|
|
Chorus: There is a balm in Gilead To make the wounded whole; There is a balm in Gilead To heal the sin—sick soul. Sometimes I feel discouraged, And think my work’s in vain, But then the Holy Spirit Revives my soul again. (chorus) If you cannot preach like Peter, If you cannot pray like Paul, You can tell the love of Jesus, And say, “He died for all.” (Chorus) ~Traditional spiritual After Joseph’s brothers beat him up and threw him into a pit, they sold him to a caravan passing through. The merchants were traveling from Gilead to Egypt, with spices, balm and myrrh. Gilead, the area just east of the Jordan near Galilee, was famous for its medicinal balms. When Jeremiah
cried out for the healing of his people, he looked for a cure in Gilead but
found hone. Of course, theirs
was not a physical aliment but a spiritual one. The people were rebellious, obstinate, and willfully blind
to what God was doing. The disease was
sin. We all suffer from
“sin-sick souls.” We are unable
to live righteous lives. This is
the human condition, the plague of Adam’s curse—a terminal illness. Fortunately, this
song answers Jeremiah’s question with the resounding yes. There is a balm in Gilead, and it
rests in the simple truth that Jesus died for all, and He alone can heal the
soul sick with sin.
For
the hurt of my people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of
me. Is there no balm in
Gilead? Is there no physician
there? Why then has the health
of my poor people not been restored? Jeremiah
8: 21-22
http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/comfortoflife/
|
