Have you ever been hurt by someone you loved and cared for? Maybe a spouse, a child, a relative, a close friend, a teacher?
Late last night, I read something that did just that to my soul. I know it was not intended to, but it broke my heart anyway. And no amount of prayer or self-preaching seemed to take the ache away, no matter how hard I fought and how much I scolded myself.
I was foolishly hurt; my spirit was crushed.
I’m still aching today. Do you know why? I am human. And we, as humans, get hurt sometimes. We as humans hurt others sometimes, even unintentionally. I long for the day when all that is wrong will be made right. When we will no longer hurt or hurt others with our words and actions.
Even though I am still aching this morning, God has granted me great comfort in one small verse: Psalm 34:18
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
I am embarrassed that I allowed words to hurt me. I am embarrassed that my spirit was crushed. I feel very foolish. When will I ever learn? But even in the midst of my shame over being hurt and yet the very realness of that hurt, I see here in this Psalm, that the Psalm writer knew brokenhearted-ness and knew what it was like to be crushed in the spirit. But more than that, he KNEW that the Lord was near to him and to those who are broken hearted.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted. He sees and knows. But he does more than just that. He doesn’t stop at simple knowledge of the pain. No, read the rest of the verse: He saves the crushed in spirit. He saves them! Only he can mend the crushed. Only He can mend the hurt.
So today I will rejoice that my Lord is near and that He saves. I will attend church and sing to Him; Worship Him, hear His word. I will fight this hurt with the tools God has given me to fight with, but I also will acknowledge that it is through those tools that He does the work of repairing–of coming near and saving. And I will be glad.
