A promise for those feeling crushed
by Pastor Stephen Abraham
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
‘I live in the high and holy places, but also with the low-spirited, the spirit-crushed’ (Isaiah 57:15b).
If you know anything about me from Google or YouTube, it’s that I’m a retired Lutheran pastor, I write songs of worship and meditation, and I suffer from long-term chronic pain. I experienced a spinal injury, which forced my retirement from full-time ministry in my early 30s.
In the interview Lutheran Media did about my situation in 2014, I described my chronic pain. ‘It feels like my left leg is being continually crushed by a truck or road-roller’ (and you can google that by going to the playlist ‘Chronic’ in the Messages of Hope YouTube channel).
That word ‘crush’ is an interesting one. Young people use that word to denote victory: ‘I totally crushed my chemistry exam!’
We use it when we talk about falling in love: ‘I had a crush on a pretty girl in high school – so much so that I married her!’ (Actually true!)
Maybe you’ve heard it used in a negative sense: ‘I feel crushed by what has happened!’
In today’s reading, you may hear it used in verse 15, depending on your translation. The word in verse 15 for crushed can also literally mean ‘dust’ – rocks ground down to a powder!
But we find it used in a similar context in Psalm 34:18: ‘The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed’.
Now let’s take you back a few thousand years to God’s ancient people in Israel. If you asked ‘where is God’, you would expect an answer like, ‘He’s in the cloudy summit of Mount Sinai’ or ‘He’s in the Most Holy Place in the temple at Jerusalem’. In fact, that was pretty much the only place you would expect to encounter God in person. What is most unprecedented here is that God’s Almighty earth-shaking, universe-creating presence is found somewhere else: with those who are feeling ‘crushed in spirit’, ‘contrite’ or ‘broken-hearted’.
That is amazing! To God’s ancient people whose nation was decimated and scattered as refugees throughout the Persian and Greek empires, just imagine how profound that notion is!
Feeling down-and-out, cut down, ground down, contrite and crushed? Surprise! God is right there with you!
Let us pray for the broken-hearted. Maybe begin by naming those we know in our hearts, or if this is you right now, talk to God. Tell him about your situation and why you feel ‘crushed’. Don’t hurry. Take your time. Then end with this prayer.
Lord of the broken-hearted, you live in the high and holy places, but also with the downcast whose spirits have been crushed. We claim this amazing word given to Isaiah that you are near to the broken-hearted. Draw near in this very moment to heal, comfort and rescue. We claim this promise in Jesus’ name. Amen.
- Click here to read previous devotions.
- We are also posting them on LCA Facebook, making it easy for you to share them with family and friends.
- Sign up to receive Daily Devotion in your inbox every morning. If you’re already doing that, please encourage others to sign up. Click here for the link.
