It's Good to be Broken

06/05/06 07:45 PM
I love our worship celebrations on Sunday! We have been so blessed with a truly gifted worship team that sincerely desires to worship God. One of the songs we sang yesterday was You Are So Good To Me. There's a line in that song that says, "You heal my broken heart." We typically associate a broken heart with a breakup of some kind (i.e. getting dumped by a boyfriend/girlfriend, etc.), but while we were singing, the Lord brought the words of the Psalmist to mind: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." (Ps. 51:17)

That simple verse helped bring me to the heart of worship yesterday. On any given Sunday (or any day for that matter), regardless of how sharply dressed or 'put together' we may appear to be on the outside, the reality is that we all have been deeply marred by sin. In fact, the only thing uglier is the mistaken idea that we can do something to remedy the problem ourselves (Isaiah 64:6-9).

You say, "Oh, that's bad!" No, actually it's good. Contrary to what many believe, God does not help those who help themselves. God helps those who can't help themselves. More to the point, God helps those who are helpless and know it. Jesus described it as being poor in spirit. In other words, just a pauper spiritually, literally a beggar with no where else to turn. The hymn writer said it quite well: "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling."

It has been said that the pathway to surrender runs through the valley of brokenness. Amen indeed. And Amen to the One who meets our brokenness with grace. Thank You, Lord, for continuing to heal and restore my broken heart.