Homonyms

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise you.” (Psalm 42:11)

Homonyms.  Words with two meanings.  Many of the 7,000 languages in the world incorporate them.  But at times none can be more humorous and confusing, than American slang.  When we say the word “cool” it doesn’t mean the temperature has dropped twenty degrees, it means we think something is great.  When we say the word “hot” it doesn’t mean the temperature has increased thirty degrees, it means someone is attractive.  When we say the word “shady” it doesn’t mean cloud cover has taken over, it means something is suspicious.  And when we call someone a “chicken” it doesn’t mean they have grown feathers, beaks, and crowns on their heads, it means they are cowards.  See how confusing our slang can become to someone not familiar with the homonyms we incorporate in our speech.

So, when we study scripture, many Greek words carry with them more than one meaning.  Not to be humorous, but to give a clearer explanation of what a verse is saying.  Take for instance the Greek word “therapeuo”.  It is where we get our English words such as therapy, therapeutics, therapists.  The word means “to heal.”  So, when we feel confused and depressed, we go see a therapist.  And when we need physical healing, we have physical therapy.  In both cases the Greek word therapeuo makes perfect sense to us. 

However, the word “therapeuo” has another meaning to it – a very important meaning.  It means “to adore” or “to worship.”  That tells us that the Greek word “therapeuo” connects healing with worship.  And that is a very important lesson in the New Testament.  Did you know that all the people who were healed by Christ worshipped him, with the exception of nine of the ten lepers he healed in Luke 17.  But let’s take a minute and turn that thought around, because it also tells us that those who worshipped the Lord were healed.

There is healing in worshipping the Lord.  Many of us go through life carrying wounds in our hearts and scars in our spirits.  We embrace rejection, anxiety, fear, and other infirmities in our souls.  We spend hours and dollars in therapy trying to get over the past and heal from what torments us.  And those things can be very helpful – but it certainly is not the only thing our wounds need.  We need the other aspect of the word therapeuo – worship. 

If you want your healing to be total and complete, spend time every day truly worshiping God.  Not just throwing your list of requests up to him, but worshipping all that he is – all he has done for you.  When you are feeling sorry for yourself and are focused on your problems and fears, worship the Lord instead.  Write down a list of all you are grateful to him for and lift those praises to him.  Then you will be applying God’s therapy because God’s healing comes in “therapeuo” – worship!

                                                                  Darlene