Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
– Psalm 147:1-3
Have you ever been brokenhearted? A broken marriage, the loss of a loved one, the breakdown of a friendship, the loss of a job, hurtful words – the list can go on and on. We live in a sinful world and sometimes we find ourselves broken.
What do we do when something is broken? Physically we can fix it. We can glue it, cast it, hammer it, stitch it, etc. But brokenhearted isn’t as simple. Brokenhearted is different for everyone, but can typically be thought of as crushed or shattered. We don’t know how we can possibly ever feel whole again.
God’s word tells us that he can heal our hearts and hurts when we hand them over to him. Marriages can be restored, new opportunities can be revealed, new friendships formed, etc. We don’t always understand how or when healing will happen, but restoration will occur.
These verses are a reminder to hand over our hurts and praise God while we wait to be built up and experience the things that God has in store for our future. As Casting Crowns sings, we can praise him through our storm. We can rest in the assurance that he hears our cries and will hold us together until we are healed.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we come to you thankful that we do not have to be strong at all times, that you are our strength and will hold us together when we are broken. May we always remember to bring you our hurts and not rely on things within our world to soothe our hurts that can only be truly healed by you. Help us be patient as we wait for your work to be completed within us. Amen.
Contributed by Charlotte Choate
Bible Reading
Read Psalm 147 and record any insights you gain here.
Call to Connection
Reflect on times in your life when an encouraging word did or could have gone a long way. Write 2 encouraging verses down on sticky notes and place them around your space today.