PSALM 23 - PART TWO

When a person’s spirit is wounded, their entire life is affected negatively.

All of us will sustain wounds in our heart and soul, but Jesus comes to heal us so our attitude and spirit does not become sour and infected.

Prov 17:22  A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

Hope is defined as ‘the positive anticipation of good’. God is the ‘God of hope’.  Being dislocated from God is being dislocated from the positive anticipation of good and when we are separated from hope we foster disappointment. 

These are 4 conditions of the wounded spirit:

1. BROKEN SPIRIT

Exo 6:9  So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.

Disappointment breaks the spirit making faith seem impossible. In Exodus 6:9 Moses was attempting to bring glad tidings to the Israelites, but they had no capacity to hear him because their hearts were wounded with heavy disappointment. Heb 4:2 tells us that the Israelites heard the word, but it did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith, and when they heard another promise about deliverance from slavery or of entering the promised land their hearts were too wounded to believe the Word of God.

Prov 18:14  The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a broken spirit?

2. CUT

When a person is ‘cut’ in their spirit, they bleed black, angry thoughts and ugly emotions. We are cut when people use sharp words that are intended to wound us. Scripture speaks of these people;

Prov 12:18  There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise promotes health.

3. BRUISED

Jesus said he came to heal those who were ‘bruised’, those who are crushed, shattered and broken by calamity.  Calamity causes grief, a sadness that we can’t seem to get over.

Isa 42:3  A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.

4. POISONED

Ps 140:3  They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips. Selah

One of the saddest things I’ve experienced is knowing good people who have turned bad. When rejection or offence gets into a person’s, they turn from being the sweetest of saints into bitter, accusative, revengeful people.

Alienation from God and His people happens because of offence. An offence is any unforgiveness, rejection and isolation – it is a scheme of the devil to destroy people. Jesus said that offences are unavoidable and inevitable, but our need is to find the ability to recover quickly and completely from these offences!

HEALING THE WOUNDED SPIRIT

The story of Peter and his rejection of Jesus in Matthew 26 is one of my favourite examples of Jesus healing the wounded spirit.  Peter declared, “If everyone else deserts you, I won’t.” to which Jesus then says, “The truth is that this very night, before the cock crows at dawn, you will deny me three times!”Almost immediately Peter begins cursing and slandering the Lord, denying him three times just as Jesus had said. Jesus heals Peter or the shores of lake Galilee when He asks him 3 times, “Do you love me more than these?” Peter’s affirmation that he does love Jesus, elicits a commissioning form the Lord – ‘Feed, tend, care for, lead my sheep”. Our greatest callings can come out of our greatest failures.

This weeks message came from my book, “Healing the Wounded Spirit” if you would like to read more, follow the link here.   

See you in church!