Broken Bones Rejoicing

Broken Bones Rejoicing

Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice.

Psalm 51:8

We arrive at what is, in many ways a hard concept for us to countenance. As David pleads for God to forgive him for his high-handed sin, he says ‘Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice.’ We have discussed the first part. The second part requires some wisdom to understand and to present. Perhaps the best way to achieve clarity is to bring Scripture to bear on Scripture. Job records for us, ‘Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole.’  While this is a part of the speech of one of Job’s friends, we find that other passages of Scripture support it. When others sinned, God did chasten them and afflict them until they repented. Proverbs tells us that, ‘a soft tongue breaks the bone.’ The quiet conviction of the whispering of the Holy Spirit is enough to ‘break the bone.’ David is pleading for total restoration. It takes a long time for a broken bone to heal. It takes even longer for it to have great enough strength for that bone to ‘rejoice,’ or be stronger than it was before the breaking of it. David was pleading for that kind of healing and restoration. This is the kind of miracle which only Christ can perform. Over and over Christ restored people to far better than they were before He intervened. It is so in spiritual restoration. Christ alone can produce the restoration we need when we have sinned greatly against Him. He is the Great Physician. As we consider these things today, let us dwell upon the fact that Christ is the answer to our most painful and desperate condition. Today, let us look to Christ to ‘make us to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which you have broken may rejoice.’ He has broken. He will heal.

Our Gracious, Healing God,
we rejoice that You wound and that You heal.
We praise You that You will enable us to return to
greater health and strength than we enjoyed
before we sinned against You.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning