The Lord Is Close To The Brokenhearted

The Lord Is Close To The Brokenhearted

Psalm 34:17-19 “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.”

Yesterday I talked about how the Lord is with us to deliver us.  If you are going through a hard time this can be hard to hear. You might want to believe it and yet you find it hard to see in your own life, especially if you have been struggling for a long time.  Maybe you have witnessed God delivering your friends from their situations while you still struggle with yours.  This can make it really difficult to believe that God is with you or that He will deliver you.  Sometimes we can be delivered from a situation quickly.  For instance, we pray for our child’s fever to go down, and it does.  However, sometimes it can take a long time to be delivered and sometimes the way we are delivered is not the way we wanted to be delivered.  

I know how hard it is to hear that God will deliver you if you are stuck in a place you feel you have been for a very long time.  I struggled with parenting my children and in my marriage for over 10 years.  It was a very long uphill battle.  It was one where you get so excited because something you are doing is working, you are moving forward 2 steps and then the next day you are back 3 steps.  I know that is extremely frustrating.  I get it.  If this is you right now, maybe not the same situation or trouble, but the same feeling of 2 steps forward and 3 steps back I want you to know you are not alone.  I have been there and so many others are right there with you right now.  If this is you, this verse is for you also.

“The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.” The Lord hears you when you call Him for help.  He hears you when you cry out that you are angry with Him.  He hears that you are worried and anxious about many things.  He hears that you are praying for healing for a loved one.  He hears that you want the perfect house.  He hears that you want the perfect wedding.  He hears that you are struggling and He rescues you from all your troubles.  The Lord will rescue you.  Even if you don’t believe that He will.  Even if you don’t understand how He will.  If you need proof that the Lord will come to rescue you, sit down with a paper and a pen and ask the Lord to show you where He has rescued you in the past.  The Lord is the same today, yesterday, and forever.  If He has rescued you in the past, He will rescue you again.  

The next line says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” I love the imagery of this line.  “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.”  I just picture sitting on the Lord’s lap as I once sat on my dad’s lap.  I picture us as little children, going to our heavenly father with a broken heart.  I picture Him scooping us up onto his lap and pulling us in close for a hug.  Close your eyes and see if you can picture your head on His chest, just listening to His heartbeat. Just be there in His loving embrace.  Can you feel the warmth of His body and the strength of His arms that are holding you tight? Can you imagine how safe you feel in His arms?  

This verse is talking about you.  You are the “brokenhearted.” God is talking to you. No matter what you are going through, God is near you.  He never leaves your side.  The next time you feel alone, the next time you feel like God has abandoned you, sit down and imagine Him right there with you.  I imagine you are sitting on His lap and He is holding you. The other day at prayer group one of the ladies and a vision of herself sitting on the Father’s lap.  She said she was filled with love and then she felt the need to get down so that she wasn’t taking up all His time.  She wanted to make room for someone else and He told her to stay.  He said something like, “Stay my daughter, do not worry.  Right now I am holding all my children to my heart.”  God is holding you, even when you can’t feel Him.

The second part of that line says, “He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”  Are you spirits crushed right now?  Were you hoping for something and it didn’t happen?  Were you praying and you can’t seem to find any answers to those prayers?  Were you sure God would rescue you and yet He does not appear to be rescuing you?  If so, this verse is for you.  God rescues those whose spirits are crushed.  It doesn’t say those who believe He will.  It doesn’t say God rescues those who never gave up hope.  It doesn’t say those who weren’t angry with Him.  It says God rescues those whose spirits are crushed.  If this is you, know that God is with you and that He will rescue you.  The Bible doesn’t lie and there are no exceptions.  God is not talking to some of us and not all of us through the Bible.  The passages in the Bible apply to each and every one of us.  The Lord is speaking directly to you through His Word in the Bible.

The last line in this verse is, “The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.” We talked about this a bit yesterday and here it is again.  This verse is telling us that even if we are a really good person.  Even if we are doing all the right things, and following God’s law, we will still face many troubles.  Life is not going to be easy just because we follow the Lord.  We will face trouble.  The difference between us and someone who is not following the Lord is that we don’t have to face that trouble alone.  The Lord is with us each step of the way.  An image just came to mind of a child standing there with our heavenly Father standing right next to the child.  He was holding the child’s hand and the sense I got was that we are like that child.  As we go through life, as we face the many challenges we will face, our heavenly Father is right there with us holding our hand.  

I don’t know about you, but I love the idea of my heavenly Father holding my hand as I walk through life.  I love the idea of Him being right there next to me.  I feel safer knowing if I wanted to run toward danger, He would be able to hold me back because He is that close to me.  God is that close to you too! He is right there.  If you can’t see Him, if you can’t feel Him, that’s ok.  Can you believe He is there? Can you talk to Him?  Can you listen and see what He has to say to you?  God is there, there is not a doubt in my mind about that.  I know He is there because I have seen Him so often in my life.  However, even if I had never seen Him in my life, I would know He is right here with me because it says it so often in scripture and the Word of God is factual. This verse is true. “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.” The last timeline is important to remember.  It doesn’t say the Lord comes to the rescue sometimes.  It says, “The Lord comes to the rescue each time.”  Yes, He is coming this time too!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we thank you for always rescuing us.  We thank you for staying close to us even when we push you away.  Thank you for never leaving our side Lord.  Thanks for being a good, good Father to each of us.  Lord, we ask that you help us see how you have rescued us in the past.  Lord, we ask you to show us where you are now in our situation.  We ask you to give us renewed hope that you will in fact rescue us from whatever it is we are struggling with.  We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  In case you did not hear yesterday, registration is open for the retreat that I am hosting from October 8-9th.  It will be an awesome time of filling up on the Lord’s love so we can then go out and share that love with others.  If you are feeling like you could use a little more love, I hope you will join me.  If you have ever wished you could have a deeper, more intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father, I hope you will join me.  I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow with three witnesses.  All three things happened at the Encounter School of Ministry Boston Campus’ Summer Intensive and they are all wonderful.  Remember Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

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