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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, thank you for listening to your Daily

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Speaker 1: Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each day

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Speaker 1: to learn more about God and his will for us.

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jennifer Slattery, and after this short word

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Speaker 1: from our sponsor, we'll dive into today's Bible verse Psalm

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Speaker 1: thirty four to eighteen. Today's Bible Verses, Psalm thirty four

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Speaker 1: to eighteen. The Lord is close to the broken hearted

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Speaker 1: and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Some time ago,

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Speaker 1: a friend of mine went through a painful season during

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Speaker 1: which she felt profoundly alone. As she grew closer to Christ,

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Speaker 1: she became increasingly aware of areas of personal dysfunction, along

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Speaker 1: with a healthy dynamics within her family of origin, her

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Speaker 1: suing wholeness for herself and her relationships, She began setting

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Speaker 1: healthy boundaries, unaware of the backlash this would cause. The

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Speaker 1: result her inbox soon became flooded by a series of

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Speaker 1: hateful and attacking emails in onslaught that lasted for days

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Speaker 1: without reprieve, followed by complete ostracization rejection those relationships severed.

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Speaker 1: This left a deep, aching wound in her soul that

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Speaker 1: tempted her to withdraw from everything and everyone. Instead, she

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Speaker 1: turned to Jesus in her pain, and in his presence,

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Speaker 1: received comfort through his love and grace. David, Hebrew shepherd boy,

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Speaker 1: eventually turned king knew what it felt like to land

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Speaker 1: in despair. Desperate for God's presence, he wrote the psalms

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Speaker 1: surrounding Today's Verse while fleeing a man named Saul, who

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Speaker 1: currently occupied the throne and Saul's forces. For over a decade,

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Speaker 1: David lived as a fugitive, unsafe in his own land

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Speaker 1: and in his own home. At one point, he felt

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Speaker 1: so threatened he sought refuge in Philistine territory, and the

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Speaker 1: very city in which Goliath, a Philistine warrior David killed,

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Speaker 1: once lived. You can probably imagine how the people responded.

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Speaker 1: Alert to David's presence, they reminded the king of all

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Speaker 1: the Philistines David had killed in battle. Because of this,

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Speaker 1: David became terrified of the king, and so, once in

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Speaker 1: their hands, pretended to be insane, making marks on the

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Speaker 1: doors and gates and letting saliva run down his beard.

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Speaker 1: This worked, The king released him, and he fled to

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Speaker 1: a cave not far from where he slayed Goliath. Scholars

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Speaker 1: believe this was when David wrote the words recorded in

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Speaker 1: Psalm thirty four, which began with praise for God's protection

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Speaker 1: and deliverance. David was probably referring to when he'd stood

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Speaker 1: before the Philistine King, an incredibly dangerous, deathly situation, yet

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Speaker 1: David had escaped unharmed. In verse four, he wrote, I

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Speaker 1: sought the Lord, and he answered me. He delivered me

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Speaker 1: from all my fears. I'm also struck by his words

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Speaker 1: in verse five, in light of how he'd acted in

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Speaker 1: front of the Philistine King. Speaking of God, he said,

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Speaker 1: those who look to him are radiant. Their faces are

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Speaker 1: never covered with shame. Yes, David had behaved like a

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Speaker 1: madman in front of royal officials, and there must have

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Speaker 1: been a part of him that felt humiliated, shameful. But

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Speaker 1: gazing upon the God who saw him, knew him, and

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Speaker 1: loved him, David declared in essence, as I look to God,

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Speaker 1: I become radiant. He lifts my chin and removes my shame.

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Speaker 1: David then praises God for his attentive care, stating that

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Speaker 1: God sees, hears, and responds to the cries of the righteous.

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Speaker 1: Then we get to today's verse, during which David proclaimed

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Speaker 1: and received come fort from God's nearness. The Lord is

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Speaker 1: close to the broken hearted, while in our pain or anxiety,

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Speaker 1: he might feel distant or unengaged. Psalm thirty four eighteen

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Speaker 1: tells us this isn't true. Our God stands near when

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Speaker 1: we're singing hallelujah, and when we're on our face wrecked

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Speaker 1: with deep chested sobs. He sees our pain. He knows

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Speaker 1: when we're broken hearted, when our pain hits so deep

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Speaker 1: we physically hurt, as if someone had plunged a knife

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Speaker 1: into our chest. And he saves, help, strengthens, guides, restores,

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Speaker 1: and redeems those who are crushed in spirit. I'm reminded

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Speaker 1: of God's words in Isaiah fifty seven fifteen, which states,

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Speaker 1: and this is the second half of the verse. Live

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Speaker 1: in a high and holy place, but also with the

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Speaker 1: one who is contrite and lowly in spirit. To revive

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Speaker 1: the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart

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Speaker 1: of the contrite. Our God is all powerful, all knowing,

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Speaker 1: the creator who is above all and rules over all,

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Speaker 1: the one who sits enthroned by our praises with angels

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Speaker 1: bowing before his throne, continually singing Holy, Holy, Holy. But

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Speaker 1: he is also the tender, compassionate father who bends down

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Speaker 1: to hear us, to hold us, and to comfort us,

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Speaker 1: to soothe our anxiety, our pain, whatever in our angst

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Speaker 1: we're feeling, with his incomprehensible love. May we turn to

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Speaker 1: him when we're hurting, and in those seasons when the

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Speaker 1: depth of our pain or intensity of our anxiety how

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Speaker 1: us we're all alone. May we remind ourselves of this holy,

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Speaker 1: unchanging truth. Our God is near in our weakness and struggle. Especially,

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Speaker 1: let's pray, Holy Father, you see us every moment of

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Speaker 1: every day. You understand how we feel. You understand our pain,

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Speaker 1: our fear, our anxiety, our frustration, whatever emotions are weighing

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Speaker 1: on our hearts right now, get it, and you're with

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Speaker 1: us in it. When we are hurting, you come alongside.

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Speaker 1: You comfort us with your love, with your presence, and

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Speaker 1: you bring healing to the deepest places in our souls.

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Speaker 1: And we thank you for that. Lord. Help us to

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Speaker 1: turn to you when we're afraid or when we're hurting,

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Speaker 1: Help us to seek comfort in you. Thank you that

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Speaker 1: you never turn us away, that you are always available,

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Speaker 1: You're always present, and you always respond to us out

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Speaker 1: of your perfect love. And we thank you for that.

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Speaker 1: It is in the name of your son, our savior,

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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, that we pray Amen.