“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18

Many people are familiar with the first stanza of that verse: The Lord is near to the brokenhearted…

We see it on cards and mugs and journals and throw blankets like this one from CBD.

That’s great, but I think that all to often we forget to examine this scripture in context, and as a result we have forgotten (or never understood) what it really means.

When we use a portion of a verse to universally comfort those who are hurting because of loss, depression, or trauma, we miss the opportunity to hold out the Gospel. We release this arrow of God’s Word and we remove the target.

The reason that the Lord is near to the brokenhearted is not that He just loves to comfort those who are sad. He is near to those whose hearts are broken by remorse for their sins. See, He “saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

In Psalm 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.” A few verses later, it says, “The Lord favors those who fear Him, Those who wait for His lovingkindness.” (vs. 11) The context is that God gathers up the outcasts. Looking in the Strong’s Concordance, the word for outcast is most often used to describe those who have been thrust out because of their sin. They are imperfected. Sinners were cast out so that they would develop remorse for their sins and long to be restored (1 Cor.5). He is healing the repentant and taking away their sin.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51:17

A broken heart is repentant, and repentance is turning away from our sin, not simply saying we are sorry. God knows repentance the moment we experience it. We see that when we read Acts 10:44-46. As Peter was telling the Gentile, Cornelius, and his household that whoever believes/trusts in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through His name, the Holy Spirit came upon those who believed. Afterward, they were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. They repented, God knew, they were forgiven, and they received the Holy Spirit.

The thing is, once we have repented, God does not want us to wallow in shame forever. That’s not what humility is about. It’s like that cookbook Fix it and Forget It. 2 Corinthians 7 says, “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

The world feels sadness and there is sorrow in the natural consequences for sin, but there is NO forgiveness for sorrow without repentance. We need to be SO careful how we portray the comfort of God to the world!

BUT, once we have repented, THROW OFF that burden of shame! It is debilitating, and the enemy of our souls LOVES to go around condemning us for what we have already been FORGIVEN!!

Satan will play games with you, using regret to cripple you and hold you back from the FULL LIFE God has prepared for you in Christ! (John 10) You are a new creation… the old has gone, the new has come. (2 Cor. 5) The Lord wants you to enjoy the freedom He has purchased for you through His blood, but in that, we need to keep walking with the Lord. Keep following the example of Jesus and obeying His commandments. Walk with the Lord without regret!

No Shame, No Game!

You’ve been made clean!

Cover photo and Jesus photo by Amrulqays Maarof and kar3nt on Pixabay.