The Sick Bed

Psalm 41:3 “The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness;
You will sustain him on his sickbed.”

Have you ever been healed of a sickness?

There is much debate when it comes to the topic of healing. Some believe the gift of healing ended with the Apostles, others believe that God wants everyone to be physically healed. My concern with topics such as this are the emotional ties people carry with them when considering such a subject. You might be suffering from a chronic illness that you have prayed earnestly for or have a loved one going through the same circumstances, just because you can’t see God’s hand moving doesn’t mean He has forsaken you.

Jeremiah 32:27 “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”

I believe without a doubt that I have been redeemed by God from sin. I can’t show you any tangible evidence to convince you this is true but there is an element of God’s Spirit in me that shows Himself to be true. If I allow the perfect qualities of the Spirit of God to manifest in and through my life I might be able to demonstrate how I have been changed. The corrupt nature of sin was leading me toward eternal death but when the Lord revived me from sin I was given new life and I was spiritually healed.

I believe the Word of God and because of this I believe what God says is true. The question is—What is God actually saying?

Psalm 41:1 “Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him”

When I read a scripture about healing in Psalms , does this mean that if I consider the poor I’ll be healed if I get sick? I know from personal experience this is not true and the reason why I know this is because I have known many people who have devoted their lives to the poor, who then got sick and died.

If I maintain a view of God that is not in accordance with His Word, I give myself over to a doctrine that invokes trouble in my life. Inevitably I am going to witness something that conflicts with my false view of God and it is then that my faith in God will be shaken. I will tend to draw false conclusions about God based off my false view of His Word. If I allow my understanding of God to be based solely on experience , I am placing my understanding over God’s revealed Truth.

What is the correct position to take?

If God reveals Truth that is contrary to my personal experience, I need to adjust my position so that it aligns with God’s position, not try to fit something God spoke into what I thought I believed.

The Lord will Sustain you!

Isaiah 9:7 “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.”

The word ‘sustain’ in the Hebrew is the term ‘Saad’. When the Lord says that he will sustain a man who “considers the poor” on his sick bed, we can look at what God was implying by understanding the meaning of the word.

In Isaiah 9, the prophecy of the coming Messiah reveals the methods of His rule and reign. The Kingdom of God is comprised of the people of God who have responded to His call throughout history, up until today. He said He will sustain(saad) His people with Justice and Righteousness. If we apply the meaning of this concept and write the verse in light of that meaning, we might understand how it reveals a clue to what God is saying….

**In Justice and Righteousness the Lord will sustain a sick man who considers the poor.

Justice implies judgement. Righteousness is a revelation of God’s perfection. It seems God is less concerned about the man’s body and more concerned about His spiritual condition.

If we look at this term again in the Psalms, we see another element of God’s revelation…

Psalm 18:35 “You have given me Your shield of salvation; Your right hand upholds(saad) me, and Your gentleness exalts me.”

David relates God’s sustaining hand with salvation. The power of God is revealed, and His gentleness is made evident by His sustaining hand. In the midst of our weakness, the scripture is saying that God’s gift of salvation is related to the way He sustains us. God’s people are made strong by God’s strength and by His salvation He keeps His people and even exalts them.

God’s gentleness is a reflection of His control. Another word for gentleness is meekness, it is found in His strength and is a revelation of His Sovereignty.

After all of this consideration, let’s look at our sick man once more…..

**In justice and righteousness, by the power of God, the Sovereign Lord gives a sick man strength in meekness by meeting him in his weakness.

Justice is a reflection of God’s position, righteousness is a reflection of our position in obedience. As our Judge, God has brought us out from spiritual death to life through the blood of the Lamb. God has imparted His righteousness(perfection) to us. The saints of old looked forward to the promise fulfilled, they received the promise when Jesus died upon the cross, He then brought them out of Sheol into glory by His resurrection.

Where is the sick man now?

**By God’s authority as Judge He recognizes His people’s position in Christ and by His power He has sovereignly ordained their future in Him. In the midst of their weakness, He becomes their strength.

Psalm 94:18 “If I say, “My foot slips,” Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up(saad).”

It is by God’s mercy and grace His people are redeemed from sin.

Proverbs 20:28 “Mercy and truth preserve the king, And by lovingkindness he upholds(saad) his throne.”

God’s forgiveness as judge is a function of His grace and mercy. The King is Jesus–forever, His throne will be founded on the principles of mercy and truth and upon His throne love reigns supreme. God’s people are made virtuous by the anointing of His perfection.

An Exhortation

What promises can the sick man of virtue come to expect?—He will recognize that his body is the least of His concerns. People make such a ridiculous amount of investment into their bodies only to see it perish in time. If we try to apply scripture with the hope of living in these bodies just a little bit longer, we will find ourselves disappointed. If our health is tied directly to our happiness or if a loved one dies at an age we consider young, we might consider it a tragedy and think God has forsaken us. We might draw false conclusions of Satan’s power or relegate sickness to unconfessed sin. When belief doesn’t match up with reality, people have to form unscriptural conclusions to their circumstances.

The human body is completely corrupted by sin….why on earth would anyone want to hold on even a second longer than what God has allowed? People redeemed of the Lord, look forward to a land that God has promised, enjoying it in new bodies that are void of a sinful nature that has caused nothing but trouble.

The sick bed is not a time for mourning, in many cases it is a prelude to a coming graduation. The saint who has an illness that leads to death has endured a physical death, not a spiritual one—they were made alive in Christ and they will keep on living beyond the limitations of a world that will perish.

When we examine the context of this exhortation in Psalms, we recognize the spiritual implication of God’s view of true sickness.

Psalm 41:4 “As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you!”

The sick bed is the position of a person who is living in sin. Sin corrupts and ultimately destroys lives. Sin does lead to many physical ailments, but the curse of sin is directly linked to mankind’s spiritual condition, not his physical state. We know that sin leads to trouble. Those who partake regularly find all sorts of mental anguish, sexual diseases, liver disease, heart disease, broken relationships, and the list goes on. Living in righteousness not only leads people in spiritual purity, it leads to physical well being as well.

The way God sustains His people is by leading them in righteousness and truth. There are times in His mercy that He heals the physical but there are many more times He does not. Whether you live to be 15, 50 or 100 years of age, the span of life is only a blip on the spectrum of eternity.

Living wisely is to live for what is lasting.

Now, God’s people can hold onto the promise: That by God’s authority as Judge He recognizes His people’s position in Christ and by His power, He has sovereignly ordains their future in Him. In the midst of weakness, He is their strength and He will continue to sustain and preserve their lives by His love.

That sustaining is for eternity!

This is God’s promise and it is a promise worth holding onto.