Broken - Then Revival

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart-- these, O God, You will not despise."

Psalm 51:17

If you were described as having "fallen to pieces" or that you experienced a "complete breakdown," would it paint you in a positive or negative light?  We hate to be seen without makeup and are embarrassed to be seen as weak.  When our emotional or physical capacity overflows and we collapse in a heap, it does not present the independent, tough, and resilient persona this world values.  If a team leader was "breaking down" regularly under the pressure of business we would suggest that person should take a break.  This passage written by David in response to his sin reveals a very different picture, how a broken spirit and contrite heart are acceptable in God's sight and not to be ashamed of.

Think of the many sacrifices which people in scripture delighted to offer God.  They brought Him gold, silver, precious stones, money, expensive fabrics, first-fruits of flocks, herds, and produce.  Their generosity was likened to that of a king, and the children of Israel when preparing for the construction of the tabernacle were told to stop giving because too much had already been received.  In the end it wasn't about what was given or how much which God took notice of but the condition of the hearts of sinners who approached Him.  All the gold and gems in the world are no substitute for a shattered soul over guilt of sin and a heart which has been broken into pieces and repents in sorrow.

When this verse was spoken last night during prayer at church, I went to the back of my Bible where under various headings I have listed relevant verses.  The importance of humility before God struck me as I turned to Psalm 138:6-7:  "Though the LORD is on high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me."  Then I looked up Isaiah 57:15 to read God's voice blasting like a trumpet:  "For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."  These verses made clear the necessary connection between humility, brokenness, revival, and abiding in the presence of the Almighty God.

We prefer to have leaders who appear strong and impervious to pressure, but God is not taken in by this outward display:  He looks at the heart.  He brings about circumstances to break us, not to ruin us because pride and arrogance have ruined us already.  When we fall to pieces before Him in repentance and humility that is when the Holy Spirit fire falls.  We do not earn the privilege but when we submit in faith to the will of God in our brokenness He hears, heals, and revives.  Many people look upon the power of God with desire, but it is the contrite heart which is granted the capacity to wield it with the fear of God and trembling.  How precious humility before God is!  And beyond great is our God and worthy to be praised for putting on human flesh and saying as the cross loomed before Him to the Father, "Not my will, but Yours be done."  Before His body was broken on Calvary the sacrifice of His broken heart already had been offered and accepted.

See the risen LORD Jesus!  If we will be revived and raised to newness of life, there must be breaking.  We tend to fight this rather than surrender to it.  This is not the good fight, brothers and sisters, to build a fortress around our hearts to hide how broken we actually are.  When heaviness grips our hearts and a contrite tear spills from our eye a great battle has been won.  Let us fall to pieces before our LORD so He might heal and restore us.  I am not aware of any therapeutic value of crying alone, and what can our tears change?  But when a broken heart cries out to God, He will hear and answer according to His perfect will.  The sacrifice of a broken heart and contrite spirit is an offering everyone can bring.  It is not the rich but the poor in spirit who are granted the kingdom of heaven.

According to God's Will

It is easy for us to mix up "wants" and "needs" and prove ourselves presumptuous.  There are things we take for granted on the level of basic human rights like good health and a consistent job.  We say things like, "She really needs healing" or "He needs a better job."  But are those pressing issues needs from God's perspective?  Isn't He able to do exceedingly above what we ask or think?  When we are ill we desperately desire health, yet the LORD is able to leverage something awful like illness to accomplish divine purposes beyond our comprehension.  Who is man to assert what God ought to do, the One who does awesome things without number?

In my own life (and prayer life too) I have observed a tendency to substitute what I see as beneficial changes in circumstances instead of a closer walk with Jesus and increased faith.  Pains, troubles, and uncertainties are often the impetus for us to seek God with greater fervency, and I suggest one purpose God allows these is so we will learn to seek and trust Him in a greater degree when things are well.  How good it is when instead of superficial and temporary fixes we endeavour to draw closer to Jesus.  When someone needs physical healing they really need Jesus; when a man is out of a job He needs Jesus too.  Jesus is a Saviour, Provider, and Redeemer - especially for those who are born again.

When people don't yet trust in Jesus as Saviour, our prayers can be for the salvation of others.  But once they are being saved we need to rely upon Jesus more than ever and cultivate the practice of seeking Him.  Just because I placed my faith in Jesus Christ for salvation or believe the Bible is the Word of God does not mean I am trusting the Holy Spirit for guidance in my present situation.  If we are facing impossible circumstances in our lives and need a miracle, if we are hoping for the miraculous our longing is misplaced:  we need Jesus, the One who does the miraculous.  If we are seeking the blessing alone we are misguided. for it is Jesus who blesses, heals, and restores souls.  The Giver is better than the gifts.

Proverbs 16:25 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death."  The "good life" we naturally want for ourselves and our children ends in a grave - regardless of the education, relationships, career, money, and achievements gained.  God's ways are higher than our ways, and He is worthy of our trust and adoration.  I am not suggesting we cease praying for others who are struggling or be cavalier concerning trials, but we ought not be presumptuous and assume God wants what we do.  We can see only one way out of trouble, yet the trouble might be the very thing which causes us or others to advance in faith.  If we had our way, we would often short-circuit what God has been working toward all our lives.  Trials and tribulations can be a boon to our faith.  This is the perspective held forth in 1 Peter 4:19:  "Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator."

