Grace & Truth Chapel
131 Fardale Avenue ~ Mahwah, New Jersey
Phone 201-327-6226 ~ E-mail gtchapel@juno.com

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"Healing Broken Hearts" (posted February 1, 2004)

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted.
   - Luke 4:18

In Luke 4 we have the touching record of the Lord's entrance upon His public ministry in this world of sin and sorrow; and we learn, from His own lips, the character of His ministry. Quoting Isaiah's prophecy concerning Himself, He says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted."

The world is full of broken hearts. It may endeavor to cover up its sorrow with a show of mirth and laughter, but "even in laughter the heart may sorrow, and the end of mirth may be grief" (Proverbs 14:13). Underneath all the outward gaiety of the world there are secret sorrows and broken hearts.

In the Word of God we discover that God is not indifferent to these broken hearts. The psalmist tells us that God "heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord" (Psalm 147:3-5). The number of the stars is too great for us to tell; the sorrow of a broken heart too deep for us to fathom; but God can count the stars in heaven and heal the broken hearts on earth. In the greatness of His love He gave His only begotten Son to come into this world to heal the brokenhearted.

As we trace His path through this valley of tears, in search of broken hearts, we see Him, in Luke,

  • healing the heart of a brokenhearted sinner (7:36-50);
  • binding up the wounds of brokenhearted saint (22:54-62, 24:34);
  • and drying the tears of a brokenhearted widow (7:11-15).

Moreover, we learn that such was the wickedness and hardness of man's heart that at last His own heart was broken. "Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink" (Psalm 69:20). We broke the heart of the One who came to heal our broken hearts.

Thus we discover that hearts are broken by the sins of the sinner, by the failures of the saints, by the death of our loved ones, and above all by unrequited love.

Hamilton Smith



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