Is There No Balm in Gilead?

We have here the prophet himself bewailing the calamity and ruin of his people, for there were more of the lamentations of Jeremiah than those we find in the book which bears that title.

Observe here (1) how great his griefs were. He was an eyewitness of the desolations of his country and now saw those things which, by the spirit of prophecy, he had foreseen. In the foresight, much more in the sight, of them, he cries out, “When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me” (verse 18). I die away at the considerations of it. I do but labor in vain; nay, every attempt to alleviate the grief does but aggravate it.

It is our wisdom and duty under mournful events to do what we can to comfort ourselves against our sorrow by suggesting to ourselves such considerations as are proper to allay the grief and balance the grievance. However, sometimes the sorrow is such that the more it is repressed, the more strongly it recoils. This may sometimes be the case of very good men, as of the prophet here, whose soul refused to be comforted and fainted at the cordial (Psalm 77:2-3).

He tells us (verse 21) what was the matter: It is for the hurt of the daughter of my people that I am thus hurt; it is for their sin and the miseries they have brought upon themselves by it. It is for this that I am black, that I look black, that I go in black as mourners do, and that astonishment hath taken hold on me so that I know not what to do nor which way to turn.

Note, the miseries of our country ought to be very much the grief of our souls. A gracious spirit will be a public spirit, a tender spirit, a mourning spirit. It becomes us to lament the miseries of our fellow-creatures, much more to lay to heart the calamities of our country, and especially of the Church of God, to grieve for the affliction of Joseph.

Jeremiah had prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, and though the truth of his prophecy was questioned, yet he did not rejoice in the proof of the truth of it by the accomplishment of it, preferring the welfare of his country before his own reputation. If Jerusalem had repented and been spared, he would have been far from fretting as Jonah did. Jeremiah had many enemies in Judah and Jerusalem that hated, reproached, and persecuted him; in the judgments brought upon them, God reckoned with them for it and pleaded His prophet’s cause. Yet, Jeremiah was far from rejoicing in it, so truly did he forgive his enemies and desire that God would forgive them.

Observe here (2) how small his hopes were (verse 22): Is there no balm in Gilead—no medicine proper for a sick and dying kingdom? Is there no physician there—no skillful, faithful hand to apply the medicine? He looks upon the case to be deplorable and past relief. There is no balm in Gilead that can cure the disease of sin, no physician there who can restore the health of a nation quite overrun by such a foreign army as that of the Chaldeans. The desolations made are irreparable, and the disease has presently come to such a height that there is no checking it.

Or this verse may be understood as laying all the blame of the incurableness of their disease upon themselves; and so the question must be answered affirmatively: Is there no balm in Gilead—no physician there? Yes, certainly there is; God is able to help and heal them; there is a sufficiency in Him to redress all their grievances.

Gilead was a place in their own land, not far off. They had among themselves God’s law and His prophets with the help of which they might have been brought to repentance and their ruin prevented. They had princes and priests whose business it was to reform the nation and redress their grievances. What could have been done more than had been done for their recovery? Why, then, was not their health restored?

Certainly, it was not owing to God but to themselves. It was not for want of balm and a physician but because they would not admit the application nor submit to the methods of cure. The physician and physic were both ready but the patient was willful and irregular, would not be tied to rules but must be humored.

Note, if sinners die of their wounds, their blood is upon their own head. The blood of Christ is balm in Gilead; His Spirit is the physician there, both sufficient, all sufficient, so that they might have been healed but would not.

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