Jesus Heals the Brokenhearted

Whose trust is in Him

“For it is good to sing praises to our God;

    for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem;

    he gathers the outcasts of Israel.

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.

The Lord lifts up the humble;

    he casts the wicked to the ground.” (Psalms 147:1-6 ESV)

Have you ever experienced being an outcast, i.e. someone who is regarded as an outsider, a castaway, and the rejected? I have. I think that is my life story. But that was Jesus’ story, too, so I am in good company. And the Scriptures teach us that if we follow the Lord Jesus with our lives in obedience to his commands, and if we walk in holiness and in righteousness, in godly living, and if we share the truth of the gospel, and if we refute the lies of the enemy, that we are going to be hated and rejected and cast off.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:18-21; Jn 17:14; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13]

And the Scriptures teach us, too, that if we are true followers of Jesus Christ that we are to be God’s holy people who are living our lives separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being made to be like Jesus in character, mind, attitude, action, and in speech. And so the world, including the worldly “church”, is not going to receive us as its own. For example, I had one pastor tell me that he was warned about people like me (in his training), i.e. people with “strong convictions,” and then he invited me to “go someplace else where you will be a better fit.”

My husband and I were church planters for a while, and we went through some of that “training,” too, and we were taught in our training to use “needy people” because they will help us get up and running, but that once we were up and running that we should get rid of the “needy people” because they will drag us down (something like that). Wow! The Scriptures, on the other hand, teach us to reach out to needy people in love and to show them the love of Christ, not cast them off because they don’t fit with our “target audience” in these market-driven “churches.”

But we live in an era here in America where the “churches” have largely become businesses of men incorporated under the state which are being marketed to the ungodly, and so they are following after marketing schemes and tricks and goals in order to “draw in large crowds from the world” into their gatherings. And so they have altered the whole biblical concept of “church” to make it more like the world, and they have also altered the divine character of God and of his gospel to appease human flesh.

So, if we are still following Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Scriptures, and if we are not buying into the marketing schemes of human making, then we will be outcasts. We won’t fit in with these market-driven and flesh-driven “churches” which are following the teachings and the training of human beings over and above the teachings of Christ and above his Lordship over his church. And in another case I had a pastor tell me that I needed to follow Rick Warren over and above the teachings of the Scriptures. Wow! For he was a follower of Rick Warren and of his purpose driven church.

So, the encouragement from the Scriptures today is that the Lord gathers the outcasts of his people. He heals the brokenhearted and he binds up our wounds. Amen! And he does! And where others shut doors in our faces he opens doors for us who follow him where he can use us for his glory. He did that for me. I got rejected and cast away by these market-driven churches and so the Lord sent me to the internet to write down what he is teaching me each day from his word and to share it with the world (including with other Christians). For the Lord lifts up the humble. He does not cast us away.

And so there is much to give thanks to God for. I thank him that, where other humans rejected me and cast me aside, Jesus received me, and he valued me, and he gave me a ministry where he could use me for his glory in other people’s lives. For he did not regard me as someone to just throw away. For he had a plan and a purpose for my life from even before he created the world, the Scriptures teach (Romans 8:29; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; Ephesians 1:3-4). And all the days ordained for me were written in his book before one of them came into being (Psalms 139:1-16). 

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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