God is near to the brokenhearted

by: carole l. haines

¹⁷ The righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. ¹⁸ The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. ¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

(Psalm 34 NASB)

I lay there in my tub this morning, tears trickling down my face. Worries, fears, disappointment had awoken me out of a restless sleep. A broken heart, yeah, that was the malady this morning, my heart was broken, again, by trusting the wrong person.  It’s one of those David and Goliath things, where promises were made by someone much bigger than myself, much more important, and they did not come through.  Ever had that happen?  Somebody promises the moon, but doesn’t even deliver a moon-beam.

God whispered to me, Carole, I am near to the broken-hearted.  That’s when I realized that if I get nothing else out of this failed venture, I will have learned that precious truth at a deeper level.  God is near to the Broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  That is a truth that penetrates to the driest, most parched recesses of my soul.  People fail us all the time. People promise things they can’t deliver, in order to get from us what they want.  We do our best to navigate the minefield of human partnerships, but they will fail us at times, and frankly, we will fail in our promises, at times, as well.  But something greater than mortal promises is here.  God is here, He is here with us now, right here, right now, always and forever. God created the moon and stars, he can give us those moonbeams, in His own time and way.  God’s word tells me this:

The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.  (Psalm 138:8 NASB)

And again the Word of God says this:  Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by. ² I will cry to God Most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me. ³ He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth. (Psalm 57:1-3 NASB)

My heart was broken because I had placed my hope in a human partnership, instead of in my relationship with God. God will never fail me, and if this “thing” I feel He led me to do is His will, He will accomplish it, even through imperfect, flawed, human partnerships. Another insight I will take away from this is just how important it is for me to be a woman of my word.  If I say I’m going to do something, then I had better do it.  I have failed others in this area, and God is showing me just how much it hurts to be on the receiving end of faithlessness.  He is so good to comfort, correct, teach, and grow us up in Christ.  What a mighty and awesome God we serve.  This wondrous God promises this:
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3 NASB)

God can be trusted, even to work through flawed human beings, like me and you, and those who have failed to follow through. All praise to the God who accomplishes what concerns us.  Amen