Broken hearted

 

Wounds

The people of Samoa continue to pray and seek God at this time of the measles outbreak that has taken so many young children and babies.

Our travels through life can take us through the experience of loss, of someone or something dear. The loss of a loved one through death is one of life’s most intense challenges, and the pain can be overwhelming. But God doesn’t leave you to suffer alone. We claim his promises, and find comfort in these verses from His Living Word.

1. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).  Jesus himself spoke these words. The Lord will wrap His arms of love and comfort around those who trust in Him.

2. “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). Lean on God and allow Him to continue the process of healing your broken heart.

3. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble” (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4). God loves you and will comfort you during hardships, and then place you in a place where you can use that enduring strength to comfort others.

4. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). God promises to be with you and get you through this time of intense loss, disappointment and loneliness.

5. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). Depend on His guidance to lead you out of that dark valley.

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The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise” (verse 17).

What did he mean? Why does God value this kind of sacrifice much more than the burnt offerings He had commanded under the Old Covenant?

David used similar words years earlier in praising God for protecting him from the Philistine king of Gath. He wrote: “The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

God highly values those who are contrite

In the book of Isaiah, God shows how highly He values those who are contrite:

• “For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).
• “‘For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,’ says the LORD. ‘But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at [reverences] My word’” (Isaiah 66:2).

The Good News Translation puts Isaiah 66:2 this way, “I myself created the whole universe! I am pleased with those who are humble and repentant, who fear me and obey me.”

God loves us and wants us to change from following the way that leads to death, and instead to follow the Bible and its beneficial laws that lead to life. God wants us to have a humble spirit that is willing to change, as well as to have a reverence and love of His Word, which reveals the essence of truth (John 17:17).

As Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, God is looking for true worshippers who worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

What is a contrite heart?

The Hebrew words translated “heart” referred to “a person’s inner being. … To the Hebrews, the heart was the seat of the affections, will, and mind” (NKJV Study Bible, Wordfocus, “heart,” p. 930). In these passages, spirit also refers to our inner being, our disposition or our very life.

So having a contrite heart means recognizing our sinfulness and brokenness. It means being humble and teachable.The word translated “contrite” in Psalm 51 means “to be broken, crushed” (Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon). The related word in Psalm 34 means “(1) very much crushed, broken very small … poet. for dust … (2) broken in spirit, cast down.”

Here are some other ways Psalm 51:17 is translated: “chastened heart” (International Standard Version), “humbled heart” (Christian Standard Bible), “repentant heart” (Good News Translation), “sorrowful heart” (God’s Word Translation).

Here are some ways Psalm 34:18 is translated: “bruised of spirit” (Young’s Literal Translation), “a crushed spirit” (World English Bible), “humble of spirit” (Douay-Rheims Bible), “discouraged and have given up hope” (Contemporary English Version).

So having a contrite heart means recognizing our sinfulness and brokenness. It means being humble and teachable. It means hitting bottom and realizing that only God and following His way can turn things around for us. Being crushed, bruised and broken is a prerequisite for being healed, forgiven and transformed.

Examples of a broken, contrite heart

God called David a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). In addition to Psalm 51, discussed earlier, here are quotes from a few of David’s other heartfelt psalms of repentance and contrition that we can learn from:

• “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:1-5).
• “There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. … For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin” (Psalm 38:3-4, 18).
• “For innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me” (Psalm 40:12).
• “Thus my heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Psalm 73:21-24).

Study the rest of these prayers of repentance to God to see a fuller picture of David’s contrite heart. And see also Job’s heartfelt prayer in Job 42:1-6 and Daniel’s prayer of repentance in Daniel 9:3-19.

For more, see our articles “Prayer From the Heart” and “Godly Sorrow.”

What type of hearts does God not want?

To understand more about why God wants us to have a contrite heart, in contrast notice the kinds of hearts God is not happy with. These are all symptoms of deadly spiritual heart disease.

