Mending a Broken Heart

Psalm 34:18

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (ESV)

I wonder how many of our readers have ever experienced a broken heart? Am I alone? I’m also a hopeless romantic (that is the term I choose to use and I’m sticking with it). As much as I love my wife and wouldn’t trade her for the world – I remember relationships from the past. Smells and songs trigger memories for me. I remember the first girl I ever kissed (I was 9 and we were moving from our church and she was 10 and I kissed her on our last Sunday). She was my first girlfriend so to speak (it is written in my baby book LOL). I remember the perfume my next girlfriend used (Heaven Scent) and it brings back memories when I smell it.

As I grew older – songs began to play a part of my memories. Stevie Wonder’s You Are The Sunshine Of My Life has fond memories as does Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together. Color My World by Chicago was also a favorite – it was the first song I ever danced to (with someone).

Let’s Stay Together was a song that brings back not only fond memories but sad memories as well. It was still popular (came out in 1972) during one of my relationship breakups. As an emotional person – it would bring tears to my eyes remembering that relationship after it was over. Even today I occasionally remember relationships past.

I can attest to the fact that a broken heart hurts. I enjoyed being in a relationship – I don’t do loneliness very well – but enough about my love life. Have we ever experienced a broken heart – spiritually? Have we ever felt overcome with our sin or overcome with remorse for our sins? Have we ever felt like – how could God ever love us?

I write and preach a lot about the heart and today’s passage hit me as a heart type passage. Here it is in partial context. Psalm 34:8–20 – ⁸ Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. ⁹ Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. ¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. ¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. ¹² Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, ¹³ keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. ¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. ¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; ¹⁶ but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth. ¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. ¹⁸ The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. ¹⁹ The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; ²⁰ he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.

Our hearts should be broken because we are a broken people – a sinful people – but God has promised to heal our broken hearts. God is close to the brokenhearted and can heal our wounds if we turn to Him. I know that is the only way I got through the broken hearts of my youth – by turning to Him. Seek His face and desire His grace and God will heal our wounds. Mending a broken heart is not easy – whether it is a broken emotional heart or a broken spiritual heart – but God can help with either if we turn to Him.

Just something to think about today as we go on our way.