The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.** Psalms 34:17-18 (NIV)**
The honest cries of the broken hearted saint can be better than a Hallelujah sometimes in the ears of our Lord Jesus. If our brokenness leads us to His feet with the certain knowledge that He can and will help us as we lean and depend upon Him, it is a very good thing. A very good thing, indeed. His desire is for us to trust in Him and He will take us from “strength to strength” as we pass through our “Valleys of Baca’s” (tears). Scripture tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV): “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” He desires for His children to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel through His power and for His glory. We can depend upon Him – we need only come. He is not waiting for us to “clean up our acts” – all is fruitless apart from Him.
As we run to the foot of the cross – again and again – crying out for forgiveness, or for fullness in Him or for simply the fragrant aroma, peace and joy of merely being at His feet. His precious blood cleanses us from all our sins, equips us to walk uprightly through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and ushers us into the Presence of the God of all creation and comfort Who amazingly desires to be with us. To be sure, He is a “with us” God.
It is not simply the words of our mouth that matter in prayer rather the attitude and meditation of our hearts. One groaning prayer of a broken and contrite heart - spoken in faith - is worth thousands of cold, formal or lukewarm petitions. King David writes after his fall with Bathsheba in Psalms 51:17 (NIV): “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Our God desires and never despises nor turns away from His child who has a humbled and broken spirit – thankfully. That is the desire He seeks from all of us. None of us is perfect and God does not take lightly our transgressions nor does He merely wink at sin rather He is looking for the brokenhearted over the sin not simply the consequences of it – a crushed and humbled spirit fully penitent for sin.
We must remember as well that God’s providence and control reaches down to smallest concerns of our world. No sparrow falls to the ground nor even a hair from our heads apart from His knowledge and permission. God is not sleeping through our storms rather He is at the helm and they are all pregnant with purpose for the child of the King - both for His glory and for our good – one never surpassing the other. Do not wonder that the most horrendous things happen, rather wonder why they do not happen more than they do. We live in a fallen and broken world of our own choosing where sin abounds. And if it were not for the overruling providence of God, our streets would be replete with all sorts of violence, murder, anger, rage, malice, slander, deception, impiety, profaneness and every other form of evil. As God did not allow the waves of the seas to go any further when He set the boundary lines stating, “this far you may go but no further”, it is the same Truth that all evil has limitations. Remember God is able to glorify Himself even through the most horrific happenings making beauty out of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair – like the death of His Son. He is in control of all things and no plan of His can be thwarted.
“Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.’”** John 19:11 (NIV)**