• A hard heart. Start with the Pharaoh who enslaved the Israelites and wouldn’t let God’s people go. Exodus tells us six times that Pharaoh had a “hard” heart. Even in the face of evidence of God’s great power through the 10 plagues, again and again Pharaoh’s “heart grew hard” (Exodus 7:13 and on).
• A stony heart. Ezekiel tells us that God wants to remove our stony hearts (Ezekiel 11:19).
• A heart that’s lifted up. Moses warned of the dangers we can face when we have been blessed materially. He explained that it becomes easy to forget that blessings come from God and to believe we have achieved success through our own efforts and righteousness (Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 17). Self-sufficiency and pride are hallmarks of the heart that’s “lifted up” (verse 14). Nebuchadnezzar serves as a powerful example of someone whose “heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride” (Daniel 5:20).

Other hearts God does not want include:

• A perverse heart (Psalm 101:4; Proverbs 12:8).
• A proud heart (Psalm 101:5).
• A wicked heart (Proverbs 26:23).
• A defiant and rebellious heart(Jeremiah 5:23).
• A sinful heart (Jeremiah 17:1)
• A deceitful heart (Proverbs 17:20) and a desperately wicked heart(Jeremiah 17:9).
• An adulterous heart (Ezekiel 6:9).
• A hard and impenitent heart(Romans 2:5).
• A veiled heart (2 Corinthians 3:15).
• An evil and unbelieving heart(Hebrews 3:12).

What can be done about all these symptoms of deadly spiritual heart disease?

God wants a change of heart

God said in Deuteronomy 5:29, “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!”

That change of heart starts with repentance. God leads us to humbly repent with a broken, contrite, crushed and bruised heart. We recognize our brokenness and inability to fix ourselves. We see our sins and the filth they produce in our hearts. Then we can pray, as David did, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

To those who were “cut to the heart” by the realization of their sins and asked what to do (Acts 2:37), Peter gave a call to repentance and the action steps for becoming a wholehearted follower of Christ:

“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (verse 38).

Study what the Bible says about this process of conversion in our free booklet Change Your Life!

A new heart and a joyous future

God will look on them and welcome them as children whose hearts can be nourished by feeling the deep joy of being loved and of belonging.God’s gift of forgiveness and of the Holy Spirit cleans our hearts and begins the process of changing them spiritually. As God said in Ezekiel:

“Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19).

Our hard and stony heart must be replaced by a broken contrite heart so God can create in us the clean, pure, healthy heart that is wholly devoted to God.

He wants to write His beneficial laws on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10)—through the Spirit to write “on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:3).

This healing, this heart transplant, is only possible because of God’s love and Christ’s sacrifice. Jesus said, “He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted” (Luke 4:18).

By doing this, He fulfills the wonderful promise of Psalm 147:3: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

Broken, bruised, repentant hearts are necessary for the transformation and healing God has in mind to begin. If we approach Him contritely, He can create in us pure, sound, living, peaceful hearts that will rejoice forevermore.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). And God will look on them and welcome them as children whose hearts can be nourished by feeling the deep joy of being loved and of belonging. John wrote, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1). Jesus said His followers don’t need to be troubled in heart, because He is going “to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2). The God who inhabits eternity and dwells in the high and holy place wants to live with us!

In the end our hearts will rejoice (Psalm 105:3), experience “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) and find “fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

This article has only scratched the surface of the vitally important subject of repentance—an essential part of God’s plan for your salvation. Take the next step now by studying the article “How to Repent.”

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise” (verse 17).

What did he mean? Why does God value this kind of sacrifice much more than the burnt offerings He had commanded under the Old Covenant?

David used similar words years earlier in praising God for protecting him from the Philistine king of Gath. He wrote: “The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

God highly values those who are contrite

In the book of Isaiah, God shows how highly He values those who are contrite:

• “For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).
• “‘For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,’ says the LORD. ‘But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at [reverences] My word’” (Isaiah 66:2).

The Good News Translation puts Isaiah 66:2 this way, “I myself created the whole universe! I am pleased with those who are humble and repentant, who fear me and obey me.”

God loves us and wants us to change from following the way that leads to death, and instead to follow the Bible and its beneficial laws that lead to life. God wants us to have a humble spirit that is willing to change, as well as to have a reverence and love of His Word, which reveals the essence of truth (John 17:17).

As Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, God is looking for true worshippers who worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

What is a contrite heart?

The Hebrew words translated “heart” referred to “a person’s inner being. … To the Hebrews, the heart was the seat of the affections, will, and mind” (NKJV Study Bible, Wordfocus, “heart,” p. 930). In these passages, spirit also refers to our inner being, our disposition or our very life.

