Wednesday, October 14 Jehovah is close to the brokenhearted; he saves those who are crushed in spirit.​—Ps. 34:18.

[Áine]

Wednesday, October 14

Jehovah is close to the brokenhearted; he saves those who are crushed in spirit.—Ps. 34:18.

 

Are you coping with emotional distress caused by disappointment or by betrayal from someone you trusted? Regardless of how a person has treated you, your heavenly Father loves you. When coping with betrayal, we can be comforted by David’s reassuring words found in today’s text. One reference work says that those “crushed in spirit” may refer to “those who have nothing good to look forward to.” How does Jehovah respond to those who feel that way because of bitter disappointment? Like a loving parent who holds and comforts a child in distress, Jehovah “is close to” us—ever compassionate and ready to help us if we feel crushed by betrayal or loss. He is eager to comfort and soothe our broken heart and pained spirit. And he gives us many things to look forward to that help us endure our present trials.—Isa. 65:17. w24.12 23 ¶13-14

[DLJBSP]

Jehovah Stoops Down to Lift Us Up

Tomorrow's daily text reminds us: “Jehovah is close to the brokenhearted; he saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

At this summer's convention, a speaker made a beautiful observation about Psalm 55:22: “Throw your burden on Jehovah, and he will sustain you.”

 

Think about that for a moment. When you're carrying a burden so heavy that it's weighing you down, how far could you possibly throw it? You may barely have the strength to lift it.

 

But that's the beauty of the illustration. Jehovah isn't standing somewhere in the distance, waiting for us to find the strength to throw our burdens to him. He's close enough to receive them.

 

And that brings to mind another beautiful picture found in Psalm 113:6-8.

 

The earlier New World Translation used the expression “He is condescending to look on heaven and earth.” The revised translation says, “He stoops down to look on heaven and earth.”

 

Think of a loving father whose little child is sitting on the ground, crying. Does he simply stand there, looking down at the child?

 

No. He bends down. He gets to the child's level. He looks into those tear-filled eyes. And he reaches out.

 

Isn't that a beautiful way to think about Jehovah?

 

The psalmist goes on to describe someone sitting in an ash heap. Imagine being so discouraged, so disappointed, so crushed by life's circumstances that you've sunk that low.

 

But notice what Jehovah does.

 

“He lifts up the poor from the ash heap.”

 

And he doesn't stop there. He raises that person to sit among the nobles of his people.

 

From sitting in ashes to sitting among nobles!

 

What does that tell us about how Jehovah views those who are crushed in spirit?

 

He doesn't expect us to somehow rise to his level before he will comfort us. In his great humility and love, he stoops down to ours.

 

And when we're too weak to stand, he's willing to lift us up.

 

So when tomorrow's text reminds us that Jehovah is close to the brokenhearted, perhaps we can picture that loving father bending down beside his distressed child.

 

Jehovah isn't merely looking down at us in our distress. He stoops down to our level. He is that close to us, ready to comfort us and lift us up.

 

What a privilege it is to have a God like him.