“They provided them with clothes and sandals, food and drink, and healing balm.” 2 Chronicles 28:15
There is an old spiritual that has these words:
There is a balm in Gilead,
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead,
To heal the sin-sick soul.
If you cannot preach like Peter,
If you cannot pray like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.
This song speaks about a healing ointment or balm that came from Gilead, which was located on the east side of the Jordan River. There, a flowering plant produced a resin or salve that was used for healing.
The caravan that took Joseph to Egypt was carrying this precious cargo. “Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt” (Genesis 37:25).
This song was written to portray a comment by Jeremiah as he wept over the plight of Jerusalem: “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?” (Jeremiah 8:22). Jeremiah pleaded for the people to return to the Lord, their only hope, the source of their healing balm. So also we pray for our world. If only others might find the healing arms of Jesus, the balm that can satisfy their souls. Pray for those around you who are in need of God’s healing balm.
From the book “Precious Words of the Bible” by Reynold R. Kremer