Brokenhearted

 Brokenhearted

December 13, 2024

Psalms 34:15-18

15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous

and his ears toward their cry.

16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,

to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit.

Psalms 51:17

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,

A broken and a contrite heart—

These, O God, You will not despise.

Isaiah 57:15

15 For thus says the High and Lofty One

Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“I dwell in the high and holy place,

With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,

To revive the spirit of the humble,

Andto revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Isaiah 61:1

1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,

Because the LORD has anointed Me

To preach good tidings to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

(Luke 4:18)

Healing of the body is something that is not that hard to understand. If you break your leg, treated properly, in 6 or 8 weeks it will heal and you will be no worse for wear, other than you may have inherited a new barometer to predict inclement weather. But I digress. Why is healing a broken heart so much more difficult? They say “Time heals all wounds”, but that does not apply to wounds of the heart. Time only makes those worse if they are not dealt with. Fortunately for us, he Lord looks kindly on the brokenhearted and wants to heal them also.

In Psalm 51, it says that a broken spirit can actually be a sacrifice to the Lord. Some times (or most times) we have to pursue our sin to the point where it breaks us. It’s like touching a hot stove; if you are wise, you only do it once. It’s the same with sin. In Romans, Paul tells us that the wages of sin is death.

Romans 6:23

23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But if we stop upon the first injury and change our ways, we can avoid death. That is what repentance is all about; changing your course so you pursue life instead of death. So in this sense, a broken heart can lead us to repentance and then to healing and salvation.

But sometimes the injury is not due to your own sin, but someone else who sins against you. This is more difficult to heal. You can’t repent from someone else’s sin. You can be healed from the hurt though and healing starts with forgiveness. When you forgive the offender, even when they don’t deserve it, you can start the healing of your broken heart. In Luke 4, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah saying that He is the one who has come to heal the brokenhearted. What good news!  Unlike a broken leg, a broken heart will not heal itself. You need the love and care of the Father, through Jesus, to heal a broken heart.

In Psalm 34, we see how the Lord loves the broke hearted and is close to those whose spirit is broken. Someone with a broken spirit is open to asking for help. As long as we are hard hearted and unwilling to forgive or ask for help, we can not be healed. But when we allow the pain of our broken heart to turn our focus to Jesus, then he is compassionate and will heal us.

I can’t promise that the healing process will be quick, I can only promise that if you turn to Jesus, He will heal your broken heart. It’s a process and the closer you come to Jesus, the more He is able to touch your heart and heal it. So today, if you are broken hearted, allow the pain to turn your heart to Jesus. Allow Him to touch your heart, for He has come to heal the brokenhearted.