So having a contrite heart means recognizing our sinfulness and brokenness. It means being humble and teachable.The word translated “contrite” in Psalm 51 means “to be broken, crushed” (Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon). The related word in Psalm 34 means “(1) very much crushed, broken very small … poet. for dust … (2) broken in spirit, cast down.”

Here are some other ways Psalm 51:17 is translated: “chastened heart” (International Standard Version), “humbled heart” (Christian Standard Bible), “repentant heart” (Good News Translation), “sorrowful heart” (God’s Word Translation).

Here are some ways Psalm 34:18 is translated: “bruised of spirit” (Young’s Literal Translation), “a crushed spirit” (World English Bible), “humble of spirit” (Douay-Rheims Bible), “discouraged and have given up hope” (Contemporary English Version).

So having a contrite heart means recognizing our sinfulness and brokenness. It means being humble and teachable. It means hitting bottom and realizing that only God and following His way can turn things around for us. Being crushed, bruised and broken is a prerequisite for being healed, forgiven and transformed.

Examples of a broken, contrite heart

God called David a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). In addition to Psalm 51, discussed earlier, here are quotes from a few of David’s other heartfelt psalms of repentance and contrition that we can learn from:

• “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:1-5).
• “There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. … For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin” (Psalm 38:3-4, 18).
• “For innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me” (Psalm 40:12).
• “Thus my heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Psalm 73:21-24).

Study the rest of these prayers of repentance to God to see a fuller picture of David’s contrite heart. And see also Job’s heartfelt prayer in Job 42:1-6 and Daniel’s prayer of repentance in Daniel 9:3-19.

For more, see our articles “Prayer From the Heart” and “Godly Sorrow.”

What type of hearts does God not want?

To understand more about why God wants us to have a contrite heart, in contrast notice the kinds of hearts God is not happy with. These are all symptoms of deadly spiritual heart disease.

• A hard heart. Start with the Pharaoh who enslaved the Israelites and wouldn’t let God’s people go. Exodus tells us six times that Pharaoh had a “hard” heart. Even in the face of evidence of God’s great power through the 10 plagues, again and again Pharaoh’s “heart grew hard” (Exodus 7:13 and on).
• A stony heart. Ezekiel tells us that God wants to remove our stony hearts (Ezekiel 11:19).
• A heart that’s lifted up. Moses warned of the dangers we can face when we have been blessed materially. He explained that it becomes easy to forget that blessings come from God and to believe we have achieved success through our own efforts and righteousness (Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 17). Self-sufficiency and pride are hallmarks of the heart that’s “lifted up” (verse 14). Nebuchadnezzar serves as a powerful example of someone whose “heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride” (Daniel 5:20).

Other hearts God does not want include:

• A perverse heart (Psalm 101:4; Proverbs 12:8).
• A proud heart (Psalm 101:5).
• A wicked heart (Proverbs 26:23).
• A defiant and rebellious heart(Jeremiah 5:23).
• A sinful heart (Jeremiah 17:1)
• A deceitful heart (Proverbs 17:20) and a desperately wicked heart(Jeremiah 17:9).
• An adulterous heart (Ezekiel 6:9).
• A hard and impenitent heart(Romans 2:5).
• A veiled heart (2 Corinthians 3:15).
• An evil and unbelieving heart(Hebrews 3:12).

What can be done about all these symptoms of deadly spiritual heart disease?

God wants a change of heart

God said in Deuteronomy 5:29, “Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!”

That change of heart starts with repentance. God leads us to humbly repent with a broken, contrite, crushed and bruised heart. We recognize our brokenness and inability to fix ourselves. We see our sins and the filth they produce in our hearts. Then we can pray, as David did, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

To those who were “cut to the heart” by the realization of their sins and asked what to do (Acts 2:37), Peter gave a call to repentance and the action steps for becoming a wholehearted follower of Christ:

“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (verse 38).

Study what the Bible says about this process of conversion in our free booklet Change Your Life!

A new heart and a joyous future

God will look on them and welcome them as children whose hearts can be nourished by feeling the deep joy of being loved and of belonging.God’s gift of forgiveness and of the Holy Spirit cleans our hearts and begins the process of changing them spiritually. As God said in Ezekiel:

“Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19).

Our hard and stony heart must be replaced by a broken contrite heart so God can create in us the clean, pure, healthy heart that is wholly devoted to God.

He wants to write His beneficial laws on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10)—through the Spirit to write “on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:3).

This healing, this heart transplant, is only possible because of God’s love and Christ’s sacrifice. Jesus said, “He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted” (Luke 4:18).

By doing this, He fulfills the wonderful promise of Psalm 147:3: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

Broken, bruised, repentant hearts are necessary for the transformation and healing God has in mind to begin. If we approach Him contritely, He can create in us pure, sound, living, peaceful hearts that will rejoice forevermore.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). And God will look on them and welcome them as children whose hearts can be nourished by feeling the deep joy of being loved and of belonging. John wrote, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1). Jesus said His followers don’t need to be troubled in heart, because He is going “to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2). The God who inhabits eternity and dwells in the high and holy place wants to live with us!

In the end our hearts will rejoice (Psalm 105:3), experience “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) and find “fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

This article has only scratched the surface of the vitally important subject of repentance—an essential part of God’s plan for your salvation. Take the next step now by studying the article “How to Repent.”

Seek a Broken Heart for Sin

February 7, 2021

Article by 

Scott Hubbard

Editor, desiringGod.org

The triumphant, victorious Christian life is marked by a curious feature: it rarely feels triumphant or victorious.

In the kingdom of God, strength comes through weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9–10), greatness through service (Mark 10:43), and wholeness through brokenness (Psalm 147:3). As the classic prayer puts it,

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit.

Many of us would gladly take the latter part of each of the above lines if we could forgo the former. But in the wisdom of God, no saint is high, healed, and rejoicing who is not also low, broken, and contrite. Samuel Rutherford put it bluntly: “Seek a broken heart for sin, for without that there is no meeting with Christ” (Letters of Samuel Rutherford, 328).

We may achieve much in this world without a broken heart; we may even seem to achieve much in the Christian life without a broken heart. But we cannot commune deeply and sweetly with Christ, for he enters only through the cracks of a broken heart.

Benefits of a Broken Heart

To be sure, dangers attend this pursuit. Some Christians focus with an almost morbid obsession on the wickedness of sin, the evil of our hearts, and the duty of mourning over our remaining corruption. They spend their days wandering the labyrinths of their indwelling sin, scarcely ever lifting their eyes to the Savior who loved them and gave himself for them (Galatians 2:20).

Even worse, seeking a broken heart can easily become a twisted attempt at self-justification. We can imagine, perhaps subconsciously, that we are more accepted by God the worse we feel about ourselves — forgetting, as the hymn goes,

Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
These for sin could not atone.
Thou must save, and thou alone.

Brokenness cannot justify us; tears cannot cleanse us. Only blood can (Ephesians 1:7).

And yet, the point still holds: a heart broken over sin opens the door for deeper communion with Christ. For only a broken heart teaches us to hate his rivals, welcome his grace, and hear his song of love and favor.

Hate his rivals.

Communion with Christ, much like communion with a spouse, requires a deeper sentiment than simply, “I choose you over all others.” It requires the sentiment, “I desire you over all others.” A heart unbroken over sin may choose Christ, at least in an outward sort of way, while still cherishing thoughts of another. But a broken heart has come to feel sin as its greatest burden and shame, and therefore resists Christ’s rivals with a force far greater than mere self-control: the force of holy revulsion.

In a sermon on Psalm 51, John Piper notes that, in this psalm of repentance over adultery, David never once asks God for more sexual self-control. “Why isn’t he praying for men to hold him accountable? Why isn’t he praying for protected eyes and sex-free thoughts?” Piper asks. The answer: “He knows that sexual sin is a symptom, not the disease.” Adultery is a symptom of a deeper disease: a heart unbroken over the evil of sin, unravished by the glory of Christ.

“The grace of the Holy One comes only to the lowly ones.”

So instead of merely pleading for self-control — for the power to chooseGod’s ways — David prays, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10). And a clean heart is, at bottom, a broken heart: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). If David was going to enjoy restored communion with God, he needed more than willpower. He needed a broken heart.

