Marcus Mecum - The Wounded Healer (12/14/2025)
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King Uzziah’s pride led him to unlawfully enter the temple to burn incense, resulting in God’s judgment of leprosy upon him, a wound that not only isolated him but also passed unhealed bitterness to his son and the nation. Through this story and illustrations like the fallen redwood, the preacher urges us to allow Jesus, the Wounded Healer, to heal our own church wounds and offenses so they become sources of strength rather than destruction.
The Downfall of King Uzziah
2 Chronicles chapter 26. I want to talk to you for a few moments about the wounded healer. Verse 16, but after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. The priest with 80 other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in.
Watch this. They confronted the king. We all know that’s not an easy thing to do. Confrontation is not easy. Are you here? It’s no fun. I mean, being a priest, being someone that’s leading in God’s house, we don’t use that language, but you kind of get what I’m saying. It’s not fun to have to confront something. But they confronted King Uzziah and said, «This is not right. You’re not acting right, Uzziah. You know better than this. You know better than having that kind of attitude, going at things independently, not working together with the way that God has designed it.»
So the Bible says that Uzziah kept on doing what he wanted to do. Nobody was going to tell him what to do; he’s king. And this is what it says: he actually began to rage against those priests. He began to, in anger, rage against them and ultimately left the sanctuary of the Lord because he was being unfaithful. This is a tragic story of a wound that happened in the temple. I’m not necessarily focused on wounds that happen inside of the house of God, but I think it will be relevant. I will do my best to ensure my tone is very sensitive to those of you who face abuse in some way.
The Story of the Fallen Redwood
On the still quiet dawn, March 13, 1933, a redwood suddenly toppled to its death in a California forest. This would end 12 centuries of life, which for a redwood is still, in many ways, an adolescent. Many of them live three to four millennia, even longer than that. They preserved the remains of this fallen redwood, which was 1200 years old. They have a study where they go and look at the tree rings, and in doing so, it reveals a graphic autobiography of the tree’s past.
According to the study of this tree, somewhere during the Dark Ages, it would have experienced an earthquake, and the tree would have to fight off the effects of an awesome wound. At some time during the Renaissance, a fungus attacked the tree, and after a long period, it would fight off the effects of the fungus. At some point during the Pilgrims, lightning struck the tree, but again, it would fight off the effects of that wound, and the rings would reveal these things. The rings would show centuries where the tree experienced great growth and other centuries where it experienced little growth due to drought or some type of storm or stress. They could look back at it and see the different occurrences and what was going on during the centuries with this tree. They could see when there were great times of stress and storm. All of this is written inside the rings of the tree. They could see that there were centuries where there was no crisis or no problem.
In approximately 1810, a careless campfire burned a 13-foot scar on the northern side of the tree. This was really an inconsequential mark on the tree that stood about 320 feet tall and weighed about 500 tons. But somehow, in the fire, the supporting roots on the northern side of the tree were heavily damaged. For more than 120 years, the tree fought off the effects of this wound. For 120 years, you could see the graphic story being told through the rings of the tree that it fought with everything it had, but ultimately it caused a wound that never healed. So, in the quiet spring dawn 92 years ago, they say it probably was something as simple as a light morning breeze, maybe even something less than that, that brought the tree to its death.
Wounds in Our Souls
People, much like trees, have demarcations on their souls. Just like the tree has rings that tell a story, we have demarcations that maybe everybody can’t see right now, but they mark our lives. They tell us of times where we were spiritually strong and had great growth. They tell of times where we were stagnant, of dark days, and of wounds we have experienced. What’s funny is, just like the tree didn’t really have a major event that led to its fall, if you’re a careful student of history, you can see that sometimes the greatest men have fallen in small moments of adversity. Not nothing major, not anything that should have led to that kind of thing. But then they study the person. They study their life. They look through the rings of the person’s soul and find there was a wound that never healed.
The Rise and Pride of Uzziah
In 2 Chronicles 26, it describes the story of King Uzziah. He began to reign in Israel at the age of 16. Zechariah was the one who helped lead this king through the years. This great prophet viewed this king as a mighty hero. Most of the Bible tells us that he did what was right in the sight of God. He feared God, walked with God, and led with Zechariah’s insight and prophetic visions into his life. God helped him as he faced the Philistines on multiple occasions. Because of these victories, his fame would spread. He would become very powerful. He built towers in Jerusalem, towers in the wilderness. He dug cisterns and wells all across the nation of Judah. He owned livestock, fields, and vineyards. He had a well-trained army ready to go—hundreds of thousands of men at his word trained for war. They were a well-armed army, not just with regular weaponry, but they had some of the greatest weaponry of that time. The Bible even said he invented weapons that had never been seen before.
But as time passed, the Bible says Uzziah became careless. He became prideful. He had been around a long time. He had seen a lot of things. He wanted to walk into the house of God. He wanted to walk into the temple. And even though he knew it was the priest’s role to offer the incense, he thought to himself, «I can pray myself. I can worship myself.» And in those times, it was just the way that God had designed it. I’m not supporting it, and I’m not criticizing it; that’s just the way that it was. So he walked in and decided that he was going to do something outside of how God had designed it.
The Confrontation and Judgment
The Bible says the priest saw this, and the priest was somewhat nervous. This is the king of an entire nation. Not just any king, a famous king. This is a king who is powerful and well-known. So, he goes and grabs 80 other priests. A bit overkill, I would say. But nonetheless, these courageous priests go down and confront Uzziah. They confront the king. They just want him to know that, «Hey, we know you. We know your history. We’ve watched how you treat the things of God. We’ve observed your sensitivity in times past. We’ve watched how you handle the things of God. And what’s going on with you, Uzziah? Something’s not right. Something about the way that you’re acting, the way that you’re approaching things, indicates that something is not right inside of you.»
The Bible says that this king immediately became angry and began to rage against the priests. I’m not really sure if it was the act or the attitude of the king. Regardless of whether it was the act or the attitude, the Bible says that suddenly God struck him with leprosy, and a spot of leprosy appeared on his forehead. It was a small spot in the beginning, but it began to gain greater momentum. Instead of banishing the king to a colony of lepers, they built a house for him to dwell in isolation right outside the palace walls for the rest of his life.
The Wound Passed to the Next Generation
This story represents a great crisis, but the crisis does not end there. The Bible says he was at the end of his life, and it was time for the father to talk to the son. It was time for one generation to pass the baton to the next. It was time for one king to teach the next king how to rule and reign. So, King Uzziah’s son, Jotham, walked into this house, and Jotham heard his dad talk about the challenges he would experience, the challenges of leadership, and the hard decisions he would have to make. Finally, he asked his son if he had any questions.
His son just wanted to know, «Dad, I hope this isn’t inappropriate. I hope I’m not being insensitive, but I just want to know, how did you get this hideous disease, leprosy? How was a king exposed to something like this? This is a disease of paupers. This is a disease of the poor. This is a disease of the beggars. Great precautions have been taken to make sure that you, as a king, are rarely, if ever, touched, let alone by someone that potentially has this hideous disease. Dad, how could a king possibly have this disease?» The king hung his head and said, «I got it in the temple.»
«In the temple? Dad, please tell me it didn’t happen in the temple. I mean, of all the places where something like this could happen, please tell me it didn’t happen in the courts of our God. Please tell me it didn’t happen in the temple. What happened? Did someone unlawfully act and touch you? What exactly happened?» And he began to tell the story. «I was just there to pray, Son; I had good intentions. I was just offering incense. I mean, I’ve been king for many years. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. The priests didn’t just show up, but 80 of them showed up, and they began to confront me. I was embarrassed. I was humiliated. I couldn’t believe that they would talk to someone like me like that. And in the middle of all that, God struck me with leprosy.» I don’t know whether Jotham ever understood the carelessness or pride of his father. But what we know is this young man would be inflicted with a wound that would never heal. The Bible says that Jotham would never enter the temple all the days of his life because of that wound. And it says he led the people of God and the nation of Judah astray into wickedness.
Lessons from the Temple Wound
When you look at the king, he was wounded because he walked into the temple with demands, expectations, and rights. His pride turned to anger. How he was mistreated became the theme of his life and how God’s people, how the church mistreated him. He was wounded in the temple. He was wounded because he forgot that when you come into the temple, you’re not here to say you’re king. Your worldly accomplishments, what happened outside, do not matter inside of this room. Inside of this room, he’s king. And we serve at the pleasure of the king. We don’t come in and say, «I’m king.» We come in and say, «I’m servant.» You see, kings are very particular. You have to walk on eggshells with them: the way you talk to them, the way you look at them, the way you bow to them, and everything that surrounds them—they’re very particular. But a servant has already put themselves in the lowest possible place. They’ve already humbled themselves.
So, you have another choice when you come into God’s house. You can choose to be a servant. It does not matter where you put me or place me. I’m not here to imply that you should be a doormat. I’m not here to say that. I’m here to say we better be really cautious when it comes to our ego concerning the things of God. We better be very careful of allowing anger and bitterness to take hold. Just be careful, because it can lead to greater things. It led to his isolation. It led to him being lonely, removed from his spiritual covering, and from the prophetic voices in his life that told him how to act, which he knew better. It removed him from his godly circles. And it left a wound, a wound that grew into bitterness, a wound that grew into anger and hostility. In the end, he would never take responsibility. He not only blamed the church, but he blamed God.
Church Hurt and the Need for Humility
From my experience, this is just my perspective. I’ve done this for 30 years, and I know I’m on this side of the pulpit. I get it. The thing that most people underestimate is how much church hurt exists on this side of the pulpit, too. I just want to take a moment and say what I have learned is that it takes incredible humility to experience the wounds among God’s people and heal from them. I’ve witnessed, for the most part, abuses. I’ve seen the worst imaginable in leadership. I’m sure I’ve fallen short many times myself, but for the most part, and this is a big statement—I thought about it many times before I said it—pride is the number one reason for church hurt. It is hard to hurt somebody who just shows up to serve. That’s their job. That’s their assignment, and they’re doing it to please the king. Not for a pat on the back, not for an accolade, not to build up a bank of what they now deserve.
I understand there are responsibilities on the other side; I get that. I’m just encouraging you that it will lead to these wounds getting worse and worse. He ultimately would pass this wound on to his son. I like what Jesus said: He said when you build your house on the sand, the house falls when the storm comes—not the man; the house. The whole house falls. The Bible says, and great was the fall. Like the mighty redwood that stood there strong for many years, just a seemingly inconsequential fire began to attack the tree. You would think to yourself, «This tree has survived all that it has faced; surely it will be strong here.» In the same way, we have to be careful about what we’re building our lives on.
Seeing the Lord When the King Dies
Isaiah would say, «In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple.»
You hear that verse, and I’ve quoted that verse; it’s one of my favorite verses. I love to talk about that verse because when you come into the temple, everywhere you look, you should see the train of His robe—that’s His glory. Everywhere you look should be victory. That God will bring the victory. That God will see you through. That He won’t let you fail. That you should see—everywhere you look—that’s what you should see. I love to preach that. But I’ve always believed that the phrase «In the year King Uzziah died» followed by «Then the Lord was high and lifted up» was a positive affirmation of the king’s life. I’ve always believed it was like God’s stamp of approval. He breathed His last breath, and then God’s glory filled the temple, just to say, «Let’s look back at how great the life of Uzziah was.»
But now I know what I didn’t understand just a week ago. When Isaiah spoke of King Uzziah dying and the Lord being lifted up, it was actually an indictment against Uzziah. It was a judgment against Uzziah, and it served as a warning to the nation of Israel. Be careful that pride and bitterness do not lead you to a place of isolation where you blame everybody and, eventually, you blame God. Uh-oh. It’s quiet. I love that Jesus would say hard things to people, saying, «This is a hard saying, » and it’s going to feel self-serving, but he followed it up by saying, «I’m telling you this for your sake.»
Sometimes you hear something like this and think, «Oh, this is easy for the preacher to talk about.» It’s a hard saying, but it is for your sake. Come on, mom and dad. You know, sometimes you have to tell your kids things that aren’t easy. I know you’re not a kid, but you get what I’m saying. It’s not always easy to not just give them candy all the time, ice cream all the time, or junk food all the time. Sometimes you have to say, «No, eat a steak. Eat some vegetables.» Every now and then you have to say, «Hey, there are some things that will actually lead to you being healthy, and there are some things that will make you sick.» I have to be grown up enough to feed you some healthy stuff.
This is why God told the prophets, «Do not be afraid of their faces.»
Expecting Wounds in the Christian Life
Here’s my point: in our walk with God, we must expect damage. Just as a tree faces wind and storms, you must expect that your lives will be windblown and storm-torn. You should expect it in the calling. You will attract lightning, and you will be exposed to storms. You will face the shakings of life. You will be exposed to fires that wound you. You’ll fight lions and bears that no one will ever know anything about. And you will bear the hidden scars of serving God. It is part of what we sign up for. Jesus warned his disciples, «Woe unto you when offenses come.»
Think about that. He actually said, «It is impossible that they will not come.» The God who says all things are possible says this: «Hey, by the way, there’s one thing that’s impossible.» I don’t want to hear the God of the universe, who created everything we see, say that something is impossible. But when it comes to offenses not coming: impossible. That’s not my saying; Jesus said it’s impossible. And he’s saying it to his disciples.
And you know what He uses? He uses a «woe.» That’s a big deal. Anytime you see Jesus say «woe, » slow down. Don’t rush through this one. Don’t hurry through this one. So, when you get to the perils and plagues you read about in the Book of Revelation that create great fear—the vials, the beast, the trumpets, the seals, the antichrist, the dragons, and all this stuff that everybody gets spooked about—He says, «Hey, none of them are as devastating as a woe. Be careful when offenses come.» You should treat it as though a woe has come. «Whoa.» Don’t push through this. Don’t let that attitude take hold of you, leading you in a direction that you haven’t really considered.
Your soul will reveal the wounds you have had in your past. Your soul will also show how you handled those wounds and how long it took you to heal from them. They say if a tree is damaged in a storm, the fibers of wood—the moment the tree heals—show that a strength comes to the tree that was never there before. As it is with the tree, so it is with your soul. Wounds can turn to strength. But a wound that never heals carries through ring after ring after ring. You carry it deep into your heart. And maybe just like the redwood, it’s hundreds of years that go on, but decade after decade, the wound weakens the mighty redwood, and it weakens us, too.
Wounds as Sources of Strength
Everyone can tell of a wound or an injustice somewhere in their past. I could sit up here and tell you in graphic detail that my greatest growth has happened when I wandered around in the rubble of a broken dream. Times when I was shattered by an uncaring tongue or uncaring hands. I fought off some of the greatest things in my life, and that’s when the greatest spiritual progress occurred. I found out that I lacked character in an area, and it was revealed during the wound. The greatest strengths I bring to this church are not my talents; they are not my gifts. They are things that have grown out of the wounds of my past. And that is the same for you.
Our injustices don’t happen when we’re just doing wrong things. Sometimes they happen when we’re doing the right thing.
The Example of John the Baptist
Remember when the disciples came to Jesus concerning John the Baptist—of whom Jesus Himself said was the greatest man to ever live? Jesus said of John the Baptist, «There’s no one greater than John.» He is a great man. He’s in prison because he went to King Herod. The Bible describes this as a good relationship. Herod liked John the Baptist. But John the Baptist started pointing out Herod’s sin, and Herodias didn’t like the fact that John was talking to Herod about it because it influenced his decisions regarding her pursuit of wealth. The bottom line was she demanded, «I want John the Baptist’s head on a platter.»
Before the day of John the Baptist’s execution, John sent his disciples to ask Jesus, «Are you the one, or should we look for another?» In other words, he was saying to Jesus, «I’m John; I’m in prison. If you’re the Messiah, surely you can do something about this situation. Surely you can turn this injustice around.» The Bible says Jesus told the disciples, «Tell John that the dead are raised, that the lame walk.» And then it goes on to state, «And blessed are those who are not offended by me.»
John the Baptist gets his head cut off, which is handed on a platter. I always thought the message was from Jesus to John. «Don’t be offended.» But you can’t offend someone who’s dead. The message was to the disciples. The message was: «Listen, don’t get angry. Don’t get mad. Yes, he was doing the right thing. Yes, this is unjust. Yes, you have every right to be hurt and angry. But you know what the Bible says happened? The Bible says the disciples immediately went to Jesus and told Him what had happened. Because the best place to go when you face an injustice, when you face a hurt, when you face a wound is not to get mad, not to get angry, and not to let your ego take over. It’s to go to Jesus and tell Him about the wound.
The Strength of the Palm Tree
The Bible says, „The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree.“ The palm tree is different from other trees of the forest. It’s different because most trees carry their life just beneath the bark, right beneath the surface. This is why the Bible says that the foxes spoil the vine. When those little foxes get in there, they’re reaching for the grape, but their claws scrape the vine and kill it. The palm has life at the center of the tree. They call it the heart of the palm.
So, you can hack the tree, you can cut it, you can wound it, the wind can show up, storms can hit, and great stress can affect the tree, causing it to bend, but it will stand right back up because its life is in a place that the storm and the wound cannot touch. I want to put my life somewhere at the center of who God is, so all of hell could come at my life, but it cannot touch what God is doing and wants to do in my life. I don’t want to someday be like the mighty redwood that has a wound that slowly, over time, eats away at my soul because I was unwilling to deal with a wound that never healed.
Jesus, the Wounded Healer
Piper’s chains could mark the wrist and ankles of Joseph, but Joseph refused to allow those wounds to touch his heart and soul. Job would come to Jonadab and ask him a question I want to ask every person in this room. It’s a real simple question: Is your heart right? Is your heart healed today? I don’t want to hear about your successes. I don’t want to hear about your accomplishments. Everybody out there can clap for that. I want to know, how’s your heart? God wants to know, is there an unhealed wound there?
Think about it with me. Before there was an angel, before there was any heavenly realm, before there was day or night or any creation in any way, what existed before everything, according to the Bible, was God and a wound. The Bible says that before the foundations of the world, there was a lamb that was slain. So notice, there’s God, and then there’s this wound lying in a pool of blood, lifeless. There is the Snow White lamb. It’s been savagely beaten and wounded inhumanely. Blood and water flow from this lamb. At the end, the lamb looks back through the door of time to the very beginning, and there he sees this wounded lamb that has been like that since the foundations of the earth.
That lamb, who was at the beginning, hangs on his cross and looks back. He responds to a millennia-old wound, and He says this: „Father, forgive them; they had no way of knowing what they were doing. They had no way of knowing how they would hurt me, how deep the cut would go. Father, forgive them.“ And in that moment, He became our wounded healer. Not just savior, but healer.
We often judge sinners outside of this place, saying to ourselves, „If they only knew how much God loved them; if they only knew what the forgiveness of God would do; if they only knew what it was like to fall into the loving, merciful arms of a savior that could wash them and cleanse them and make all things new. If they only knew the grace that could save.“ But then we show up week after week carrying the wounds, forgetting that He is not just savior, but healer.
Are you healed today? He was wounded for your transgressions. He was bruised for your iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes, we are healed. Amen. You can be forgiven and not healed. You can worship with a wound. You can show up in God’s house and not be healed.
Signs of Healing
You say, „How do I know if I’m healed in that area? How do I know?“ It’s really easy. Wounded people wound people. Healed people heal people. That’s how you know. It’s not that I don’t look back and say that wound changed the direction of my whole life. Everything I ever thought I knew at that moment was shaken down to the very core, and I had to rebuild everything from that broken place. I’m not saying it did not change everything. I’m saying that when you come into any encounter with somebody from that wounded place, you bring healing. When you’re not healed, you wound.
In this case, it was the great King Uzziah who wanted the whole world to know how badly he was hurt in the temple. It affected him, then it got into his son, then it affected the nation, and on and on and on. How do I know if you’re healed from a wound in your past, church? Not because you show up excited and clapping—„Oh, this church is so great! This church is so amazing! I’ve never been to a church like this! I’ve never heard a preacher like that!“—but because when my old church didn’t do, I hear the wounds.
You know what I’m hearing? I’m hearing they’re wounded. They’re wounded. And it’s a wound that’s still not healed. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the accolades; it’s not that I don’t like the applause. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the affirmation. Hearing it is like poison sometimes. „Oh, yeah, that’s right. We’re good.“ But I’ve done it long enough to realize that those who were wounded there are still wounded here. And my job is to say: Are you wounded? Do you have a wound that has never healed? If so, let’s not leave this place.
Call for Prayer and Healing
This is what James 5 says: „If there be any sick among you, “ I can take the liberty to say, „If there be any wounded among you, let them call for the elders of the church, that they may anoint you with oil and pray the prayer of faith. And the Lord who heals the sick will raise you up.“ If there is a sin somewhere—where you missed it; you made a mistake; you should have reacted one way but reacted another—the Bible goes on to say, „Your sins will be forgiven.“ Isn’t that good? Sometimes the wound is the result of a miss. We misjudged it. We didn’t respond right to it, and that wound festered and festered and festered, turning into anger, bitterness, hostility, and rage. We look back and think, „Man, I’ve just lost too many years.“
Too many years in isolation. Too many years of not getting what I need from the things of God. This is the secret to that verse: „If there be any sick or wounded among you, let them call.“ Did you hear it? It’s not the anointing first. It’s not the faith first. That’s not where healing comes from. Healing comes from the Lord. But what initiates it is you call. You say, „I need healing. I’ve been wounded.“ And I don’t want to watch my life, that God has been so good to, fall because of a wound that never healed.
He’s the healer today. You can walk out of this service healed today. You can walk out of this service without carrying the weight and pain of that wound any longer. I want every prayer partner to come forward. I want the rest of us to stand. If you’re here today and you have a wound that hasn’t healed, how do you know if it’s healed? Because anytime someone touches it, there’s a reaction, right?
You’ve seen somebody that has a bruise. You just go to pat them on their arm, and they respond, „Oh, that was not my intent; I have a bruise there.“ Sometimes people don’t even know there’s a wound. They thought they were just being affectionate, and there was a bruise they didn’t know was there. You follow me? Because again, a bruise is what? A wound beneath the surface.
They just didn’t see it. They didn’t know you were wounded there. And now, because you are wounded, your reactions lead to wounds that result in extreme responses. But come on, He’s our healer today. I believe God wants a church to be healed. I believe he wants His people healed, because healed people heal people. And how are we going to deal with a broken world? How are we going to deal with a broken family?
Some of you have a wound in your marriage and you keep running around people that are wounded in their marriage. You must get around healed people so they can help you heal. Some of you have had a church wound. Don’t keep running around with people that are church hurt. Get around some healed people.
Let me just ask this: How many of you have been hurt by church at some point? Disappointed or let down by church? Raise your hand. Be honest. My both my hands are raised; my feet are raised, too. It’s normal, by the way. It’s normal. But get around some healed people, and God will bring strength to that area of your life. He will use you to bring strength to other people. I believe that is His will in any area you’ve been wounded—that God will heal you to the extent that it becomes the strongest area of your life.
That area of addiction? It’s just a wound, but you can become strong in the very area you felt the weakest all your life. Do you believe He can save a sinner? Do you believe He can? Do you believe He can reach down to a gutter and pull out the worst of the worst? I believe that the same God who saves the sinner heals the believer. But you have to call.
So quickly, as we begin to worship, if you have a wound, it’s your job to call. Here are our prayer partners; they’re up here, ready and waiting. I want you to quickly get out of your seat, wherever you are, if you have a wound that’s not healed. This is what the Bible says: We’re going to anoint you, and we’re going to pray the prayer of faith, and the Lord who heals the sick will raise you up. That’s going to happen in this service. God’s going to raise you up out of that infirmity, out of that wound, out of that suffering, out of that pain. Can you sense it? He’s going to do it. I believe He’s going to do it.
This is what Job says: „If a tree be cut down, at the scent of rain, it will rise back up to life.“ All you need is the scent. You mean I don’t have to walk around with this hurt? No, you don’t. I don’t have to walk around with this wound? No, you don’t have to. God can heal you at the scent. You just have to begin to say, „I sense God wanting to heal me.“ So quickly, come all across this room as we worship. As people make their way, come on, let the rest of us worship. As we worship, come on, let’s ask God to heal the wounded areas in Jesus' name.