Praise His Name

10/01/21 – 10/09/21

Yahweh Rapha: God Our Healer

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  10/03/21

Read Exodus 15:22-27.

They had been traveling through the desert for three long, hot, tiring days—without finding a drop of water to drink. Suffice it to say, the Israelites were thirsty and more than a bit dehydrated. Finally, they reached Marah, and there it was: a spring with enough water for everyone! But when they stooped down and began to drink, they discovered the water was bitter to the taste. So much for quenching their thirst!

The Israelites complained to Moses, “What are we to drink?” (Exodus 15:24). But they should have known that the God who brought ten plagues upon the Egyptians could provide drinkable water. They should have known that the God who passed over their blood-marked homes could deliver them from their dehydration. They should have known that the God who brought them through the Red Sea on dry ground could cure the bitter spring. That’s precisely what He did. God instructed Moses to toss a nearby piece of wood into the water, and suddenly the water became sweet.

That’s the God we worship. He is not the God of brokenness, but the God of wholeness. He cures. He restores. He resurrects. That is why He is Yahweh Rapha, “the God who heals.” He has power to overcome weakness, heal broken hearts, and renew shattered minds. No matter how deep our wounds, God will bring complete healing; He will make all things new.

Prayer: God, You are the restorer of my soul, my refuge, my Great Physician. I praise You for Your lovingkindness that is at work to make me new for eternity. I praise You, Yahweh Rapha. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“He said, ‘If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, . . . I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you'” (Exodus 15:26).