Matthew Henry Commentary 2 Kings 5:9-14

"So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Jehovah his God, and wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped [himself] seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." — 2 Kings 5:9-14 (ASV)

Elisha knew Naaman to be a proud man, and he would let him know that before the great God all people stand on the same level. All God's commands test human spirits, especially those that instruct a sinner on how to apply for the blessings of salvation. See in Naaman the folly of pride; a cure will not content him, unless he is cured with pomp and parade.

He scorns to be healed, unless he is humored. The way by which a sinner is received and made holy—through the blood and by the Spirit of Christ, through faith alone in His name—does not sufficiently indulge or engage the self to please the sinner's heart. Human wisdom thinks it can supply wiser and better methods of cleansing. Observe, masters should be willing to hear reason.

Just as we should be deaf to the counsel of the ungodly, even if given by great and respected people, so we are to have our ears open to good advice, even if brought by those below us. Would you not do anything? When diseased sinners are content to do anything, to submit to anything, to part with anything, for a cure, then, and not until then, is there any hope for them.

The methods for the healing of the leprosy of sin are so plain that we are without excuse if we do not observe them. It is simply: Believe, and be saved; Repent, and be pardoned; Wash, and be clean. The believer applies for salvation, not neglecting, altering, or adding to the Savior's directions; he is thus made clean from guilt, while others, who neglect them, live and die in the leprosy of sin.