Recently, I listened to the worship song “Broken People” by Israel Houghton. This song tells how the Lord loves the praise of people who are broken. It made me wonder what it means to be “broken.” It also made me wonder how we can bless the Lord. Since He is the author of all blessings and all good things, how can we ever give Him anything that could be considered a blessing to Him? Can we really bless God with our brokenness?
Scripture is full of references about how we should praise and bless the Lord. For example, Psalms 34:1 encourages us in this way, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” But scripture also talks about brokenness. In Psalms 34:18 says, “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and He saves those such as have a contrite spirit.” I don’t believe this scripture speaks of broken in the way we might think. He is speaking of people who are broken for Him, not broken because of a personal loss. He speaks of having both a broken heart and a contrite spirit for the things that are God’s more than for things we might want or for things we must endure for ourselves. Of course, He cares when we are broken because of personal loss, but He is drawn closer to us when we are broken because He does not get the honor and the glory that He is due from us or from people around us.
When we are crushed in spirit for the things that are of Him, He is moved to come to us so He can restore our hearts and spirits to stand strong in Him. So, David says in Psalms 34:1 that he will always bless the Lord. David knew that all praise belongs to the Lord, so those praises will continually be spoken by his mouth. When we ask the Lord for His blessings, we are asking Him to bring His good to our lives or to the lives of others. What, then, can we give Him that would be good enough to be a blessing to Him? There are several things we can offer Him Who needs nothing, and these things would bless His heart to have from us. But before we offer anything to bless Him, we must first have a heart that is broken for Him and a spirit that is crushed because we know He does not get from us the things that He loves. When we do this, we actually bless and praise Him.
If you want to bless Him and if you want to praise Him with something that will glorify Him, learn to come to Him and to give Him all the things that you desire. When you give Him your desires, He is happy because He loves satisfying the desires of His children with His love. Give Him all your heart. When you give Him your heart, He is happy because mending broken hearts is one of His favorite things to do. Give Him your love. When you give Him your love, He is happy because perfecting His love in the way we love is how He lives boldly among so many who do not know Him. And then give Him your life. When you give Him your life, He is happy because He loves to come into a new life and find a place to live.
If we do these things from a heart broken for Him and from a spirit that is crushed for Him, then we will find it easy to bless Him with the things of our lives that will make Him happy. Loving a broken people is a blessing to Him. It is the praise that belongs to Him. Indeed, He loves people who are broken for Him. Live a Delivered Life. Love you.
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