#DailyDevotion The LORD Is Closest To Us When Things Are Their Worst
Psalm 34 18The LORD is near you when you’re brokenhearted and saves you when you’re crushed in spirit. 19If you’re righteous, you have many griefs, but the LORD rescues you from all of them,
What great comfort it is to know that when we are brokenhearted and crushed in spirit, the LORD does not and has not abandoned us. In fact it is quite the opposite. He is near us. We could say He is nearest to us when we are in this condition. You might remember Jesus came to the man born blind. When the man could see, Jesus was nowhere to be found. When he was kicked out of the synagogue, there Jesus was, presenting Himself to man who could now see. Matthew said, Our LORD Jesus Christ is like this when he said in chapter 12, “ 20He will not crush a bruised reed nor put out a smoking wick until He has made justice victorious.” The author of Hebrews writes, in 13:5, “He said: ‘I will never leave you or desert you.’” So when we are crushed in spirit we know our LORD Jesus Christ will save us.
We should grasp hold onto these promises if our faith is in Christ Jesus. We’re going to need them because the psalmist tells us, “If you’re righteous, you have many griefs,” but he also says, “but the LORD rescues you from all of them…” You should not expect a carefree life when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, thus being declared righteous by the Father. Jesus told us to pick up our cross and follow Him. The word “excruciating” comes from two Latin words “ex-from” and “crux-cross.” In 2 Cor. 1 Paul says, “5As Christ’s sufferings overflow to us, so Christ makes our comfort overflow.” Christ’s sufferings are going to be overflowing into our lives as our trust is in Him. But He will comfort us through our fellow Christians. The words, the promises here in this psalm will give us strength to bear them.
20and protects every bone in you so that not one of them is broken.
Now Jesus is truly the only righteous One. We are only righteous through faith in Him. As always, the Psalms are truly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This was written with Jesus on the cross being seen as He was already dead on the cross when the Roman soldiers came by to break the legs of those crucified to hasten their death. John notes in chapter 19 of his Gospel, “36In this way what the Bible said had to come true: ‘None of His bones will be broken.’” Jesus is the perfect Paschal Lamb sacrifice for our sins so death would pass over us. Yet, while He is whole, He is beaten, ridiculed, spit upon, rejected by men, abandoned by friends, pierced through and crucified so we may have the righteousness of God.
21Evil kills the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished.
Death is not natural. We die because we sin. Jesus died because He took our sin upon Himself, nailing the accusations and guilt of the Law on that tree. Those who hate the righteous, i.e. Jesus, instead of putting their faith in Him will indeed receive in themselves the punishment due them. We who used to hate the righteous and now put our faith in the Righteous One, Jesus Christ, are now credited with His righteousness and so we receive also the hatred of the wicked. We should not fear them as the psalm closes with these words, “22But the LORD ransoms the life of His servants, and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished.” Jesus’ suffering and death has ransomed us from death. As we take refuge in Him, we will not be punished for our sins because He was punished for us.
Heavenly Father, grant us faith in Your Son, Jesus Christ, that we may take refuge in His wounds and not be punished for what we deserve. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.