Ps 34:18-19: The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
When we suffer we should draw comfort from reflecting on Scriptures which assure us that God knows and cares about our situation, and promises to be with us to comfort and uphold us. The psalmist tells us that "the Lord is near to the brokenhearted" (Ps. 34:18), and that when we go through the "valley of the shadow of death" it is then that his presence is particularly promised to us (Ps. 23:4). Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord said, "Can a woman forget her nursing child, and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you" (Isa. 49:15). He is more mindful of us than is a nursing mother toward her child! It is of the One whom we know as the "God of all comfort and Father of mercies" that Peter speaks when He bids us to cast our anxieties on Him, "for He cares for us" (1 Pet. 5:7).
Nothing is more needful to
true godliness than a contrite heart, broken off from every
self-confidence. In this soil every grace will flourish, and nothing can
encourage such a one but the free, rich grace of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. The righteous are taken under the special protection of the
Lord, yet they have their share of crosses in this world, and there are
those that hate them. Both from the mercy of Heaven, and the malice of
hell, the afflictions of the righteous must be many. But whatever
troubles befal them,
shall not hurt their souls, for God keeps them from sinning in
troubles. No man is desolate, but he whom God has forsaken.
