Never Ending Praise The Lord

Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit.”

In my prayer time this week, I found myself quoting this scripture back to God. My prayer time has included a lot of tears and honesty. I’ll be frank here; it’s a rough season. I am struggling with a lot of uncertainty, confusion, overwhelming sadness, and a really low sense of self-worth.

I’m struggling with all the things I write about, the things I long to help others with.

For weeks the alarm bells have been ringing, and I have ignored them. “I’m just busy!” I say. “God will work it out!” and “I will eventually get to rest from everything.” Now here I am asking God for a life preserver- the one I should have asked for weeks ago.

I couldn’t think of anything to say, how to ask for help, but the above verse came to mind, and it left me wondering about our idea of brokenhearted and crushed in spirit versus God’s idea. I also had to question, “Am I really broken hearted and crushed in spirit?” I don’t want to be dramatic because it could always be worse. However, my inability to sleep and my tears leave me to believe that yes, I am crushed in spirit. The downward spiral of questioning my worth and allowing the enemy to be louder than God’s truth led to me being crushed in spirit.

I know someone else out there feels the same way. So I want to tell you right here and right now- God is near. I think sometimes we forget that when the enemy is loud, we can ask God to be louder. We can also tell the enemy to get behind us and flee. [Matthew 16:23, James 4:7]

When David wrote Psalm 34, he and his friends were experiencing fear, vulnerability and uncertainty. Yet, David wrote beautifully about God’s faithfulness in the midst of adversity. They were in the wilderness fleeing from King Saul. I would say that definitely left them crushed in spirit.

As I think about what it means, I think it’s less about how we’re crushed in spirit. There’s no comparison math here. We all have different stories and circumstances in life that feel turbulent. It’s more about God meeting us where we’re at.

“He saves the crushed in spirit.” the word ‘saves’ indicates that God provides deliverance, restoration and hope in all ways.

If life feels messy right now, remember God is close and wants to give you rest. It may look like realizing we’re not machines and we can’t live life on autopilot. It may look like stepping back from toxic relationships or learning to say no to things. It may look like crying out to God multiple times a day and then being still. It may even look like asking him to show you what needs to be changed. Sometimes we have to repent and ask for forgiveness, which is what I had to do.

I realized that a lot of how I’ve been feeling is due in part to my treating worldly circumstances and ‘things’ like idols. Even work for God can become an idol. When we prioritize busy-ness and allow it to distract us, it starts shaping us more than God himself. Truth be told, I want God’s word and his truth to be a mirror that reflects my life. What about you?

Psalm 34 goes on to say in verse 19-20, “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.”

I think that is a beautiful follow up to the promise of drawing near to the broken hearted and saving the crushed in spirit.