The Healer of Broken Hearts and Wounded Spirits

He heals the brokenhearted

And binds up their wounds.

Psalm 147:3

A couple of years ago I met a woman who had recently become a widow. She told the story of how her husband had died of cancer and that she was trusting God to heal her broken heart. Today I received an email from her. She has met someone, fallen in love and will be married next month. I immediately thought of Psalm 147:3. When the worst thing we can imagine happens to us, we can turn to our faithful God and give Him our broken hearts and wounded spirits. He understands our pain and He has a huge storehouse of love and compassion to pour upon us in our journey back to wholeness. 

What Delights God?

"For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;

         You are not pleased with burnt offering. 

    The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

         A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise."

Psalm 51:16-17

It's not the work of our hands that delights God, but the work of our heart. It begins when we repent of our sins with broken and humble hearts that yearn to be in fellowship with Him. When we accept the sacrifice that Christ made on Calvary, understanding that it's nothing we do that puts us in right stead with the Father, but rather the work of Christ on the cross that is our claim for pardon. At last we are free from the bondage of sin, never to return to it as long as we remain in Christ, and we serve the Lord out of love and not out of guilt. This is what delights God. This is the truth that our Father wants us to grasp. This is the joy inexpressible that He wants us to experience. 

Good News for Broken Hearts

"The LORD is near to the brokenhearted

And saves those who are crushed in spirit."

Psalm 34:18

Who can doubt these words when they look at the life of Jesus on earth? He came to reveal the Father to the world, and give His life for it.  Jesus was a friend to repentant sinners. He drew near to the hurting and humble people around Him. Through the Holy Spirit, Christ continues to draw "near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Good news, indeed.

In the Valley of Weeping

"Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
       who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
       they make it a place of springs;
       the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 

 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion."   
Psalm 84:5-7

When my first husband of 37 years was suddenly called home to the Lord, I thought my broken heart would never mend. Many nights I would come home from work and collapse on the living room floor, the tears flowing down my cheeks and dampening the carpet under me. I was in the "Valley of Baca", what Bible scholars refer to as the "Valley of Weeping". If it were not for the strength I received from God, I surely would have stayed right there on the floor. But I had set my heart on walking with Him through my journey of grief and He was faithful to cover my barren soul with pools of living water. He gave me grace upon grace to rise up in the midst of deep sorrow and find joy. God will continue to take me from strength to strength until one day I appear before Him in Heaven. He will do the same for you.