Charles Kaldahl School of Healing
The Psalms: The Lord's Gift for our Healing
This article is taken from a manual of Psalms intended for chanting at the healing services of St. Timothy's Healing Community.
One of the most important prayer books for healing the injured soul is the Psalms. These ancient hymns contain the essence and pathos of our inner being. The extremes of our nature, from the pathetic to the joyous, are mingled with the constant presence of the eternal God.
~Reverend Charles Kaldahl
"I am the light of the world."-Jn 8.12
Psalm 116 for instance, immediately announces a love for the Lord who hears the plea, "the voice of my supplication," and turns His ear to listen to the panic. The poet describes his despairing hopeless state of mind as the "dread of death," the "grip of the grave," "the bonds of darkness," and then turns his mind to the Lord again to express his gratitude of the Name who rescued him from the pit where "no one can be trusted." The hymn concludes with a vow to fulfill the required restoration rite "to the Lord in His house among all the people with a loud shout of praise: Hallelujuah!"
“Inspired by the healing ministry of Charles Kaldahl, Mercy Center located in Burlingame California ministers to cancer survivors. The group began as a result of Sr. Mary Celeste’s diagnosis of lymphoma in 1994. Near death, Charles prayed for her healing and she survived. Together they began an ecumenical prayer group offering prayer support for cancer patients until 2006. Mercy Center is a prayer ministry which continues to have a deep impact on its members today.
To read more see:
http://www.mercy-center.org/ProgramsMC/CancerPrayer.html ”
Some Pslams clearly define an emotional state similar to the depressant. In Psalm 6 the ill person pleads with the Lord declaring he is "weak," he "shakes with terror" and at night he "drenches his pillow with tears."
Psalm 102 describes the emotionally distraught: "My days drift like smoke...My heart is smitten like grass and withers so that I forget to eat...I am but skin and bone...My drink is mingles with tears..." Yet in spite of all this "the Lord looked down from His place on high and set free those condemned to die..."
In Psalms 42 and 43 the dread becomes too powerful and the spirit fails within the poet who shamelessly talks to himself:
"Why are you so full of heaviness, O my Soul? Why are you so disquieted within me?"
And then he scolds himself (can you imagine yourself doing this?)
"Put your trust in God!"
He is momentarily encouraged but the oppression returns and he blames God for forsaking him. The voices begin to taunt and mock him,
"Where is your God?"
Again he talks to himself:
"Why are you so full of heaviness, O my Soul? Why are you so disquieted within me? Put your trust in God!"
We in St. Timothy's Healing Community have led depressed persons to health by reading and singing the Psalms which become our confession as we acknowledge the illness and our prayer as we note we are in the presence of the Lord our God. We begin to know His mercy and begin to trust His salvation.
It takes thirty minutes to sing Psalm 119.
On a Sunday not long ago we sang this Psalm to Tone 6 as we marched in a parade around and around, and up and down the aisles of a church with a manic-depressive in our parade. This man, who had been hospitalized for three weeks, was on furlough from the mental ward for a few days. We began our prayer for his healing by singing Psalms 145 through 150 at the beginning of the Liturgy for Divine Healing. After singing these Psalms, we discussed the contrasts of his illness, the high state of the mania and the low state of the dread. Next we studied Psalm 22, noting the forsaken feeling in "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" as well as the line "When they cry to him, he hears them."
"But that's just it," confessed our friend. "When I'm too depressed, I don't believe he hears me."
That is how we feel when we are ill. And that is why the Psalms are the perfect prayers to heal the person with an ill mind. The verses of despair and hopelessness are mixed in between the assuring presence of God.
We encouraged our friend to turn to the Psalms to read them in a loud voice. We taught him to sing them. Psalm 96 reads "Sing to the Lord a new song...proclaim the good news...declare His glory among the nations...for great is the Lord..." As we read this Psalm with loud gusto, we watched his dis-ease begin to break away from its hold on him.
We prayed for him and anointed him with oil for healing. We felt the healing power of the Holy Spirit and the majestic love of Jesus lift him out of the paralysis of depression. It was rejoicing time! We made a parade and sang Psalm 119.
"I will keep your statutes: Do not utterly forsake me...
My delight is in your statutes: I will not forget your Word."
It takes thirty minutes to sing Psalm 119.
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Use the Psalms for daily prayer. Select a Tone which is pleasing to you and use it regularly. If you cannot read music, ask someone who can to teach you a Tone which is easy to use. We suggest Tone 1 and Tone 6. There are four Psalms recommended for use every day: two in the morning and two in the evening. If you are using the Psalms for daily prayer with some friends, you will all be starting and concluding your day with the same payers to the Lord.
One formerly ill person who has been obedient to this plan, relates that the music has fixed the Psalms in his mind to such an extent that there is us no room for the voices which used to torment him, and there are no longer depressed feelings, and gone forever are all the thoughts and notions of suicide.
"I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep; for only you, Lord, make me dwell in safety." -Psalm 4
Copywrite 1990 by Rev. Charles L. Kaldahl used with permission