The God who Gathers, Rebuilds and Heals

Amidst the trials and tribulations and breakdowns of our lives, our God continues to gather His people together, to restore and rebuild and heal lives and nations and peoples. Psalm 147 celebrates one such occasion in the life of Judah, the Sixth Century BCE return of the exiles from Babylon and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple. It gives us a model of hope for all of us who are God’s people. I share a portion of that psalm with you.

Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The Lord lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground. 

God is a restorer and Psalm 147 offers us a vision of a world restored, no matter how deep the ruptures. This is a vital message for all people in our world today. In Chapter one of Mark’s Gospel, we see the same power of God working through Jesus to heal, rebuild and restore. “That evening at sundown Jesus healed Simon Peter’s Mother-in-law, who then cared for Jesus and the disciples. The people in the village brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.” The next morning, even though “everyone was searching for him,” he called the disciples together and explained that it was time to head out to the neighboring towns “to proclaim the message there as well, for that is what I came to do.”

Jesus, like the Psalmist, preaches the Good News of the coming Kingdom of God, by gathering, restoring and healing. That is why he came into the world. Through the ultimate miracle of His death and resurrection, and the power of the Holy Spirit promised to us by the resurrected Christ, we continue to be healed today, so that God through us will continue to gather, rebuild, heal and restore. As God heals each of us of our broken hearts, bodies and souls, we receive the power of the Holy Spirit to bring healing to those around us, and to the whole world.

This is God’s Good News for us today!