(This is taken from My Journal Of Healing.)
This study began the morning of Tuesday, April 28, 2020. When I opened my Bible software, the following devotional from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotionals came up first, as usual. Lately, besides my diagnosis of having prostate cancer [in the summer 0f 2019], I have been struggling with some male, infection issues. It has caused me to cry out to the Lord for deliverance and lean even more upon His past promises to me in regards to my being healed of cancer.
Something else came to me on April 30, 2020 during a Bible study with my daughter and son-in-law. I have been, for the second time in about a month or so, on an antibiotic for this issue. I have been asking the Lord to let this be the last time for man’s medicine. It came to me that the medicine is to be taken once a day for ten days. I was reminded that, biblically speaking, ten is a number for testing (Rev. 2:10, Daniel 1:12-16, Numbers 14:22). It appears that my time of testing is nearly over and, I pray, that my deliverance and healing will then come! Once again, the Lord has strengthened and encouraged me in my journey through a timely word of hope.
This was the devotional from Spurgeon for today;
"Remember the word unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast caused me to hope."
Whatever your especial need may be, you may readily find some promise in the Bible suited to it. Are you faint and feeble because your way is rough and you are weary? Here is the promise; “He giveth power to the faint.” When you read such a promise, take it back to the great Promiser, and ask Him to fulfil His own word. Are you seeking after Christ, and thirsting for closer communion with Him? This promise shines like a star upon you; “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Take that promise to the throne continually; do not plead anything else, but go to God over and over again with this; “Lord, Thou hast said it, do as Thou hast said.” Are you distressed because of sin, and burdened with the heavy load of your iniquities? Listen to these words; “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions, and will no more remember thy sins.” You have no merit of your own to plead why He should pardon you, but plead His written engagements and He will perform them. Are you afraid lest you should not be able to hold on to the end, lest, after having thought yourself a child of God, you should prove a castaway? If that is your state, take this word of grace to the throne and plead it: “The mountains may depart, and the hills may be removed, but the covenant of My love shall not depart from thee.” If you have lost the sweet sense of the Savior’s presence, and are seeking Him with a sorrowful heart, remember the promises: “Return unto Me, and I will return unto you;” “For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.” Banquet your faith upon God's own word, and whatever your fears or wants, repair to the Bank of Faith with your Father's note of hand, saying, “Remember the word unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast caused me to hope.”
Psalm 119:49-50 – As Spurgeon declared above, the psalmist reminds God of His word of hope given to him. He says that His promise “preserves my life.” The Hebrew for this phrase also means, “to live, to have life, to remain alive, to sustain life, to revive, to live prosperously, to live forever, to be quickened, to be alive, to be restored to life or health.” This is my hope as well. The Lord is telling me to remind Him of what He spoke to me through His word. I believe it lets Him know that we believe and trust in what He has spoken to us, and have not forgotten the promise, in my case, of being “restored to life or health.”
49 Remember [2142] your word to your servant, for you have given me hope [3176- “to wait, to hope, to tarry, to expect”].
50 My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life [2421].
NIV
OT:2142 zakar (zaw-kar')
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
a primitive root; properly, to mark (so as to be recognized), i.e. to remember; by implication, to mention; also (as denominative from OT:2145) to be male:
KJV - burn [incense], earnestly, be male, (make) mention (of), be mindful, recount, record (-er), remember, make to be remembered, bring (call, come, keep, put) to (in) remembrance, still, think on, well.
(Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon)
to remember, to recall, to call to mind
a) (Qal) to remember, to recall
b) (Niphal) to be brought to remembrance, to be remembered, to be thought of, to be brought to mind
c) (Hiphil)