Self-control has its place in the Christian life, of course. But on its own, separated from a deep, abiding hatred of all that would draw us away from Christ, it merely weakens sin in the branches rather than withering it at the root.

Welcome his grace.

A broken heart, then, is never an end in itself. Christ, our good physician, breaks a heart as a surgeon must sometimes break a bone: only so he can heal it better in the end. “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). And the sweetest medicine he gives is called grace.

Though bitter in itself, a broken heart can open our hands to welcome grace in deeper ways than ever before. Only after Isaiah was undone, remember, did he hear the comforting words: “Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7). Only as Peter cowered, condemned, did Jesus say to him, “Do not be afraid” (Luke 5:10). And only after Paul cried, “Wretched man that I am!” did he say with equal force, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24–25).

If anxious thoughts of God’s love swirl within us, could it be that we are basing his love too much in us? And could it be that what we need most is a fresh breaking of the heart, to the point of despairing in ourselves again? Perhaps then we could hear the words of Horatius Bonar:

Faith is rest, not toil. It is the giving up of all the former weary efforts to do or feel something good, in order to induce God to love and pardon; and the calm reception of the truth so long rejected, that God is not waiting for any such inducements, but loves and pardons of his own goodwill, and is showing that goodwill to any sinner who will come to him on such a footing, casting away his own performances or goodnesses, and relying implicitly on the free love of him who so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son.

Some vainly attempt to climb to heaven by a ladder of good deeds and feelings. But the brokenhearted know that we reach heaven only on bended knees. “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up: . . . ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit’” (Isaiah 57:15). The grace of the Holy One comes only to the lowly ones.

Hear his song.

Such grace in itself is a marvel. Yet even more wonderful is the manner in which God gives it. Imagine, if you dare, the God of grace rushing toward you in your brokenness, his mouth open not with censure, but with song.

To the exiles in Jerusalem, God promised, “I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly” (Zephaniah 3:11–12). In other words, he promised to mercifully break his people’s hearts. And then, against all expectation, he says,

The Lord your God is in your midst,
     a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
     he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

“With God, strength comes through weakness, greatness through service, and wholeness through brokenness.”

As with so many of God’s ways, “behind a frowning providence he hides a smiling face.” Perhaps we fear that, after breaking our hearts, God will proceed to placard our sin for all eternity — that he will rub it in our faces, as it were, and make heaven a world of groveling penitence before the Almighty Frown.

Instead, he fills the air with song. For ages and ages, the melody of our forgiving God will display to his once-broken, now-healed people more and more of “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). And still the song will go on.

Seek a Broken Heart

Of course, we cannot just up and give ourselves a broken heart. Just as the men of Jerusalem “were cut to the heart” only when touched by a divine dagger (Acts 2:37), so too with us: if our hearts are to be broken at all by sin, God must break them.

Yet we can do something. We can follow Rutherford’s counsel to “seek a broken heart.” We can give up the exhausting effort of concealing our sin and pretending ourselves better than we are. We can pray that God would kindly, lovingly break us. And we can embrace the counterintuitive truth that the Christian life advances by opposites: we rise higher by stooping; we progress by repentance.

In this world, our fullness will come through emptiness, our strength through weakness, our joy through mourning, our exaltation through humility, and our wholeness through a broken and contrite heart.

Let your heart be broken by turning from your sin. (vv. 5-7a)

God told Jeremiah to say, "Why have these people turned away? Why is Jerusalem always turning away? They take hold of deceit; they refuse to return" (Jer. 8:5). The people in Jeremiah's day had turned away from God, and they refused to repent. They had no desire to return to God, though they had every opportunity to do so. Instead, the people deliberately charged ahead in their sinful practices like a war horse charging into battle, having no idea of the dangers involved.

They should have known better. Jeremiah reminded them that when people fall down, they get up again. If one takes the wrong road, they turn around to get back on the right road. Even birds know when it is time to migrate. People should be as obedient to divine instruction, returning to God when they sin.

One of the great problems in modern Christianity is that we practice confession of sin, but not repentance. We hold fast to 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9), but fail to heed Jesus' words in Luke 5:32, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). We treat repentance like it is a one-time act, at conversion, and confession is all we need after that. Jesus doesn't want us just to acknowledge our sin, but to turn from our sin. Remember what Jesus said to those he forgave. "Go and sin no more."

