Brokeness ..again?

FROM "BROKENNESS UNTO BLESSING"

Read Psalm 31:1-31:24

Psalm 31:12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.

Psalm 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

You probably remember the children’s nursery rhyme –

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 together again.

As much as we would like to help people in our midst today that are hurting, we can’t rebuild broken people. But our God is very capable of rebuilding broken people. In fact, this is one of His specialties:

I read an article about some actual business signs that advertise to the public the skills of the proprietor:

At on Optometrist’s office: "If you don’t see what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place."

On a taxidermist’s window: "We really know our stuff."

In a Podiatrist’s window: "Time wounds all heels."

On a butcher’s window: "Let me meat your needs."

Outside a muffler shop: "No appointment necessary. We’ll hear you coming."

On the side of a garbage truck: "We’ve got what it takes to take what you’ve got."

If God had a sign outside His office, it might say, “I can’t fix it until it is broken.”

This morning I want us to leave with an understanding that brokenness does not have to be blight, brokenness can become a blessing.

How can we go from Brokenness unto Blessing?

Notice first of all:
I. The Reality of Brokenness
Throughout the Scriptures, but especially in the Psalms, we meet people who are broken. David cried out in Psalm 31:12, “I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.” Generally speaking, when something is broken, it is useless unless it can be repaired:
1. Perhaps you know what it is like to have a broken arm or leg.
2. When a person is financially drained so that he has absolutely nothing, he is said to be "broke."
3. When a person’s romantic hopes are destroyed, he is heartBROKEN.
4. When a person is at rock bottom, he is broken. Under God’s chastisement, David said: Psalms 38:8 I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquiet ness of my heart.
5. When a person is broken, he is almost useless, unless he gets repaired.

When things are broken in your life, you are in trouble:

1. There Is An Outward Problem.
It causes some to become bitter and angry and it hurts their relationships. Proverbs 25:28 He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls. They take out their bitterness over what has happened on those around them. They develop a short fuse, they say things that they don’t really mean, and they lose control of their emotions very easily. David’s broken heart caused him to say in Psalm 31:6, “I have hated them that regard lying vanities.” In verse 17, he said, “let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.” In verse 18, he cried out, “Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.”

2. There is An Inward Problem. It causes some to become discouraged, disillusioned, and even depressed. Proverbs 15:13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

3. There Is An Upward Problem. Some blame God for what has happened and either drop out of church or quit serving like they used to.

Proverbs 25:19 Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.

II. The Reason For Brokenness

God is not a cruel God. He allows things to happen for a reason. There is always purpose in the pain we experience here on earth. Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” II Corinthians 4:17 “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” God wants what’s best for you…He wants to do something great in and with and through your life. Someone once said, “Before God can use a man greatly, He must wound him deeply.” “Before you can bless, you must bleed; before you can help, you must first hurt.”

Oswald Chambers was right when he said, “If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed—you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.”

There is a clear pattern in the Bible that teaches us that brokenness precedes greatness:

1. Before Abraham became the father of many nations, he and Sarah were childless.
2. Before Jacob could be blessed, he was wounded by angel in a wrestling match.
3. Before Joseph ruled Egypt, he was thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, and falsely imprisoned.
4. Before Job’s estate was doubled, he lost everything he had, including his family, his fortune, and his future.
5. Before Moses became the great deliverer, he lost his position, his possessions, and his popularity.
6. Before Joshua conquered the Promised Land, he went through the wilderness.
7. Before Samson crushed the Philistines, he was blinded, binded, and grinded.
8. Before David became king, he was renounced by his family, ridiculed by his foes, and rejected by his friends.
9. Before Daniel could be used mightily, he had to spend the night in the lion’s den.
10. Before Hosea became a powerful spokesman for God, his wife betrayed him and returned to prostitution.
11. Before Peter preached 3,000 souls into the kingdom, he denied his Savior three times and went out and wept bitterly.
12. Before Paul brought the gospel to the Gentiles, he was blinded on the Damascus road.

Watchman Nee said, “Our spirit is released according to the degree of our brokenness. The one who has accepted the most discipline is the one who can best serve. The more one is broken, the more sensitive he is.”

Oswald Chambers commented, "When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship—when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us."

Sometimes God sees that our life is a mess and He breaks us so that He can remake us.

Jeremiah 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

The songwriter expressed the proper attitude we should have during the times when we are broken:

Have Thine own way, Lord. Have Thine own way. Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me After thy will. While I am waiting, Yielded and still.

The Potter is able to mend the broken vessel and use it for His own purposes and pleasure!

III. The Remedy for Brokenness

A. There Must Be A Relationship.

In verse 3, David was able to testify, “For thou art my rock and my fortress…” Again in verse 14, David proclaimed, “Thou art my God.”

Do you have a relationship with God today? That is the most important question to answer.

B. There Must Be A Reliance.

1. V. 1 –“In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust…”
2. V. 4 –“For thou art my strength.”
3. V. 5 –“Into thine hand I commit my spirit…”
4. V. 6 –“I trust in the LORD.”
5. V. 14 –“But I trusted in thee, O LORD:”
6. V. 19 –“Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!” 7. V. 22 –“I cried unto thee.”
8. I Peter 5:5 –“For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace unto the humble.”
9. I Peter 5:6 –“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.

C. There Must Be A Realization

1. God Cares.
a. V. 7 –“I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: For thou hast considered my trouble; Thou hast known my soul in adversities…”
b. V. 9 –“Have mercy upon me, O Lord…”
c. V. 16 –“Save me for thy mercy’s sake.”
d. V. 19 –“How great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee…”
e. Because He cares, God’s goodness and mercy will follow the child of God.

2. God Is In Control.
a. V. 15 –“My times are in thy hand…”
b. “He’s Got The Whole World in His Hand…”
c. “He’s Got You And My Brother In His Hand…”
d. V. 5 –“Into thine hand I commit my spirit:

3. God Can.
a. V. 4 –“Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: 4 For thou art my strength.”
b. God can deliver us from any situation and can fix our broken lives.


D. There Must Be A Rest.
1. V. 24 –“Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, All ye that hope in the Lord.”
2. Bethany will let me help her when she is hurt:
a. We have a relationship.
b. She’s learned to rely on me.
c. She realizes that I care, I am in control, and I can.
d. She rests in my presence.

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 together again.

But God can! GOD is able to mend: Broken hearts Broken homes Broken hopes Broken health Broken happiness

I’m GLAD that our Lord specializes in healing broken things! Psalms 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. Now we come to one of the paradoxes of the Christian life. The word "broken" is almost always negative. However, the word, "break," can be positive. For instance, when something good happens to a person, it is often said to be "his big BREAK."

To be BROKEN in heart, health, or hope, COULD be your big BREAK. For instance, God gives you His attention when your spirit is broken, more so than when your spirit is proud:

Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

The greatest men of the Bible were broken but God used them.

Are you broken? It may be that God is going to use you. Don’t give up! God SPECIALIZES in broken things!

Jeremiah 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

You may be here today wondering if and when your life will ever get back to normal.

He can fix the broken pieces, Better even than before, And open wide the storehouse Of His blessing evermore!

Although not a BONE of our Lord was broken, when the Lord was crucified and bore our sins in His body, the Bible describes His body as being broken: 1 Corinthians 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he break it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. Our Lord was broken, but through His brokenness, the greatest blessing of them all –salvation, was made available for you and me.

From Brokenness Unto Blessing from “The desk of Adaline S. Kumar”