DEVOTION – DAY 504

Psalm 34:17-18 “The Lord Hears Our Cries”

Psalm 34:17-18 “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 the spirit.”

We thank God that He is our personal and Always Present God. He is not distant. He is always near. He knows all our struggles and He hears our cries. The above verses tell us about being crushed in spirit – this happens when we have sinned and fallen into temptation. We know we have done something wrong and we want to draw near to God to humbly ask for His forgiveness for what we had done. We genuinely seek Him with a contrite and humble heart. We draw near to Him. He is close to the brokenhearted. He will hear our pleas for help and mercy. He will deliver us from our troubles. This is the promise we find in the above verses. 

We know someone who had followed his friends to church in his youth. But once he went to college, he became distracted by studies, sports, and girlfriends. God faded into the background. However, in his late forties, he faced many difficulties. He had a family crisis. He had work problems. He had a series of challenges. He tried handing all these issues on his own. But he felt burdened and cornered. He felt that he had no one to turn to. His thoughts turned to God. But what he knew about God seemed a distant memory. All he could do was to tell himself he had to find a church and talk to someone. 

So, he came to our church and towards the end of the service, I noticed him sitting alone. After the service was over, I approached him and welcomed him. Because he seemed troubled, I guided him to a quiet corner of the sanctuary to ask him what was troubling him. He told me briefly about one issue that was troubling him and I prayed for him right away. The Lord in His grace and mercy heard this cry and a week later, he came to church to tell me that the prayer was answered. The matter seemed better. A week later, I asked him a bit more about his background and realized he was not yet a Christian. So, I gave him a gospel tract and asked him to read it and open his heart to Jesus. Only Jesus could help him with his issues. I am glad he later opened his heart to trust and believe in Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He is an example of someone as described in Psalm 34:17-18.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we worship you as our Personal, Omnipotent and Omnipresent God. Thank you for drawing close to the brokenhearted and saving those crushed in their spirit. Please help us to turn to you alone always for our every need. We humbly pray in the holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Questions

  1. Are you burdened and filled with troubles? How are these troubles affecting you? Share.
  2. Will you ask the Lord to draw close as you confess and repent before Him? 
  3. What does being contrite and humble in heart mean to you? Share.
  4. How has the Lord helped you in the past when you had no one to turned to? Share. 
  5. How does this encourage to turn to Him in the future when you face troubles?