He is Near to the Brokenhearted

God’s Word is filled with rich promises for His children. How do these “precious and very great promises” inform and direct your grief? How does keeping your eyes fixed on these truths anchor your hope in the Lord? In this series, we write about how God, through the promises in His Word, comforts and strengthens us in our sorrow.

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“The Lord is near the brokenhearted…”

How can a God we cannot see, feel, or often times hear be near to us? Is God really near to us?

The day after coming home from giving birth at 37 weeks to my perfectly formed—yet stillborn—baby boy, I flipped the Scripture card on my kitchen window and Psalms 34:18 was the verse waiting to give me hope. I left it there for nearly a year because I often needed the reminder as I journeyed on my grief path.

“The Lord is near the brokenhearted and
saves the crushed in spirit.”
Psalms 34:18

When I was in high school, and the guy I thought was my future broke up with me, I thought my heart was broken. When my first choice for college didn’t choose me, I thought I knew heartbreak. When I held my lifeless son, that is when I truly knew heartache, and my spirit felt crushed.

It was also the time I learned how close the Lord was to me in my sorrow and grief.

Before I lost my son, I had two daughters, and then I had a “rainbow” baby girl. Raising three girls created a lot of opportunity for that heartache that the teen and young adult years can cause. As a parent, when one of my daughters had a situation where her heart seemed fragile and life was throwing hard things at her, I put my time and energy into encouraging her. When another daughter struggled, I would shift my time and energy to that daughter. My heart was more in tune and focused on the child going through a difficult time than the ones who seemed to have the world by the tail.

My heart would “break” as I watched one of my children struggle, and I would draw closer to them in those times. I would be burdened for them and pray for them. If I, as a mere human parent, long to be near to my children when their hearts are hurting, how much more does our heavenly Father long to be near to us in our times of sorrow?

The Lord promised us that He would be near to us. He promised us that He will never leave us or forsake us. He promised to save and rescue our crushed spirits. Those are promises I can count on, and so can you.

Dear Hope Mommy, if you are struggling to know our heavenly Father is near to you, lean in to Him. Call out to Him. He has promised to be near to you and to bind up your broken heart.

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; His understanding is
beyond measure.”
Psalms 147:3-5

The Lord doesn’t just know you have a broken heart; He longs to help it heal. The God of the universe, who created the stars and named them, wants to help your grieving heart heal.

Recently, my husband injured his elbow, and to help it heal he needed to have ice on it. Since it’s in an awkward spot, we determined the best way to keep ice on it is to wrap an Ace bandage around it to hold the ice bag in place. That requires two hands, so I have to assist him. What if I saw his injury and refused to help him? I wouldn’t be a very loving or compassionate wife. But because I do love him, I am glad to bind the ice bag to his elbow because I want his elbow to heal quickly.

Our heavenly Father loves us much more than I can possibly love my husband, He wants our hearts healed, and He is waiting to help us.

The promise that the Lord is near to the brokenhearted is a promise of hope you can cling to. It’s the promise of hope I clung to over 23 years ago. In fact, the original Scripture card still hangs in my kitchen.

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
James 4:8

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Shelly D. Templin is an author, speaker and blogger that shares a message of hope—with humor. She has three daughters, a son-in-law, and a granddaughter. Shelly lives in Texas with her husband, Jack, of 29 years and their two dogs.

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