Broken-hearts plague every single one of us in this life at one point or another.

It would certainly be lovely to escape it but even for the saved, we find ourselves needing mending.

Fortunately for us, our heavenly Father is in the business of healing broken hearts

Scripture – Psalm 34:18

¹⁸ The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

    and saves the crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:18 esv

Observation

David is quite triumphant in this chapter.

The backdrop of this comforting verse is that David succeeded in tricking his rival, Abimelech into thinking he was insane.

Abimelech started pitying his declined mental state and no longer considered him a worthy adversary.

So here in Psalm 34 we see David rejoicing in the presence of other desperate men who like him, escaped to a cave from persecution.

David reveals a profound truth here in verse 18.Whereas one would expect a broken hearted man to be far removed from God, and languishing in despair, the opposite rings true of our Lord.

He somehow is nearest when despair looms.

Not that He waits only for these conditions to bless us with His presence.

Rather, God’s incomprehensible and limitless capacity to love draws Him to His creations when they face sorrow.

It’s His father-like quality that compels Him to love on man in this weakened state.

The Crushing

David says that He “saves the crushed in spirit.”

This ‘crushing’ aptly describes the human state in deep loss, and immensely difficult circumstances.

When something is crushed we often consider to to be beyond repair.

With God though, nothing is impossible and everything falls in the realm of the reparable.

There are those moments in life where nothing earthly can soothe us.

Money, physical companionship, absolutely nothing we can think of would truly suffice in the face of such distress.

This is when God swoops in like only He can.

He mends like only He can.

He is hope so only He can reveal that hope to us.

Application – Psalm 34:18

So many things can lead us to a broken heart.

Though penned over 2000 years ago, this verse continues to be applicable to every believer.

God is indeed near to us in our broken-heartedness.

Not only that, Jesus comes alongside us in our pains.

The Word in Isaiah 53:5 tells us that He experiences a crushing with and for us.

Consider too just how relatable Jesus is.

In human form, our Lord endured unspeakable atrocities.

He also experienced immense heartbreak.

He actually wept. (John 11:35)

Jesus knows the sting of losing a loved one.

He feels so deeply for us when we mourn that He mourns too.

This truth ought to comfort us.

We can always let the truth of Psalm 34:18 wash over us and lift us from despair to delight.

Like David, we can repeat and even sing this truth out.

We can encourage ourselves and encourage others nursing broken spirits.

This, like so many other truths in the Bible are meant as a healing balm.

This is how we fight our battles.

We turn to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.

We lay our burdens at His feet.

And, we draw near to Him, knowing and embracing the unchangeable reality that He is near to the broken-hearted.

Prayer

Yahweh, I thank You for the very breath
I breathe.
I thank You for the blessed assurance that
You will never leave or forsake me.
Thank You God for being my strength 
when I am weak.
Jesus, You said before You departed physically
that You will be with me always, even until the very
end and I know that You will never break that
promise.
Thank You for already keeping Your end of the 
bargain by gifting us Holy Spirit.
I know that You see all my pain.
You see every tear that falls from my eyes
and You are aware of the desperate pleas of 
my soul.
You God are so generous that You never leave me
to fight my battles on my own.
You shield and protect me and shine Your Light
into my darkness.
You have filled me with Your Hope and showered
me with Your love.
I can hold my head high and dry my eyes because
You have never failed me and You never will.
I thank You Lord that for the victory.
I thank You for the hope I have in You.
I thank You that You give beauty for ashes.
I thank You that You will restore all the years
that the locusts have eaten.
I thank You that this too shall pass.
In Jesus's name.
Amen

Song Inspiration for Psalm 34:18

In all honesty, New Wine by Hillsong United was playing in the spirit while this post was being written.

Still, when this other song by them is so fitting for this verse.

So, lucky you today.

You get a two-fer

Enjoy.

Final Thoughts

We really want to know…

What impact does today’s scripture have on you?

Can you think back to a moment when you felt God’s closeness in a very hard situation?

Consider sharing your story with us in the comments.

You never know who will be encouraged by your testimony.

Also, if you are walking through a hard situation at the moment, we invite you to indicate your request for prayer below.

Feel free also to reach out to Stating Faith privately and send us your prayer request.

We would love to pray for you!

Finally, if you liked this post, we recommend another one about God’s faithfulness you might also enjoy.

Til next time…

Stay Blessed