2 Kings 5:11

when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, . . . let him come now to me--This was the grand and ultimate object to which, in the providence of God, the journey of Naaman was subservient.

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strike his hand over the place--that is, wave it over the diseased parts of his body. It was anciently, and still continues to be, a very prevalent superstition in the East that the hand of a king, or person of great reputed sanctity, touching, or waved over a sore, will heal it.

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OUR great object in preaching today will be the conversion of sinners. There is a great deal else to be done— Believers need building up, comforting and quickening—but while myriads of men remain careless until they are swept away into Perdition, it becomes us to lend our strength to the most necessary work of winning souls for Jesus.

OUR great object in preaching today will be the conversion of sinners. There is a great deal else to be done— Believers need building up, comforting and quickening—but while myriads of men remain careless until they are swept away into Perdition, it becomes us to lend our strength to the most necessary work of winning souls for Jesus. Therefore, again this morning, I shall leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after that which has gone astray, pleading earnestly with God that He will bless my pleading with men so that while I discourse with them concerning their folly in rejecting the Savior, His Spirit may discourse with them, also, and lead them to flee to Jesus for eternal life! At the outset, however, we will have a few words for Believers. Preconceptions of what ought to be the Lord's mode of action are very injurious, even to those who have true faith in God—and yet they are very frequently indulged. We map out beforehand the path of Providence and the method of mercy, forgetting that the Lord's way is in the sea, His path in the great waters and His footsteps are not known. When the Lord does not choose to act according to our notions we start back and cry, half-indignantly, "I thought He would surely act otherwise." This folly is seen in Believers, sometimes, in reference to their way to Heaven. They are like the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. There is a straight road to Canaan—why are they not allowed to take it? Instead of a direct march onward they are led round about with ever-varying experiences. Their course is by turns progressive, retrograde and standing still—to the right and to the left, forward and retreat.

Naaman was wroth - And why? Because the prophet treated him without ceremony; and because he appointed him an expenseless and simple mode of cure. Behold, I thought - God’s ways are not as our ways; he appoints that mode of cure which he knows to be best. Naaman expected to be treated with great ceremony; and instead of humbling himself before the Lord’s prophet, he expected the prophet of the Lord to humble himself before him! Behold I thought; - and what did he think? Hear his words, for they are all very emphatic: - 1. “I thought, He will surely come Out to Me. He will never make his servant the medium of communication between Me and himself. 2. And stand - present himself before me, and stand as a servant to hear the orders of his God. 3. And call on the name of Jehovah his God; so that both his God and himself shall appear to do me service and honor. 4. And strike his hand over the place; for can it be supposed that any healing virtue can be conveyed without contact? Had he done these things, then the leper might have been recovered.”