We are like children caught in misbehavior saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," only to have them repeat the same mistake again. We do the same thing with God, don't we? How often do you find yourself saying to God, "I'm sorry," only to repeat the same sin over and over again? To turn from the sin is to cease from doing it.

The evangelist Sammy Tippet wrote, "Too many in the West desire to know the manifest love of God without the manifest holiness of God. We have lost the message of repentance. Now the church in the West is the sleeping Giant. The church in the East sends a strong message: The repenters must repent!"

Repentance is a gift of grace. A repentant person is willing to leave his destructive paths as a slave is willing to leave his galley, or a prisoner his dungeon, or a thief his wares, or a beggar his rags. Repentance sets us free.

II. Let your heart be broken by practicing God's Word. (vv. 7b-13)

The roots of Judah's sin were a failure to repent and the rejection of God's word. Jeremiah wrote that God says, "They have rejected the word of the Lord" (Jer. 8:9). The people possessed the Word, but did not practice the Word.

Isn't it interesting that year in and year out the Bible is still a bestseller? But its popularity is not keeping Western society from crumbling morally and spiritually. There appears to be little connection between what people say they believe and the way people act. Could the problem lie in the fact that while we may read God's Word and believe God's Word, we do not practice God's Word? In the words of James, we are to "But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22).

It broke Jesus' heart that the Scribes and Pharisees, the students of the Word, did not practice the Word. They argued and debated the Scriptures but they did not accept and follow its precepts.  They had knowledge of the Law but did not apply it.

James reminded us: ". . . humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save you" (James 1:21). The word receive means "to welcome" or "to come on in." To accept God's Word, first we must welcome the word into our lives. We must give it our full attention. We must be teachable, yielded, humble, and willing to be changed.

When we begin to put God's Word into practice it will change our hearts. We will see people as Jesus saw people. We will hurt as he hurt over the injustices. We will be sensitive to the disenfranchised, lonely, abused, and neglected. We will cry for the lost and dying without him. We will feel deeply about his passion to reach the world.

III. Let your heart be broken by realizing the urgency of the hour. (v. 20)

Jeremiah wrote eloquently, "Harvest has passed, summer has ended, but we have not been saved" (Jer. 8:20). The harvest and the summer were two different seasons. The former was the time for gathering grain. The latter was the time for gathering fruit. If one of these harvests was a failure, the other was usually a success. If both were unsuccessful, stark tragedy stared the people in the face. The proverb speaks of the tragedy of wasted opportunity. It would be said today, "Time's up!" "The party's over." There comes a time when it is too late.

While I know little of farming, I do understand that the farmer has a brief window when the crops are to be harvested before they rot in the fields. The farmer must harvest before it is too late. A sense of urgency is required to bringing in the harvest.

A similar urgency needs must be felt for the harvest of souls. Of the billions of people in the world, it is estimated that over 30 million worldwide will die without Christ each year. And of the over 300 million people in the United States, it is estimated that 41 percent of the people don't go to church at all. Not at Easter, or at Christmas, or to weddings or funerals. And if they were to die they would go to eternal punishment without knowing the love of Christ.

Jesus' heart broke over the harvest when he said, "The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest" (Matt. 9:37-38). He saw the people, saw the clock, and saw the need. His heart broke because time was running out.

The old preacher Vance Havner used to say, "The tragedy of our time is that the situation is desperate but the saints are not." We are living in desperate times. And desperate times demand action. We live in a lost and broken world desperate for the good news of Jesus Christ.

Three weeks before President John Kennedy was assassinated, he said, "Almost all presidents leave office feeling that their work is unfinished. I have a lot to do, and so little time to do it." As followers of Jesus Christ, we have much work to do and little time to do it. We must give ourselves to it. The times demand urgent action. Remember, the gospel is only good news if it arrives in time.

IV. Let your heart be broken by watching someone self-destruct. (v. 21)

Jeremiah wrote, "I am broken by the brokenness of my dear people. I mourn; horror has taken hold of me" (Jer. 8:21). Jeremiah mourned over the sins of the people. The people were like his child, injured, barely clinging to life. "I mourn" literally means "I am dark" or "black," the color of mourning attire. He was dismayed, which described a wrenching fit, literally being convulsed with agony. Jeremiah was like a parent watching a wayward child destroy his life through wrong choices.