1) to cause to remember, to remind
2) to cause to be remembered, to keep in remembrance
3) to mention
4) to record
5) to make a memorial, to make remembrance
TO REMEMBER
A. Verb.
zakar [OT:2142] - "to remember, think of, mention." This root is found in Assyrian, Aramaic, Arabic, and Ethiopic. The group of words (the verb and the three nouns derived from it) is found throughout the Old Testament. The first occurrence of zakar is in Genesis 8:1 with God as the subject: "God remembered Noah...: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged." In Genesis 9:15 God said to Noah: "And I will remember my covenant...; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh." As in these two cases (cf. Gen. 6:18), "remember" is used of God in respect to His covenant promises and is followed by an action to fulfill His covenant. God delivered Lot from Sodom because of His covenant with Abraham to bless all the nations through him (Gen. 18:17-33): "God remembered Abraham, and brought Lot out of the catastrophe..." (Gen. 19:29), NIV. This marks the history of Israel at every major point: "And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel,... and I have remembered my covenant.... and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians..." (Ex. 6:5-6). The promise "to remember" was repeated in the covenant at Sinai (Lev. 26:40-45), God's remembrance was sung in the Psalms 98:3; 105:8,42; 106:45, and the promise was repeated by the prophets in regard to restoration from captivity (Ezekiel 16:60). The new covenant promise is: "...I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jer. 31:34).
Because of this God's people pray, as Moses: "Turn from thy fierce wrath.... Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest..." (Ex. 32:12-13); or Nehemiah: "Remember... the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses..." (Neh. 1:8), quoting Lev. 26:33; or the psalmist: "Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me..." (Psalm 25:7); or Jeremiah: "...remember, break not thy covenant with us" (Jer. 14:21).
Men also "remember." Joseph said to Pharaoh's butler: "But think on me..., and make mention of me unto Pharaoh..." (Gen. 40:14); NIV, "remember... and mention". Again, "to remember" means more than "to recall"; it means "to retain in thought" so as to tell someone who can take action (cf. Ps. 20:7). Zakar may have more specific connotations in certain circumstances: "Hear ye this, O house of Jacob,... which swear by the name of the Lord,... and make mention of the God of Israel..." (Isaiah 48:1). The NASB and the NIV translate the last clause "and invoke the God of Israel"; and the RSV has "confess." All point to the mention of God's name in worship. David appointed "Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke... the Lord..." (1 Chron. 16:4), RSV; NASB, "to celebrate"; NIV, "to make petition".
The covenant commanded Israel to "remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt..." (Ex. 13:3); to "remember the sabbath day..." (Ex. 20:8); to "remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand..." (Deut. 5:15) and often; and to "remember his marvelous works..." (Psalm 105:5; cf. 1 Chron. 16:15). But "the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies..." (Judges 8:34; cf. Psalm 78:42).
(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
OT:2421 chayah (khaw-yaw')
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
a primitive root [compare OT:2331, OT:2421]; to live, whether literally or figuratively; causatively, to revive:
KJV - keep (leave, make) alive, certainly, give (promise) life, (let, suffer to) live, nourish up, preserve (alive), quicken, recover, repair, restore (to life), revive, (X God) save (alive, life, lives), surely, be whole.
(Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon)
to live, to have life, to remain alive, to sustain life, to live prosperously, to live forever, to be quickened, to be alive, to be restored to life or health
a) (Qal)
1) to live
a) to have life
b) to continue in life, to remain alive
c) to sustain life, to live on or to live upon
d) to live (prosperously)
2) to revive, to be quickened
a) from sickness
b) from discouragement
c) from faintness
d) from death
b) (Piel)
1) to preserve alive, to let live
2) to give life
3) to quicken, to revive, to refresh
a) to restore to life
b) to cause to grow
c) to restore
d) to revive
c) (Hiphil)
1) to preserve alive, to let live
2) to quicken, to revive
a) to restore (to health)
b) to revive
c) to restore to life
chayah [OT:2421] - "to live." This verb, which has cognates in most other Semitic languages (except Akkadian), occurs 284 times in biblical Hebrew and in all periods. In the ground stem this verb connotes "having life": "And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years..." (Gen. 5:3). A similar meaning appears in Numbers 14:38 and Joshua 9:21.
The intensive form of chayah means "to preserve alive": "...two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee..." (Gen. 6:19). This word may also mean "to bring to life" or "to cause to live": "...I dwell... with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones" (Isaiah 57:15).
"To live" is more than physical existence. According to Deut. 8:3, "man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." Moses said to Israel: "...love the Lord thy God... that thou mayest live and multiply" (Deut. 30:16).
(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
Acts 10:37-38 – This verse shows that the devil can “oppress,” can “exercise dominion against” mankind by putting sickness and disease on us. The good news is that Jesus came to set us free!
37 you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.