Imagine it, that suffering could be according to the will of God!  Jesus suffered according to the will of God, didn't He?  Sometimes we suffer as the result of our sin, but Jesus was perfectly righteous and still suffered.  See how God redeemed it!  Can't He also redeem our suffering, o we of little faith?  Isn't our unbelief a great cause of our suffering?  With eyes of faith turned towards our Saviour we can rejoice in suffering, knowing our LORD loves us and suffered for our sakes.

In God's Likeness

"As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness."

Psalm 17:15

David saw with eyes of faith the reality of a future no man could imagine unless God revealed it to him.  This reminds me of what Job declared in Job 19:25-27:  "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; ²⁶ And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, ²⁷ Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!"  David and Job both knew the death of the body was not the end.  Their flesh would be destroyed and see corruption, but they would ultimately be raised immortal and incorruptible.  Such is the enduring future for all those deemed righteous through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Job spoke of seeing God, but what caught my attention is David knew he would be raised in God's likeness.  It is one thing to observe a person with your eyes, but another thing altogether to be likened to them.  David knew satisfaction beyond explanation would be his when he awoke in God's likeness.  I am not aware of a promise to this end in the Law, but David received this revelation from the Holy Spirit even as the apostle John related in 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."  Paul also wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52:  "Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- ⁵²  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."  And what a profound change this will be.

We are transformed on the inside when we are born again through faith in Jesus, and we shall be changed physically into the likeness of Christ after we depart this earth.  We will not look like Him, but we will be like Him.  All human beings share the same basic features, and our risen LORD Jesus remains a man.  Upon graduation to eternal glory we will not be made into angels, stars, or disembodied spirits, but our perishable body will be made into an imperishable one likened to Jesus after His resurrection.  We see the future dimly, but the day is coming when we will see our Saviour face to face.  That is something Job and David spoke of, a future assured for all those who are made righteous through faith in Jesus.  If we look forward to a holiday, the big game, or special gatherings with glad anticipation, then it is only proper for us to be excited about our eternal future in the presence of God.  Everything we look forward to on earth passes by quickly and is overshadowed by future plans, but our glorious future will remain in the present forever.

The Sustaining Word

Elijah was a prophet of God who experienced distressing and discouraging times.  After great victory by God's grace against the prophets of Ba'al on Carmel, all gladness was quickly soured by threats from wicked queen Jezebel.  Many preachers and Christians have been incredulous concerning Elijah's response, almost accusing him of forgetting what God had done or minimising the impact of a death threat.  Elijah was certainly a man of God and had the Spirit of God upon him, but he was a man like the rest of us.  At a point the demands and pressures of life can become unbearable.  I have experienced lonely moments like this, when trials immediately deflate us of joy - and my life wasn't even on the line.  A heart at rest in the victory of God can be easily battered and beaten at the whim of disappointing news, and our enemies are not merciful.

The prophet, upon hearing the threats of Jezebel, isolated himself from his servant and went on alone.  He despaired of life, and it felt like dying was better than living.  God in His grace would provide all Elijah needed to continue, both physically and spiritually.  1 Kings 19:5-8 says, "Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat." ⁶ Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. ⁷ And the angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you." ⁸ So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God."

God sent an angel who provided Elijah with bread and water twice to sustain him for the journey which stretched ahead Elijah was not yet aware of.  In the strength of the food God provided Elijah pressed on for forty days and nights until he came to the "mountain of God."  Here is a great picture of the life of faith in Jesus Christ, how He is our Living Bread and He supplies the Living Water we need to persevere through this earthly pilgrimage.  It's hard to keep on going; it's tough when you feel alone.  All the continual effort and caring doesn't seem to accomplish much.  And if we look to ourselves, others, or to our circumstances for hope there is none to be found.  But pains and discouragements have a way of recentring our gaze on the LORD, His Word, and His promises.  If we don't eat or drink spiritually we will waste away and be unable to continue, and this is a reason why many gifted and called servants of God quit.

Yesterday I was treated to the sustaining power of God's Word throughout the day.  Let's just say the day did not go like I thought or hoped it would.  In my morning reading I came upon Psalm 13:5-6:  "But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. ⁶ I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me."  The Psalmist David wrote this when he was feeling alone and forgotten.  He experienced sorrow daily and felt beaten up by his enemies.  But he came to a place when, without any change of his feelings or circumstances, his perspective shifted to focus on God.  David was reminded of the mercy of God and he had been granted salvation from God.  This caused a change in his mind and heart and he sang praises to God because of the bountiful way God had dealt with him.  Boy, these verses encouraged me all day long when temptation to despair came!  I had salvation going for me, and how bountiful God has been towards me!

How good is the Word of God, and how well it sustains us!  The Word is compared to good seed, and when sown in the heart of a believer it is very fruitful according to its own kind.  Our circumstances are like the sharp blade of the plough which painfully open our hard hearts to receive God's Word.  It does not produce baked loaves of bread which can be eaten straight away:  the grain it produces can be eaten raw, but it must be threshed, prepared, and ground into flour.  Elijah had cakes prepared for him by the angel, and God prepares great bounty for us to feast on.  Who knows what the next forty days holds for us, what God will accomplish in that time, or how He will lead us in pressing on!  All I know is we need the Bread of Life and the Living Water, the Holy Spirit.  Thank God He will sustain us, and His Word is an indispensable supply for all our need so He might lead us to Himself.