May 18, 2026; Jehovah Rapha - The Lord who Heals

Daily Dose of Hope May 18, 2026   Name of God: Jehovah Rapha – The Lord Who Heals, Scripture: Exodus 15:26, Psalm 103:2-3, 147:3, Jeremiah 30:17, Isaiah 53:5, Matthew 8:16-17   Prayer:  Jehovah Rapha, You are my Healer. I bring before You my pain, my fears, and my brokenness. Touch every part of me that needs restoration—my body, my mind, and my spirit. Fill me with Your peace, strength, and hope. I trust in Your promise to heal and restore me, today and always. Amen   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope!  Happy Monday!  The Daily Dose is the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan.  We have been walking through the Old Testament names of God.  I don't know about you, but I have been finding this really fascinating.  We learn so much from the divine names, as they each illustrate some aspect of God's character.   The name we are discussing today is Jehovah Rapha.  Jehovah, which we discussed last week, can be translated in English as Lord. Rapha means to heal, to make complete or to make whole. The two combined together means, the God who heals. God is the Great Physician, and He can heal emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. He may not bring healing in the way that is expected but will always bring healing in the way that is needed.  The Hebrew word rapha shows up 67 times throughout the Old Testament.   We see this in our first Scripture for today.  Exodus 15:26 says, If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am [Jehovah Rapha], the Lord who heals you. The Israelites were thirsty and were grumbling to Moses.  The water was bitter.  So, God told Moses to throw a specific piece of wood in the water to make it fit to drink.  And he did.  God revealed to His people that He is the One who will protect them and heal them if they would their trust in Him and obey.    As you follow the idea of rapha throughout the Old Testament, you see three distinct areas God healed: Physical (see Genesis 20:17; 2 Kings 20:8; Psalm 103:2-5; Jeremiah 30:17) Emotional (see Psalm 147:3) Spiritual (see Psalm 41:4; Jeremiah 3:22) If you take a look at the rest of today's Scripture reading, see if you can identify what kind of healing God is doing.  All of this healing, however, was leading up to the point where that same God, Jehovah Rapha, took on flesh and demonstrated His great love for His people.  In Jesus, we find a God who loves to heal.  Think about the words of the prophet Isaiah, in talking about the coming Messiah, he said this: But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound … (Isaiah 61:1). And Jesus did just that, didn't he?  He walked closely with the poor, he healed the sick and lame, he healed hearts, and he provided freedom.  Jesus was Jehovah Rapha.  What kind of healing do you need today?  Spend some time and pray to the Lord who heals, Jehovah Rapha.  Cry out to Him by name and ask for whatever you need. Blessings, Pastor Vicki