September 19, 2018
Psalm 34:11-22 …“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.” vs. 18
Occasionally we will hear reports of horrendous things that have happened in the lives of friends and acquaintances. Bad things have piled up. There has not just been one death, but multiple loved ones have died in a very short time. Cancers and heart attacks strike without warning and we wonder that these suffering folks can possibly find the resources to go on living. We ask questions of God and wonder where justice can be found. Often these are good people who deserve the best from life, and instead they get the worst. All of us have heard these stories and some of us have lived them. Our age is not the first to deal with such inequities. The psalmist saw them happening 2500 years ago. His words are simple–probably the best we can come up with. “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.” God didn’t cause the illness or accident. God isn’t punishing. We’ll have to look elsewhere for possible causes and sometimes we won’t be able to answer the hard questions. But we do know that God has not deserted the hurting and the wounded, and we do get through the pain. And it’s not because of our stoicism or bravery! On our own we would be crushed! Only by God’s goodness and power can we endure–and for that we give God thanks!
Thought for the Day: What would crush my spirit?
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