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, to preach liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed. Luke 4:18
Do you remember singing this when you were a child “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.?” As I think about the message of this nursery rhyme, it seems like a very sinister thing to teach children to sing. Why would we teach children that when we fall there is nothing that can help us put the pieces back together again. If we were all honest, we have all had at least one life shattering fall. Maybe is was as simple as our “first love” breaking our teenage heart when they found someone new. (Looking back and seeing who they have become, we are truly grateful that we did not spend years of our life finding out who they truly were at the expense of all their bad choices.” Some heartbreaks are serious and the pain is always constant, never seeming to ease. One of the ladies that worked for us lost her teenage son and it was so difficult to watch her walk through the process, and I was just a bystander. I think it took her at least six weeks before she could come back to work part time and when she did there were days she would just come and sit in my office, looking for some peace. Another friend of mine went on a trip with her husband and another couple and he started having chest pains and died before the sun came up the next morning. She asked me on several occasions why that had to happen. Maybe the dream of owning your own business ended after years of fighting to make the business grow. Or the surgeon whose hands are no longer steady due to an illness and had to give up operating because of the shaking. Whether your heart break was temporary with very little consequences or it was monumental and you have never been able to put the pieces of your life back together again, I think it is safe to say we have all experienced heartbreak on several occasions in our life. When heart break happens, we frantically search for something to take the pain and to help life become “normal again.” I know those of us who are spiritual want others to believe that they have never faced those losses. But life happens to the best of us. If we are not careful, we search for relief and help in the wrong places. We want all the king’s men and all the king’s horses to take our shattered life and put it back together again. We try staying busy or we shut ourselves in our house to grieve alone. Maybe we try to heal with substances like drugs, alcohol and even some prescription drugs to numb the pain. Perhaps the drug one uses to numb the pain is food. A day shopping always makes everything better, right? Some people try all kinds of self-help books and programs to guide themselves into getting things together, while others seek out a counselor for help. While the things we do, the things all the king’s horses and all the king’s men do may ease the pain for a while, when live slows back down the dull ache still shows up. What if we go about healing our broken heart the wrong way? Notice in the rhyme king is lower case, like the “gods of this world” is also lowercase. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and we mistakenly expect the enemy’s system to repair the damage he has done. While many people have good intentions and try to help, they are not equipped to remove their pain in their own power. In the nursery rhyme, they never get the king to fix Humpty Dumpty. I know in my own life, there have been heart breaks that I did not give to the King, but tried to get through them in my own strength.
There is a beautiful story about the King who searched for his best friend’s descendants and the only one left was a crippled outcast that had been hidden to save his life. In 1 Samuel 20 the Bible gives us a glimpse of a beautiful friendship between David and Jonathan. According to man’s traditions, Jonathan was next in line to be King of Israel, but his father Saul has disobeyed God and the prophet Samuel told Saul that the kingdom would be ripped from his hand, and the opportunity for Jonathan to be king was gone. God anointed David as the next King of Israel. When David faced and killed Goliath, he was promised it would get to marry Saul’s daughter. Saul became very jealous and tried to kill David for years. During these attacks, Jonathan and David made a true friendship and Jonathan acknowledge that Saul treated David unfairly. After Saul threw is sword at David fled for his life. David and Jonathan meet one more time and make a covenant between them, “May the Lord be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.” After Jonathan’s death, and the death of Saul, David eventually became King. In 2 Samuel 9, David inquired, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” One of Saul’s servants told David, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.” Jonathan had a son, Mephibosheth, was dropped by a nurse who was running trying to get him to safety from the chaos going on, and he was lame from that day forward. Most kings would kill their opponent’s offspring so they could not rise to power, but David sent for Mephibosheth and brought him to the palace. Mephibosheth fearing for his life fell on his face before David to seek mercy, but David gently called his name. (Isn’t something when the King calls you by your name?) Instead of a death sentence Mephibosheth was promised by David, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the lane of Saul your grandfather, and you shall eat bread at my table continually.” Just to have his family’s houses and lands restored to him was massive. But David did not stop there, David invited him to be part of his family, to eat at the family table continually. That means the invitation was not short lived, but he had a permeant invitation to be apart of all the family gatherings. The fact that he was lame did not affect the invitation, when he was covered by the King’s table, he was like everyone else at the table.
We have a King who searched for us and invited us to sit at His table. We are all invited, even those who life has beat down so bad that they think no one would ever want them or thinks they are past saving. He is standing at your door knocking, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock , if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” Revelation 3:20 .Will you answer the call to bring everything you have even your broken heart, disappointments and regrets to our King? King Jesus thinks you are to die for. Not only did He die a shameful death on the cross for your salvation, according to Isaiah He was anointed to heal your broken heart. Psalms 34:17-18 “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart.” Psalm 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” King Jesus loves you and is at the right hand of God interceding for you. Hebrews 4:14-16 “Seeing we have a great High Priest who passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to out confession, for we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of trouble.” Jesus lived a very “human life” but without sin. He knows what heartache feels like and He has compassion and is ready to hell your heart. Psalm 107:20 “He sent His word and healed them.” If your heart is broken and you ae seeing this, know that God sees the hurt you are suffering, He cares and He has sent His word to start the healing process. The old hymn says, “Come and dine the master calleth come and dine. You may feast at Jesus table anytime.” Will you take your seat at the table and let Him Heal you? Praying that God will heal all those who have a broken heart who read this.
Cathy Nesmith