Day 58 with David: The Lord is near to the broken hearted.

“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34:18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

When I was in high school, a popular song came out entitled, “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? I remember hearing it and identifying with it as so many other young girls did at the time (making it a very popular song).

It’s interesting, the things over which our heart is broken. When we are young, generally a broken heart is connected to unrequited love or being rejected by someone you “love.” But, we don’t develop immunity to broken hearts by the end of our teenage years although the cause may vary.

Being broken hearted is something you really don’t have to describe to anyone; we all know how that feels. Whether the broken heart resulted from a lost love, shattered dreams, or the myriad of heart breaking opportunities we face, it basically feels the same: awful.

Another phenomenon I have noted is that being brokenhearted—in the terms we have been discussing—general leads to self-pity: why did this happen to me? I Have found that self-pity never lifts you out of the hole of despair. Now, don’t misunderstand me, God will also help with the broken heart that comes from personal loss if—instead of resorting to self-pity—we present it to Him, asking for healing.

The Apostle Paul, in dealing with a situation within a church where they were allowing things they should not, had given them apparently some very harsh disciplinary words. Later, he comes back and says that, although he was sorry at first for the way they had received it, he wasn’t sorry anymore. Their godly sorrow led to their salvation!

“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭7:10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Having our hearts broken over the things separating us from our Lord, is a very good thing. As a matter fact, Jesus came to heal the hearts broken over our fallen state. In quoting from the book of Isaiah, Jesus stood in the midst of The synagogue in Nazareth, making this proclamation:

““The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭4:18-19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The devil wants to keep us wallowing in self-pity concerning things in our life that really are not going to have any eternal consequence. Yes, those things hurt terribly now; you may wonder how you can go on living. But, it’s not going to affect your eternal destiny. On the other hand, unresolved sin separates us from God, leading to an eternity separated from Him.

I praise God that He made a way where there was no way for us to be have our sins forgiven and be connected to His never-ending life. But, the repentance that leads to the access of what He his already done for us, cannot be a step that is skipped. We must allow our own sin to break our hearts to the point of extracting true repentance before the Lord. Then we can receive His forgiveness, never again to revisit our sins.

In our portion from Psalms today we see David recognizing that the Lord is near to the brokenhearted. Yesterday, we discussed the fact that David knew what it was like to have a load of sin lifted through forgiveness. But, what had gotten him to the point of repenting before the Lord, was a heart broken because of sin. And, instead of allowing that brokenness to turn into condemnation, he took that broken heart and placed it at the Lord’s feet. Additionally, as we see him asserting in another Psalm, he knew the Lord would never reject a broken heart laid at His feet.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51:17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

So, whatever broke your heart, whether your own sin or some personal loss or disappointment. The Lord will not turn you away if you present that broken heart to Him. As my father sang so many times over his years of ministry, “He’s the healer of broken hearts.”

For today let us know and understand what David knew:

The Lord is near to the broken hearted.

#100dayswithdavid