It's good to be broken

After work I got home, and turned on the radio as usual. I was listening to two pastors taking calls from people in need of prayer. These pastors are very young guys that usually get phone calls from young girls asking for dating advice, but today was different. The callers today were people that were in very difficult situations. Abusive relationships, bad marriages, pain... these were broken people. As I listened and prayed along my heart was moved by these people and their stories. You could hear the fear, the heartbreak, pain, distress, the hopelessness they felt in their voices. I couldn't help but cry along as I listened to them, but as we prayed I also had to cry of joy, because where they are right now is actually a great place to be. Job hopelessly cried out:

17:1 My spirit is broken,
my days are cut short,
the grave awaits me.

But the Lord reminds us in Psalm 34:18 that:

18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart. Why? Well, I had to go and prepare dessert before I could answer this question; but I have found answers in His Word. I asked myself, if God is close to the brokenhearted, how is He with those with a proud heart? And well, I could go on and on because I found tons of verses, but I'll try to keep it simple. A lot of things seem to happen when our hearts are proud, and two important observations I made are that a proud heart corrupts our wisdom (Ezekiel 28:17), and most importantly, when our hearts are proud we will forget the Lord our God. (Deuteronomy 8:14) There is a lot more to be said about all this but; I could go on and on, but back to the the broken hearted... I think the reason the Lord is near the broken hearted is because usually when we are broken is when we realize that God alone can help us and we seek Him with a sincere heart. I think that's what the Lord desires. That we come to Him with an open heart. Psalm 51:16-17 says:

16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

So... let us be glad when we do have a broken heart, when our spirit is broken, for the Lord promises that during those times He will be close to us. Let our hearts not be proud before the Lord that we may forget who He is and what He has done for us. I end with one last verse.

Before his downfall a man's heart is proud,
but humility comes before honor. -Proverbs 18:12