| “A broken and a contrite [repentant] heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise” (Psalm 51:17). |
| “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). |
| How many of you have broken something that you really liked, or perhaps worse still, broken something that someone else really liked? It is a terrible feeling to have your Mom’s favorite mug go crashing to the floor, or to rip a big hole in your favorite sweater. Most often after an accident like this, the broken object is useless. |
| In today’s verses we are not talking about “things,” but you, and your spirit and feelings. Maybe you feel you have really failed the Lord in something you have done or said. Perhaps just an angry word that really hurt someone else. You may think that you cannot pick up and keep going because this happens so often that you will never be any use as a Christian. |
| Do you know that the Lord says that often He can make better use of something that has been broken and mended than one that is still in perfect condition? If you broke the handle off a special mug, even if it were carefully mended, I am sure every time afterwards when it was picked up, the user would be very careful, as you would know its weak spot. It is like that with us as Christians. If we have failed and come to the Lord and confessed our mistakes, the Lord values that. We will not be proud of how we can manage on our own after a fall, and will be much more likely to ask the Lord for His continual help when we feel our weakness. |
| You will remember the story of Gideon in Judges 7. The 300 men that were left with Gideon to help him fight had pitchers with lamps inside. When the battle cry was shouted out, the men were to break the pitchers, and then the lamps would shine out. It would not have been very good if some of the men had thought, “Why should we waste these good pitchers by just breaking them?” No, the light could not shine unless the pitcher was smashed. In the same way, we may shine as a brighter light for the Lord if He has broken us in some way. That means that the Lord has been allowed to crush our proud thoughts, or humble us in some way so we can be more useful to Him. |
| We have all heard the expression “breaking in a horse.” This training teaches the horse who is master, and how he must behave in order to be useful. We took our golden retriever dog to obedience school when he was a puppy. I do not think he liked some of the things he was made to do, but he came out of the training a loving and obedient dog that was a pleasure to have around the home. It also gave the dog much more freedom, as we could take him out without using a leash. He would obey word commands without a leash. |
| Our second verse is very comforting if we find ourselves being “broken in” in some way. The Lord also loves to bind up and heal us. He does not leave us broken! Always remember how very much He loves you. |