I have a daughter - my only child. I hurt when she hurts. I lose sleep when she is in trouble. I feel pain when she is in pain. I suppose only a parent can know those kinds of emotions. While my daughter is a "good" kid who has made mostly right decisions for which I am grateful, I can only imagine the hurt that some parents feel when they are helpless, watching their wayward child self-destruct.

Jeremiah saw the people of Judah as his very own children. He saw them venturing down the slippery slope of self-destruction. His pain, his wounded heart, was reminiscent of the pain Jesus took upon himself in Gethsemane. Jesus, too, saw the world - the people whom he created and loved - as his own children. When the shock and the burden of the sins of the people took hold of him his sweat turned to blood. We get our word excruciating from the events of Calvary, for the word means "out from the cross." The pain, the hurt, the emotions ran deep. His heart broke excruciatingly because the people he loved were running headlong into destruction.

How often does your heart break for lost friends and the lost world?

V. Let your heart be broken by people refusing the cure. (v. 22)

"Is there no balm in Gilead?" (Jer. 8:22) was a metaphor that his hearers would have easily understood. Jeremiah was looking to the east, toward the restful town of Gilead. It was located in the mountainous region east of the Jordan River and north of Moab. It was famous for its healing ointment made from the resin of a tree of uncertain identity. Gilead was a symbol of hope. It was a city of cure. It was place of remedy.

Jeremiah was saying that a remedy existed for the people's wound - repentance - but they had not applied it. A physician could heal their spiritual sickness - the prophet with God's word - but they refused to consult him.

Do you know any sick people who refuse to take medication or treatment? Do you know any married couples whose marriage is on the rocks, but they refuse to see a counselor? Do you know any employee who could be helped in his or her performance if only they would talk to their supervisor? Do you know any spiritually lost people who know they need to turn to Jesus but refuse to follow him?

A 30-year-old man climbed over the retaining wall at Niagara Falls and jumped into the rapids of Horseshoe Falls. Quickly the rushing currents carried him toward the 173-foot drop. Even if he wanted to, there could be no turning back. The 675,000 gallons of water that plunge over the falls every second hurtled him like a toothpick over the famous Falls.

Incredibly, the man resurfaced at the bottom of the fierce currents. He was conscious and swimming, despite a gash to his head. The force of the falls had torn off his clothes. Very few have ever survived such a fatal plunge. Clinging to a piece of driftwood, he swam 30 feet from the shore. Niagara Police Sgt. Chris Gallagher yelled for him to swim toward shore. The man refused. Letting go of the driftwood he headed in the opposite direction swimming between the ice chunks.

A helicopter flew low over the man and extended a pole, but he did not cooperate. He wrestled a rescue sling from his arm and swam away. Despite the treacherous conditions of ice, high winds, and waves the helicopter made another attempt. The pilot angled the chopper blades to create a wave that would push the man towards the shore.

Rescuers raced against the clock. After 30 minutes in the icy waters the man weakened but remained totally uncooperative. Firefighter Ted Brunning jumped into the river and pulled the perishing man 200 feet to shore.

He was rescued against his will. The authorities conclude the man must not have been thinking right.

Jesus sees more than just one person on a dangerous course. He sees people from every walk of life heading toward the same end. The path of sin does not have a good ending. Despite the well-announced warning of hell ahead people swim on in the swirling current of their sins, unrepentant, with the clock ticking. Time is running out. And, as bizarre as it seems, some perishing people resist rescue. Not everyone wants to be saved from peril. Not everyone wants to abandon the course they are on. Not everyone wants to come to Jesus.

It should break our hearts when we see:

• People who are unrepentant.
• People who don't practice God's Word.
• People who don't realize time is running out.
• People who are self-destructing.
• People who refuse the cure.

Those people break God's heart.

Conclusion

God uses people with broken hearts. Will you let your heart be broken by the things that break God's heart?

I close with a song written by Bryan Jeffery Leech. It is entitled "Let Your Heart Be Broken." May it challenge us to look deep within our own hearts to see what hurts us most.

Rick Ezell is the pastor of First Baptist Greer, South Carolina. Rick has earned a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Master of Theology in preaching from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Rick is a consultant, conference leader, communicator, and coach.

