Every Friday
Held By the One Who Sees and Understands Our Pain
By Jennifer Slattery in The Crosswalk Devotional
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit. - Psalm 34:18, NIV
When I look back on some of my most painful experiences, particularly during my homeless period in my late teens, it wasn’t my circumstances that caused the most grief. What hurt most was the fact that I felt alone. I now realize that wasn’t my reality; that the Lord saw me, loved me, and, as today’s verse assures, remained with me every dark moment of every distressing day.
David, ancient Israel’s second king, wrote Psalm 34 during a time of crisis. In fear for his life, he hid in Philistine territory, the land of ancient Israel’s fiercest enemies, and in the very city from which Goliath, the warrior David beheaded, came. Learning of his presence, the king's servants said, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?” (1 Samuel 21:11, NIV).
In other words, isn’t this the guy who killed many of our warriors?
1 Samuel 21:13 states that, “David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish, king of Gath” (NIV, emphasis mine). This gains emphasis when one considers that, as a teen, he took on and defeated a large, heavily armed tyrant that had paralyzed the entire Israeli army. And yet, he felt afraid.
In desperation, David prayed to God, asking for mercy and declaring, twice, that he would place his trust in the Lord (Psalm 56). He then pretended to be insane, “making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard” (1 Samuel 21:14, NIV).
How humiliating this must have been—a powerful and successful warrior and the man anointed to reign as ancient Israel’s next king, survived by feigning severe mental illness. As humiliating as this must have been, it saved his life.
Then we get to Psalm 34, a beautiful passage in which he declared His trust in and love for God, stating, “I will extol the Lord… his praise will always be on my lips… my soul will boast in the Lord” (v. 1-2, NIV, emphasis mine). He wrote that God heard his cries, saved him from his troubles, and kept His eyes upon him, adding today’s verse in which he confidently proclaimed the Lord’s nearness in times of distress.
Again, today’s verse states, The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
David wasn’t just sad, concerned, or discouraged. In the original Hebrew, the word that our Bibles translate as broken has the connotation of something that’s been shattered into pieces. The ending phrase conveys a similar meaning. The word translated as crushed, in the original Hebrew, refers to something pulverized to dust and beyond repair. Scripture uses the same word in Psalm 90:3, which reads:
“You turn people back to dust, saying, ‘Return to dust, you mortals’ (NIV, emphasis mine).
Have you ever experienced emotional pain so intense that your chest physically hurt and you struggled to breathe? That was how David felt, and understandably so.
He feared for his life, likely the lives of his family, was run out of his homeland and everything he knew, and was forced to live as a fugitive for at least a decade. Oh, how lonely and disoriented he must’ve felt. He could’ve turned bitter or become swallowed up in his grief. Instead, he turned to God and sought comfort in Him.
That was David’s regular practice. As the New International Chronological Bible states, “Virtually every important encounter he faces becomes memorialized in his petitions to God.”
Yet, his psalms don’t just record his requests. They’re also always filled with praise.
Intersecting Life & Faith:
What a powerful example for us to follow. Sadly, when I feel sad and afraid, initially, I often get stuck in my head. That only makes things worse as one concern tends to lead to another, then another, until I’m nearly buried in gloom. Thankfully, God always meets me there, draws me into His tender embrace, and speaks encouraging truths to my soul. As today’s verse states, He moves close to the brokenhearted. This won’t change. I’m learning, however, that my sorrow feels much more manageable and less dark when I turn to the One who always turns toward me. He’s turning toward you, in your pain, as well.