There are quotations from the Book of Psalms over one hundred times in the New Testament. Jesus, Paul, John and Peter all quote various Psalms again and again. The apostle Paul said, “ALL scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine. (See 2 Timothy 3:16-17). That is why I am astounded to find so many pastors and Christians ignoring, or flatly disbelieving, the plain and clear statements made by David in the 103rd Psalm. He begins the Psalm by praising God with every atom of his being, saying, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, AND ALL THAT IS WITHIN ME, bless His holy name” (verse 1). He then says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not ALL HIS BENEFITS” (verse 2). There are great, almost mind-boggling benefits that accrue to someone who has a valid, on-going relationship with their Creator. And it is the 3rd verse of this Psalm that spells out clearly and concisely what these benefits are: “who forgives ALL your iniquities, who heals ALL your diseases!”
Ask any pastor, or any Christian, “Does God forgive all your sins?” Without hesitation you will usually be told immediately, “Yes, indeed!” Then ask that same pastor or believer, “Does God heal ALL your diseases?” Wait for it. Wait for it. Yes, you will have to wait for it as there will usually be a long pause and a stumbling, fumbling, qualified answer, or even the answer “No, of course not!” And, of course, they are telling the truth as there are multitudes of pastors and believers who have never had an illness of disease that they are one hundred percent certain was healed by Almighty God.
To have one’s sins forgiven, there are conditions that must be met. Every novice Christian knows that. One must repent of their sins and there must be an acceptance of and firm belief in the atoning sacrifice that Jesus made for our sins on the cross. Likewise, there are conditions that must be met in order to have God divinely heal one’s diseases or illnesses. It is in the 17th and 18th verses of Psalm 103 that we learn the conditions God lays down for the healing of our diseases. Here are those two verses: “But the mercy of the Lord (in forgiving one’s sins and healing one’s diseases) is from everlasting to everlasting (from the beginning of time throughout eternity) upon them that fear Him (honoring and obeying Him) and His righteousness (His honoring His promises) unto children’s children (generation after generation) TO SUCH AS KEEP HIS COVENANT, AND TO THEM THAT REMEMBER HIS COMMANDMENTS TO DO THEM.”
Followers of the Lord prior to the cross were obligated to honor the Old Covenant. Followers of the Lord on this side of the cross are obligated to honor the New Covenant. ALL FOLLOWERS OF THE LORD BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER THE CROSS ARE OBLIGATED TO KEEP GOD’S COMMANDMENTS – ALL OF THEM! That is why Jesus told the rich young ruler who asked Him what one must do to inherit eternal life, “Keep the commandments!” (See Matthew 19:16-30). Most present day believers cannot cite one instance of having God divinely heal them of some illness due to the fact that they do not keep His commandments – the most universally ignored commandment being the fourth commandment that says, “REMEMBER the Sabbath day to keep it holy!”
Satan’s master stroke of spirit mind genius of all time was to deceive believers long ago that God’s holy Sabbath had been abolished and replaced with Sunday observance. There are only two highly ambiguous scriptures that even seem to imply that Sunday was some kind of special day to early Christians. (See Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2). But when the context of these two passages is examined closely one realizes that they do NOT set aside God’s eternal holy Sabbath day and they do NOT sanctify Sunday as a new holy day! That conclusion is totally absurd when one looks at all the scriptures that deal with the Sabbath issue.
Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley