James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary
2 Kings 4:26
THE HEALTH OF THE SOUL
‘Is it well with thee?’
This is a common inquiry concerning the body. To ask about the health is the first question usually when friends meet: and truly of all God’s outward and providential mercies none is greater and more to be desired than health. For without it what avails the possession of other gifts or blessings?
I. As with the body, so with the soul.—The first inquiry and chief concern should be as to its health and well-being. From a Christian friend or a parish priest especially, as a spiritual physician, what greeting is more appropriate than this: ‘Is it well with thee?’
II. Outward appearances may be deceptive as to the state of the soul.—A certain man went up to the Temple to pray. Is it well with him? He went down to his house unjustified, his prayer unheard, and his person unaccepted! And that poor publican, the very picture of misery, standing afar off, smiting on his breast, with downcast eye and dispirited countenance? Is it well with him? Oh, yes! Angels in heaven are rejoicing over him, and the great God Who filleth heaven and earth with His infinite majesty is looking with favour and a blessing to that poor man of humble and contrite spirit.
Then, also, how little the outward appearance indicates spiritual health even in the same individual. King Manasseh reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem in prosperity and in forgetfulness of God, causing Judah and Jerusalem to err and do worse than the heathen; but when the King of Assyria took him and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon—‘when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him; and He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem, into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God.’ It was ‘well with him’ in his Babylonian dungeon, but not on the throne and in the Temple of Jerusalem.
A more striking example still: the dying thief on the cross. In the agony of a painful and shameful death, justly due on account of crime, and soon to pass from the sentence of earthly tribunal to the presence of the just and holy God. Of all men, is it well with him? Oh, yes! His soul is rejoicing in God his King and Saviour, Who has said, ‘This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.’
How little can one tell the state of the soul from external conditions! Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh at the heart. God has given us His Word in order that we may look therein as in a glass, showing the heart—the ailments and diseases of which are there faithfully reflected and seen.
III. Is it well with thee?—The question is one too wide in its bearings and too varied in its application to admit of pointing out more than a few of the lines of self-examination starting from it.
(a) Is it well with thee? This may be said to one whose soul is unregenerate, unconverted, in the same state in which it was born, with natural and intellectual life, but so far as spiritual things are concerned, ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’
(b) Or the question may be put to one wishing really to know, ‘What must I do to be saved?’
(c) Again, the question, ‘Is it well with thee?’ may be put to one who scarce knows whether the soul is dead or alive; a frequent and very miserable case.
The more of these things—the more sense of sin, the more faith in Christ, the more desire of holiness, the more delight in the Word and ordinances and people of God, the more activity and patience and heartiness in the service of Christ, so much the more is there evidence, not of spiritual life only, but of healthiness of soul.
Illustration
‘Elisha had a gentle heart. When he saw the woman coming he knew something was wrong. He did not wait until she came to him and had told him her trouble, but he sent his servant to meet her on the way. We should train ourselves to sympathise with others who are in trouble. We should cultivate thoughtfulness. Whenever we see any one in sorrow or trial, we should show our sympathy in some way. Some people seem never to think of the trouble others have, and thus they miss countless opportunities of doing good. The true heart, however, instinctively recognises pain, grief, or heart-hunger in others, and at once shows affection and kindness.’