Brokenhearted

I saw a meme on Facebook that resonated with my soul.  “How we walk with the broken speaks louder than how we sit with the great.”

It also made me think about my mentor Pastor Jim. He had a medic’s heart. He used to say that he wasn’t interested in leading a mighty congregation first through the gates of glory. He was interested in being the last one through, gathering up all the wounded and broken along the way.

I think he instilled that passion in me. I feel far more comfortable with the brokenhearted than I do with the mighty. I feel closer to the LORD with my arms around the shattered and grieving.

I think Psalm 34:18 explains why that is. “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit.” [HCSB]

When we gather near the brokenhearted, we gather near the LORD who is near to them. We gather near the One who saves those crushed in spirit.

Most of us at some point in life will experience brokenness. Something in life, a loss, a struggle, an illness, will crush us. It is during those times that we need others to come alongside us. It is during those times that we will find the LORD is very near to us. We just need to reach out to Him.

Ps 34:18:  “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit.” [HCSB]

Psalm 34 is a song of David, written when David was not in the best of circumstances.  He had fled King Saul who was trying to kill him, and ended up in Gath, a small town on the Philistine border.  When the king in Gath learned who he was, he wanted David gone. Fearing harm, David pretended to be insane until they drove him away, finally ending up living in caves.

Yet despite the circumstances, Psalm 34 is an extremely positive song, beginning, “I will praise the Lord at all times;
His praise will always be on my lips. I will boast in the Lord; the humble will hear and be glad.”

I have been thinking lately about how deep emotional wounds can go.  They are often much harder to heal than physical wounds.  Physical wounds, if the body is healthy, simply heal themselves.  Emotional wounds need a lot of intentional work.  We must forgive, often repeatedly.  We must want to be healed – not always an easy choice.  We must work through the rejection, pain, and all the emotions that attach … and while we are doing this, the enemy of our soul is whispering why we should not!

Yet David understood that when we are brokenhearted, God draws close to us.  He understood that there is salvation for those who are crushed in spirit by life’s unfairness.  We can, through the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds, be healed of the sorrows and pains inflicted upon us.  We can be made whole.

Oh Lord, today we pray for those whose hearts have been broken, those who are crushed in Spirit.  Draw close to them and lead them to a healing place in You.  Amen.