Meanwhile, the Hebrew word rapha, translated to “heals,” implies not only a return to normal health but a complete and whole restoration of health. A plunge into this pool is like entering a mystical healing spring where your dry, flaking skin miraculously rejuvenates into the soft, supple skin of a baby.

God, as the “Great Physician,” has the power to restore us to the condition of perfection, purity, and holiness into which He formed us when He created us in His image (Genesis 1:27). Such restoration is what the Lord promises to every one of us.

20 Ways God Heals The Brokenhearted

Does God heal the brokenhearted? The good news is He does. Moving past this terrible season can seem like a distant dream to someone who is grieving the loss of a loved one or who is emotionally wounded for another reason. Here are the 20 ways God heals the brokenhearted:

1. When We Feel Down, He Lifts Our Spirits And Warms Our Hearts.

God, the Eternal One, the One whose name is Holy, states as much: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isiah 57:15).

2. It Doesn’t Matter How Isolated We May Feel, Jesus Is Never Far Away.

God has promised that He will never abandon us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), so we should not let the pursuit of wealth rule our lives.

3. He Builds Hope And A New Future For Us.

Jeremiah 23:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

4. Jesus Christ Provides An Everlasting Peace For His Children.

Jesus assures us in 1 Peter 5:7 to “Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you.” Practicing meditation and yoga regularly may help you cope with stress. Up until meeting Jesus, nothing else had any effect.

5. Jesus Carry Out Burdens Allowing Us To Rest.

This suggests that we shouldn’t worry because He always has a plan for us. If we put our faith in him and let him keep moving forward on his path, He will carry our loads and open doors for us.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

6. In Times Of Need, Christ Draws Near To Us.

Psalm 34:18 says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

7. Jesus Is A Healer Of Our Hearts And Souls.

We can discover salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life in Him. Psalm 147:3 says, “Jesus heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

8. Jesus Is The Guardian Of Your Mind And Heart.

Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

9. Christ Heals Your Mind And Broken Spirit.

Having had one’s mind refreshed, one can perceive things more clearly. With this illumination, we can make more God-honoring choices.

Romans 12:2 declares, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

10. He Gives Us Greater Strength.

Philippians 4:13 say, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Psalm 73:26 also gives the same encouragement: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart forever.”

11. God’s Word Empowers Us.

Jesus Christ gives us victory over fear by giving us the authority to face it. There is no other name under heaven given to mortals by which we have seen or shall see glory as we have seen the glory of the one and only Son.

2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and love and of a sound mind.”

12. He Prepares A Way For Us.

A way has been made for us, and we must always keep in mind that Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father made it. It might be challenging to make the correct decision, especially in times of hardship, yet it is in these moments that our faith is renewed.

2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Choosing to follow God’s will faithfully is our responsibility.

13. He Sustains Us.

Psalm 55:22 says “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you.” The Lord maintains us in “our life by relieving our stress and refreshing our souls. God heals us physically, and He often does so, so that we can then use our testimony to help others.

14. Jesus Wipes Away Our Tears.

He has a plan in place to heal our hearts and put an end to our suffering. It is stated in Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

15. He Is A Healer.

God is a healer because He is called our Great Physician in the Bible. Psalm 30:2 says “O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me.”

16. He Gives Us The Power Of Prayer.

Offering our troubles to God in prayer is a wonderful blessing. Faithful people see their lives restored by the Lord.

James 5:15 say, “And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.”

17. He Is Greater Than Our Hearts.

While it’s certain that you’ll experience heartbreak at some point in your life, know that God is larger than your emotions and find peace in him. 1 John 3:20 says, “For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything.”

18. He Leads Us.

The Lord will guide our hearts when we are lost in a storm. Whatever you’re going through, God’s love and power will get you through it.

19. He Guides The Correct Path.

He will lead you in the correct direction if you trust him. If you’re currently unmarried and looking, you can find yourself in this situation. Perhaps you’ll end up getting married in six weeks instead of the two you originally planned on.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and He shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)”

20. He Provides Light For Our Feet.

“When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The Lord will be a light to me,” says Micah 7:8. If you’re going through a rough patch, remember that Jesus is your guiding light, and keep walking with him.