Balm for the Brokenhearted: Affirmations to Quiet Your Anxious Heart
The italicized, unassuming title greets me first thing by morning light. With eyes still adjusting, I blink twice for better focus while my gaze settles on this phrase acting as a welcome mat of sorts, introducing Psalm 147.
“He Heals the Brokenhearted.”
As if accepting its offer, I step inside and slowly tip-toe through the doorway of song and verse expecting a heartfelt lament of some kind, perhaps even a tearful cry to the Lord. But instead, I jump with startled breath as I read the first line of the song.
Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. Psalm 147:1
Wait a second, isn’t this a song for the brokenhearted? Those low in spirit? Those who feel the weight of the brokenness around them and within them?
I keep reading. I settle in to the text. I take a deep breathe.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:2-3
The Lord builds. He gathers. He heals. He binds.
I whisper in exhale, “Thank you, Jesus.” This is what my heart needs.
The beat in my chest rests, and I continue navigating the next seventeen verses. Along the way, I discover five P’s of God that create a healing balm for areas that feel most broken in my life and in the world.
These attributes of God cover, calm, re-center, and de-clutter consuming thoughts of burdens near and far.
I pray these five affirmations quiet your anxious heart today as we take a stroll through Psalm 147, pausing to savor its life-giving beauty along the way.
God’s Power (v 5-6)
“Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground. ”
For my weak and feeble days, I rest in His power. In my limited understanding, I find comfort within his vast knowledge and wisdom.
God lifts those with drooping hands and hearts and fills those with open hands ready to receive what He has for them.
I can rest assured that He is mighty to cast aside that which is counter to His ways.
Thanks be to God.
God’s Provision (v 8-9)
“He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry.”
For the days when I’m anxious and worried about the future, I will remember He covers each care with the promise of His abundant provision.
For the times when my mind drifts to whether I will have enough, I will remember He gives just what I need in due time.
He is even preparing me in seasons of waiting for His seasons of plenty, and my heart is encouraged. I can look to the future with hope.
Thanks be to God.
God’s Pleasure (v 10-11)
“His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.”
When I am tempted to trust in my own abilities, my own intellect, my own strength, or my own success, I am put to ease at the thought that His pleasure is not dependent upon my performance.
He is simply asking me to trust Him.
My hope is not in my resume, but in the depths of His love.
Thanks be to God.
God’s Peace (v 13-14)
“For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you. He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat.”
When I am tempted to place bars on my heart, around my family, or around my comforts as a means of control, He reminds me that I do not have to be afraid of what is to come.
For those areas He has placed me as a doorkeeper, filtering in what is good, beautiful, and true, He fortifies and protects allowing me to rest in safety.
I will remember that the limitations and order in my life are designed by Him to give me peace. I don’t have to fight against what He deems is best for me.
Thanks be to God.
God’s Providence ( v 15-18)
“He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold? He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.”
An attribute I tend to gloss over due to my own discomfort and doubt, but one that settles every other fear, is that God is in fact in control over all aspects of His creation.
He determines where snow falls and ice settles.
He is sovereign in every season and over every created being, every ruling authority, every painful blow.
He will have His way according to His promises. When storms come, when questions rise, when tears fall, I will trust in Him. I can trust in Him. He alone is worthy.
“Praise the Lord.”
When the things of this earth fail to satisfy, comfort, quiet, or bring joy, may this Psalm become a balm for our weary souls and lead us onward in strength.
Amen.