38 "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed [2616] by the devil, for God was with Him.
NASU
Acts 10:37-38
37 You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power [2616] of the devil, because God was with him.
NIV
NT:2616 katadunasteuo (kat-ad-oo-nas-tyoo'-o)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from NT:2596 and a derivative of NT:1413; to exercise dominion against, i.e. oppress:
KJV - oppress.
(Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)
to exercise harsh control over one, to use one's power against one; (James 2:6) to oppress one
James 5:13-18 – The prayer of faith to “save, to keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction, and to save one (from injury or peril); to save a suffering one (from perishing), e. g. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health (Matthew 9:22).”
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore [4982] the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up [1453], and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective [1754] prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly [4335] that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.
18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
NASU
NT:4982 sozo (sode'-zo)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from a primary sos (contraction for obsolete saoz, "safe"); to save, i.e. deliver or protect (literally or figuratively):
KJV - heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.
(Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)
to save, to keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction
a. universally, tina, one (from injury or peril); to save a suffering one (from perishing), e. g. one
suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health (Matthew 9:22)
b. to save (Matthew 1:21)
NT:1453 egeiro (eg-i'-ro)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
probably akin to the base of NT:58 (through the idea of collecting one's faculties); to waken (transitively or intransitively), i.e. rouse (literally, from sleep, from sitting or lying, from disease, from death; or figuratively, from obscurity, inactivity, ruins, nonexistence):
KJV - awake, lift (up), raise (again, up), rear up, (a-) rise (again, up), stand, take up.
(Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)
properly, rise, i. e. Up! Come!
1. to arouse from sleep, to awake (Acts 12:7)
2. to arouse from the sleep of death, to recall the dead to life (John 5:21)
3. in later usage generally to cause to rise, raise, from a seat, bed, etc.
a. of one sitting (John 11:29, Matthew 9:19)
b. of one reclining (John 13:4)
c. of one lying, to raise up (Acts 10:26)
d. of one "down" with disease, lying sick: active (Mark 9:27; Acts 3:7)
4. To raise up, produce, cause to appear
a. to cause to appear, bring before the public (Acts 13:23)
b. to raise up, incite, stir up, against one
c. to raise up, i. e. cause to be born (Matthew 3:9)
d. of buildings, to raise, construct, erect (John 2:19 f)
NT:1754 energeo (en-erg-eh'-o)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from NT:1756; to be active, efficient:
KJV - do, (be) effectual (fervent), be mighty in, shew forthself, work (effectually in).
(Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)
1. intransitive, to be operative, be at work, put forth power (Matthew 14:2)
2. transitive, to effect (1 Cor. 12:11)
3. the middle voice, to display one's activity, to show oneself operative (2 Thess. 2:7)
NT:4335 proseuche (pros-yoo-khay')
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from NT:4336; prayer (worship); by implication, an oratory (chapel):
KJV - pray earnestly, prayer.
(Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)
1. prayer addressed to God (Matthew 17:21)
2. a place set apart or suited for the offering of prayer
a. a synagogue
b. a place in the open air where the Jews were accustomed to pray, outside of those cities
where they had no synagogue
1 Corinthians 11:23-32 – I believe that this is not only a reminder of our being in covenant with God and the extreme seriousness of our walking in obedience, but also a reminder to the Lord of His covenantal obligations toward us. As Spurgeon said to go to “the great Promiser, and ask Him to fulfill His own word.” In other words, to remind Him of His promises which means we have become aware of them by the Holy Spirit (Psalm 25:14) and are looking to Him to fulfill them which I believe He desires from His children. It means that we are trusting in Him to do what He has spoken. (Also see Luke 22:14-23.)
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance [364] of Me."
25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance [364] of Me."
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.
30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned [ along with the world.
NASU
NT:364 anamnesis (an-am'-nay-sis)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from NT:363 [“to call to remembrance, to remind, to remember and weigh well, to consider”]; recollection:
KJV - remembrance (again).
(Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)
a remembering, recollection to call me (affectionately) to remembrance (Luke 22:19)
anamnesis [NT:364] - "a remembrance" (ana, "up," or "again," and A, No. 1), is used (a) in Christ's command in the institution of the Lord's Supper (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24,25), not "in memory of" but in an affectionate calling of the Person Himself to mind; (b) of the "remembrance" of sins (Heb. 10:3), RV, "a remembrance" (KJV, "a remembrance again"; but the prefix ana does not here signify "again"); what is indicated, in regard to the sacrifices under the Law, is not simply an external bringing to "remembrance," but an awakening of mind. In the Sept., Lev. 24:7; Numbers 10:10; Psalms 38:1 and 70, Titles.
(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
Genesis 9:12-17 - The Lord's promise to Noah that when He sees the rainbow in the sky, which is the sign of the covenant between Him and the earth, that He will "remember" it and never again destroy all flesh with a flood.
12 God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations;
13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
14 "It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,
15 and I will remember [2142- see def. in Psalm 119:49 above] My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 "When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember [2142] the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
17 And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."
NASU
Esther 7:1-4 – In this passage, Haman, the enemy of the Jews had incited the King to make a proclamation against the Jews. It was turned back on him through the courage of Esther who had, by Divine appointment, become queen. Her petition included her life, as a Jew, and for her “people.” Obviously, she was referring to her fellow Jewish people, but I see something else in here. The definitions for the Hebrew interpreted here as “people” have many implications. It is “a people, a tribe, a nation, a kinsman [relative], a flock.” What came to me was the interceding for not only yourselves but also for your family, your nation, and even your fellow Christians. Interestingly, thinking of the Bride of Christ, it also is referred to, collectively speaking as “troops or attendants.” I am also reminded of Rachel, the future bride of Jacob in Genesis 29:9-10 who brought her flocks to the well that Jacob then opened for them to drink.
In verse 3 the Hebrew for “request” is baqqashah (bak-kaw-shaw'). It’s taken from baqash (baw-kash') which is defined as “to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer); by implication, to strive after, to seek, to require, to desire, to exact, to request.” Esther’s prayer, I believe, is the type of “fulfill your own words” prayer that Spurgeon spoke of.
1 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther,
2 and as they were drinking wine on that second day, the king again asked, "Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted."
3 Then Queen Esther answered, "If I have found favor [see the Bible study Have Grace] with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life — this is my petition. And spare my people [5971] — this is my request [1246].
4 For I and my people have been sold for destruction and slaughter and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king."
NIV
OT:5971 `am (am)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from OT:6004 [“to associate; by implication, to overshadow (by huddling together)”]; a
KJV - folk, men, nation, people.
(Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon)
1) a nation, a people
a) a people, a nation
b) persons, members of one's people, compatriots, country-men
2) a kinsman, kindred [relative]
OT:1246 baqqashah (bak-kaw-shaw')
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from OT:1245 people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock:
KJV - folk, men, nation, people.
(Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon)
1) a nation, a people
a) a people, a nation
b) persons, members of one's people, compatriots, country-men
2) a kinsman, kindred [relative]
OT:1246 baqqashah (bak-kaw-shaw')
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from OT:1245 [see def. below]; a petition:
KJV - request.
(Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon)
a request, an entreaty, a petition
OT:1245 baqash (baw-kash')
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
a primitive root; to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer); by implication, to strive after:
KJV - ask, beg, beseech, desire, enquire, get, make inquisition, procure, (make) request, require, seek (for).
(Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon)
to seek, to require, to desire, to exact, to request
a) (Piel)
1) to seek to find
2) to seek to secure [see Ruth 3:1]
3) to seek the face [see Numbers 14:38]
4) to desire, to demand
5) to require, to exact
6) to ask, to request
b) (Pual) to be sought
baqash [OT:1245] - …To seek one's face is "to seek" to come before him, or to have a favorable audience with him; all the world "was seeking" the presence of Solomon (1 Kings 10:24). In a similar sense one may "seek" God's face by standing before Him in the temple praying (2 Samuel 21:1)… This sense of "seeking to secure" may also be used of seeking one's life (nepesh). God told Moses to "go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life" (Exodus 4:19)… Theologically, this verb can be used not only "to seek" a location before the Lord (to stand before Him in the temple and seek to secure His blessing), but it may also be used of a state of mind: "But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him [daras] with all thy heart and with all thy soul" (Deut. 4:29). In instances such as this where the verb is used in synonymous parallelism with darash, the two verbs have the same meaning.
(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
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