Refrain: 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,
And then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again.
Refrain.
If you can’t preach like Peter,
If you can’t pray like Paul,
Go home and tell your neighbour
He died to save us all.
Refrain.
This song is an African-American spiritual, now
in the public domain. Nobody knows who wrote it originally but it seems that
everyone who sings it puts in a few different words, or changes a line here or
there. The lyrics shown here were sung by Paul Robeson in Carnegie Hall on May
9, 1958. I especially like them because they illustrate a New Testament story
of Jesus.
The background, of course, is from Jeremiah
8:22, where the prophet laments, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no
physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?” Jeremiah
is voicing the anguish of God, Himself, that the Jewish nation is about to fall
to the Babylonians, and there is no stopping it.
 |
| Gadara, in Gilead |
Gilead was Israelite territory on the southeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, and surrounded the New Testament town of Gadara (and Gerasa too). [Oxford Bible Atlas, p.133, 150.] Now we turn to Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; and Luke 8:26-39, but particularly vv.38-39.
Jesus and His disciples have just beached their
boat on the eastern shore of Galilee, and who should meet them but a violent and
desperate demoniac. In the process, Jesus heals him, casts out a “legion” of
impure spirits, and allows a herd of 2000 pigs to drown. As Jesus prepares to
head back west across the lake, the man, now clothed and in his right mind,
begs to go along. Jesus says, No. “Return home and tell how much God has done
for you.”
And there you have it. Jesus is, literally, the
Physician in Gilead, applying the healing balm of the Holy Spirit, just like
the prophet hoped. In fact, He sends the man home to tell his neighbours, as
the song now confirms.
