June 19, 2013 (Wednesday)
When I was a very young man, I sang in many revival meetings. I had a two-ring notebook that contained the music and words to several solos that I sang at least once during every revival meeting. One of those songs was entitled, “Balm of Gilead.”
Balm of course is a medicine. The song was based on Jeremiah 8:22, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?” Jeremiah grieved over the people’s terrible spiritual condition, which could easily have been healed if only they turned to God.
Jeremiah asked the question, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?” (Jeremiah 8:22). The dire conditions of the people that caused them to need balm was given in the previous verse, “For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken; I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.” Jeremiah was dismayed that the condition of the people was so bad.
The situation in the days of Jeremiah was ironic, because Gilead was the source of a healing balm. It was there that the sickness went untreated. How very sad.
But what about us today? Every bit of news these days reflects the spiritual needs of our world. We meet ourselves coming and going, we run hither and thither seeking solutions for our problems and blaming whoever may be accused as a scapegoat. Why can we not understand that the problem is within ourselves? We are the ones in need of God’s medicine. We need the great Physician, Jesus.
I read of a person who died from a chronic illness. When her room was searched after her death, her friends found chests filled with medicines she never tried. That is precisely the condition of our nation today. God offers His precious balm; why do we not accept it and try it? To quote the song, “There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.”