Psalms for the Sick: Praying in Illness
When the body fails, the Psalms give the suffering soul a voice and a refuge.
Illness is a kind of wilderness. The body that carried us now fails us, and we feel vulnerable in new ways. The Psalms do not look away from sickness; several were written from it.
Psalm 6 is a prayer of one "sore vexed" in body and soul, asking for healing and mercy. Psalm 38 is a lament in which physical suffering and conviction of sin are intertwined. Psalm 41 remembers the Lord’s mercy on the sick and the blessing of considering the weak.
Psalm 30 is a thanksgiving after recovery: "Thou hast healed me." Psalm 103 praises the God "who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases"—a promise of ultimate healing, even when temporal healing is delayed.
In illness, the Psalms let us pray our pain rather than hide it. They give us a God who is near to the suffering, who Himself bore our infirmities, and who promises that one day every disease will be no more.
Related Psalms
Psalm 6
“O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.”
A penitent plea for mercy in sickness and distress, ending in confident hope.
Read morePsalm 30
“I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.”
Thanksgiving for healing and deliverance, weeping turned to dancing.
Read more