Life is full of failures, disappointments, and sorrows. Sometimes everything seems to be against us. Nothing works right. Trouble after trouble drives you to despair. Sleepless nights bring dark thoughts running around in circles. You feel your stomach churning. You can hear your heart beating in acceleration. Your blood pressure is elevated. Well . . . you must find out the cause before you can expect help.

King David had been a great sufferer with a guilty conscience, until the prophet Nathan came to him with the Lord’s rebuke, “Thou art the man” (2 Samuel 12:7). Only then did David make a confession. He prayed:

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee” (Psalm 51:1-13).

Only after his reconciliation with God did David find peace. He wrote:

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:1-5).

A chronic guilt complex is the main cause of anxiety (a feeling of fear and uncertainty), which makes you look restless, tired, and pale. A specialist in arthritis and rheumatism says:

“Fifty-one percent of the cases of arthritis, rheumatism, and colitis, in patients that I have examined in the hospital, originated from a feeling of remorse that was tormenting their conscience.”

One day a middle-aged man, suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, was brought in a wheelchair to attend a conference held by a minister of the Gospel. After the meeting he spoke to the lecturer.

“The title of your conference aroused my interest,” he said; “so I came to listen to you before firing a bullet through my head. I thought you might be able to help me find a solution to my miserable life. These last fourteen years I have been suffering from an acute form of rheumatoid arthritis. Sometimes I’m bedridden for three solid months. I have tried all kinds of remedies, and have found none that could heal me or at least relieve my pains.”

Arrangements were made for the pastor to visit the sufferer, who then told his sad story. He had been in partnership with his dad in a prosperous business, and the devil tempted him to cheat the old man out of his share in the company. The betrayed father was so disappointed in his son that he became sick and died a few months later. The son knew that he had done wrong, and his guilty conscience began to accuse him more and more. And, before long, he went bankrupt, because he did not know how to manage the business that he had taken over. To make it worse, his mother and his sisters never stopped pointing at him the finger of incrimination, which meant, “Thou art the man.” He felt so disgraced that he was actually tempted to put an end to his life. After having listened to his story, the pastor convinced him that the only remedy that would work in his case is found in 1 John 1:9 and James 5:16.

The man’s mother and one of his sisters, who were living in the same city, were called. In their presence, he humbly confessed his sins to God and to them. As soon as he had obtained the assurance that he was forgiven, he said with a smile on his face:

“After twenty years, this is the first happy moment in my life.”

Two or three days later, he was able to walk with the help of a walking stick. And after a few more days he was moving up and down like a young man.

Not only was the man healed after receiving forgiveness; also his mother and his sisters felt much better healthwise after they had granted forgiveness.

I was impressed by an article which appeared in The Sacramento Bee of January 4, 2008, under the title, “Heart That Forgives Probably Healthier.” The article reads:

“Researchers think they have it: Forgiveness - a virtue embraced by almost every religious tradition as a balm for the soul - may be medicine for the body, they suggest. In less than a decade, those preaching and studying forgiveness have amassed an impressive slate of findings on its possible health benefits.

“They have shown that ‘forgiveness interventions’ - often just a couple of short sessions in which the wounded are guided toward positive feelings for an offender - can improve cardiovascular function, diminish chronic pain, relieve depression and boost quality of life among the very ill.

“Collectively, researchers say, the findings suggest that failure to forgive may, over a lifetime, boost a person’s risk for heart disease, mental illness and other ills - and, conversely, that forgiving others may improve health.”

The article also tells us of the conclusions of two researchers who affirm that there is a link between forgiveness and health:

“Psychologist Loren Toussaint of Luther University in Decorah, Iowa, and colleagues were the first to establish a long-term link between people’s health and their propensity to forgive. . . .

“Everett Worthington, a professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University and a leading researcher on the links between forgiveness and health, has put many a study subject through the paces of pardoning and measured the resulting physiological effect.

“Worthington is a believer, both in the goodness of forgiveness and its power to influence health and wellness. The first part of that conviction springs from his Christian upbringing, he says. But he insists the latter has been forged by studies.”

In 17th century Europe, millions of Christians were under Mohammedan administration. One Christian, who had been cruelly treated as a slave at the hands of a Turkish official, regained his freedom when a local war pushed the Turks back. The Christian could now avenge himself upon the Turk, if he so desired. So the Turk, fearing vengeance, tried to commit suicide. But the Christian immediately sent him a message: “Peace be with you. You have nothing to fear.”

The Turk, on his deathbed, whispered to those standing around him:

“I will not die a Moslem; I will die a Christian. For there is no religion but that of Christ, which teaches forgiveness.”

Both the Christian and the Turk were blessed with peace - the one for granting forgiveness; the other for receiving forgiveness.

Let us be assured that there is healing power in these “prescriptions” found in the Word of God:

“If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. . . . Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:23, 24, 43, 44).

“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:18-21).