HE UNDERSTANDS THE BROKEN HEARTED!

HE UNDERSTANDS THE BROKEN HEARTED!

Ps 69:19-21

19 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.

20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

         The Psalmist had a broken heart. Things were not going well for him. It seemed the more he tried the worse were the results. Fortune had fled and calamity unpacked her bags for a long and uncomfortable stay. Every appeal for sympathy fell on deaf ears.

         The Jews believed that God was a just God and that rewards and punishments were meted out in proportion to the righteousness or wickedness of the individual. If someone were suffering then it must be punishment for some evil deed. Success was proof that one was doing the right thing and making the right decisions. Job’s three “friends” accused him of gross misconduct because of his trials and because of this prevailing thought. This was also the basis of the question of the disciples when they saw the man born blind.

John 9:2-3

2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

          Because of the retribution principle, suffering had become a source of shame. Nobody cared in Psalm 69:20 because onlookers clearly thought the sufferer deserved what he was receiving. This was the case with the suffering Jesus on the cross. The crowd shouted: “He saved others but himself he cannot save!” He was offered vinegar to quench his thirst. This was simply another insult.

         Perhaps you have suffered a reversal of fortune. The more you try the worse things get. Your opinions are not popular and are thought of as outdated and irrelevant. You are mocked by those who seem to be enjoying God’s blessings. Yet, like Job, you know that your heart is right with God. Your heart has been broken and there is none to care. Take your case to Jesus who understands the broken hearted.

Be Still, My Soul

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Dear Lord, you know my broken heart and what has broken it. Make just my way in thy sight. AMEN