powerful way of
living.
Psalms
119:25-32
25 Daleth
I am laid low
in the dust;
preserve my
life according to your word.
26 I recounted
my ways and you answered me;
teach me your
decrees.
27 Let me
understand the teaching of your precepts;
then I will
meditate on your wonders.
28 My soul is
weary with sorrow;
strengthen me
according to your word.
29 Keep me
from deceitful ways;
be gracious to
me through your law.
I have set my
heart on your laws.
31 I hold fast
to your statutes, O LORD;
do not let me
be put to shame.
32 I run in
the path of your commands,
for you have
set my heart free.
The psalmist is laid low in the dust.
This is like saying he is down and out with seemingly no way to look but
up. He has come up completely empty. His life is melting away in tears
of regret. I am so glad he doesn’t tell us his specific problem. The
specificity of the problem is unimportant. The most crucial aspect of
this psalm is his desire to bring his problem to God—his desire to be
filled with God’s ways.
He says, “I have recounted my ways…teach
me your decrees.” He doesn’t want to listen to his own deceitful
ways, which may have been what brought him low in the dust. He prays
“Keep me from deceitful ways . . . do not let me be put to shame.” He is
smart enough to know he cannot continue to listen to his own lies. He is
recounting his ways—considering his ways—he is examining his life. His
desire is for God’s word to preserve his life as he obeys his word.
The Christian’s greatest task is to
challenge the deceitfulness our world. Satan, the prince of our world is
a master at distorting our perspective and warping our thoughts.
The Bible is given to us to enable us to recognize Satan’s deception.
There is no way we can rise above defeat until we can identify Satan’s
deception for what it is.
The signature of God’s person is the
willingness to test herself with God’s word. Paul tells us to examine
ourselves.
2 Corinthians
13:5-10
5 Examine
yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you
not realize that Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you fail
the test? 6 And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed
the test. 7 Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not
that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do
what is right even though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do
anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 We are glad
whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your
perfection. 10 This is why I write these things when I am absent, that
when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority — the
authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you
down. NIV
Psalms
119:33-40
33 He
Teach me, O
LORD, to follow your decrees;
then I will
keep them to the end.
34 Give me
understanding,
and I will
keep your law and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me
in the path of your commands,
for there I
find delight.
36 Turn my
heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my
eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my
life according to your word.
38 Fulfill
your promise to your servant,
so that you
may be feared.
39 Take away
the disgrace I dread,
for your laws
are good.
40 How I long
for your precepts!
Preserve my
life in your righteousness.
The psalmist cries out “Fulfill your
promise to your servant, so that you may be feared.” He wants
God to fulfill his promise of salvation so he can reverence and worship.
It is almost as if he is saying “Lord, if you will salvage my life I
will worship you.” It is as if he is saying God you will bring honor to
yourself when you take away my disgrace. It is like Jacob saying, “God
if you will bless me, I will give you a tenth of everything I earn.”
The psalmist wants God to salvage his
life so his enemies would fear the Lord. God’s salvation has
always brought people to fear and obey. When the ancient peoples of the
Bible beheld what Jehovah was doing among the Jews they were often
struck with awe and filled with fear. It wasn’t always the kind of fear
that brought them to repentance. It was the kind of fear that made them
afraid to harm God’s people.
May your
unfailing love come to me, O LORD,
your salvation
according to your promise;
42 then I will
answer the one who taunts me,
for I trust in
your word.
43 Do not
snatch the word of truth from my mouth,
for I have put
my hope in your laws.
44 I will
always obey your law,
for ever and
ever.
45 I will walk
about in freedom,
for I have
sought out your precepts.
46 I will
speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame,
47 for I
delight in your commands
because I love
them.
48 I lift up
my hands to your commands, which I love,
and I meditate
on your decrees.
There is nothing more taunting to our
enemies than for them to see us rise from the dust of our own failures.
The psalmist asks God to salvage his life and, “then I will answer the
one who taunts me.” The psalmist sees himself surrounded by his enemies
that wish to harm him, but he walks around in freedom as God salvages
his life. “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your
precepts.” This is where God’s people become a living testimony to God’s
power of salvation. He writes, “I will speak of your statutes before
kings and will not be put to shame, for I delight in your commands
because I love them.”
I believe there is a passage of
scripture of New Testament scripture that is a commentary on these
verses.
1 Peter 2:9-17
9 But you are
a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging
to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but
now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now
you have received mercy.
11 Dear
friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain
from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good
lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they
may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
13 Submit
yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men:
whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who
are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do
right. 15 For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the
ignorant talk of foolish men. 16 Live as free men, but do not use your
freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17 Show proper
respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor
the king.
Conclusion:
