Gerhard, Locus 6, § 63. In Deut. 8:3 and Matt. 4:4 we read: “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God.” This not only teaches us that God has the power to feed and to preserve people apart from natural means, but it also shows us that the power to nourish is not the property of bread as if it could still nourish a person if the Word of God were removed by which bread was first created and by which it acquired the power to nourish. Rather, there is required a constant inflowing, as it were, of the creating and preserving Word in order for the bread to exercise its inherent power to nourish. We can and should say the same thing about medicine. A person is not restored to health by herbs but by the word of God which originally gave that power to the herbs and which still instills it in them, so to speak. Wisdom 16:12–13: “For neither herb nor poultice cured them, but it was Your Word, O Lord, which heals all men. For You have power over life and death, etc.” For this reason Mesue concludes correctly and piously at the beginning of his Grabadin. Medic. P: “God alone heals ailments.” Would to God that we would fix this rightly in our heart so that we may be led away from our confidence in doctors and medicines and see the hand of God present in them, and strive to cling to God alone with the confidence of our heart! Certainly, there are many who have followed the example of Asa in his sickness. “They do not seek the Lord but rather trust the skill of doctors” (2 Chron. 16:12). They pass by repentance and prayer and hope to recover their health through medication.