1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We're glad to 2 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: have you listening with us. Today's topic is on receiving 3 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,480 Speaker 1: comfort from Christ when our hearts feel broken. We'll return 4 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: with a devotional after a brief message from our sponsors, 5 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,480 Speaker 1: Held by the God who sees and understands our pain. 6 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: Written and read by Jennifer Slattery. The Lord is close 7 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed 8 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,919 Speaker 1: in spirit Psal'm thirty four eighteen. When I look back 9 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: on some of my most painful experiences, particularly during my 10 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: late teens, it wasn't my circumstances that caused them grief. 11 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: What hurt most was the fact that I felt alone. 12 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: I now realize that wasn't my reality. The Lord saw me, 13 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 1: loved me, and, as today's verse assures me, remained with 14 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,919 Speaker 1: me every dark moment of every distressing day. David, ancient 15 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: Israel's second king, wrote Psalm thirty four during a time 16 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: of crisis. In fear of his life, he hid in 17 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: Philistine territory, the land of ancient Israel's fiercest enemies, and 18 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: in the very city from which Goliath, the warrior. David 19 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: beheaded came. Learning of his presence, The king's servant said, 20 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: isn't this David the king of the land. Isn't he 21 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: the one they sing about in their dances? Saul has 22 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands First 23 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: Samuel twenty one eleven. In other words, isn't this the 24 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: guy who killed many of our warriors? First Samuel twenty one, 25 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: verse thirteen states that David took these words to heart 26 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: and was very much afraid of Akish, king of goth 27 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: This gain's emphasis when one considers that as a teen, 28 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: he took on and defeated a large, heavily armed tyrant 29 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: that had paralyzed the entire Israel army, and yet he 30 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: felt afraid. In desperation, David prayed to God, asking for 31 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: mercy and declaring twice that he would place his trust 32 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: in the Lord Psalm fifty six. He then pretended to 33 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 1: be insane, making marks on the door of the gate 34 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:30,080 Speaker 1: and letting saliva run down his beard for Samuel twenty 35 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: one fourteen. How humiliating this must have been. A powerful 36 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 1: and successful warrior, and the man anointed to reign as 37 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: ancient Israel's next king survived by feigning severe mental illness. 38 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: As humiliating as this must have been, it saved his life. 39 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,119 Speaker 1: Then we get to Psalm thirty four, a beautiful passage 40 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: in which he declared his trust in and love for God, stating, 41 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: I will extol the Lord. Pray will always beyond my lips. 42 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: My soul will boast in the Lord. Verses one and two. 43 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,239 Speaker 1: He wrote that God heard his cries, saved him from 44 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: his troubles, and kept his eyes upon him, adding today's 45 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: verse in which he confidently proclaimed the Lord's nearness in 46 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:25,079 Speaker 1: times of distress. David wasn't just sad, concerned, or discouraged. 47 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: In the original Hebrew, the word our Bibles translate as 48 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:32,959 Speaker 1: broken has the connotation of something that's been shattered in pieces. 49 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: The ending phrase can raise a similar meaning. The word 50 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: translated as crushed in the original Hebrew refers to something 51 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: pulverized to dust and beyond repair. Scripture uses the same 52 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:48,119 Speaker 1: word in Psalm ninety verse three, which reads, you turn 53 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: people back to death, saying return to dust, immortals. Have 54 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: you ever experienced emotional pain so intense your chest physically hurt, 55 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: and you struggled to breathe? That was how how David 56 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: felt and understandably so, he feared for his life, likely 57 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: the lives of his family, was run out of his 58 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: homeland and everything he knew, and forced to live as 59 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: a fugitive for at least a decade. Oh how lonely 60 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: and disoriented he must have felt. He could have turned 61 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:22,359 Speaker 1: bitter or become swallowed up in his grief. Instead, he 62 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: turned to God and sought comfort in him. That was 63 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:30,359 Speaker 1: David's regular practice, As the New International Chronological Bible states, 64 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: virtually every important encounter he faces becomes memorialized in his 65 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,919 Speaker 1: petitions to God end quote. Yet his psalms don't just 66 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: record his request, They're also always filled with praise, intersecting 67 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 1: life and faith. What a powerful example for us to follow. Sadly, 68 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: when I feel sad and afraid, initially, I often get 69 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,840 Speaker 1: stuck in my head. That only makes things worse, as 70 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: one concern tends to lead to another than another, until 71 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:06,040 Speaker 1: I'm nearly buried in gloom. Thankfully, God always meets me there, 72 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: draws me into his tender embrace, and speaks encouraging truths 73 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:13,919 Speaker 1: to my soul. As today's birth states, he moves close 74 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:18,239 Speaker 1: to the broken hearted. This won't change, I'm learning, However, 75 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: that my sorrow feels much more manageable and less dark. 76 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:26,359 Speaker 1: When I turn to the one who always turns toward me, 77 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: is turning towards you and your pain as well. 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