Psalm 34:18-20 - The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.

Not everyone has experienced broken bones, but many of us know what it is to be brokenhearted with guilt and shame. Our psalm speaks of the brokenhearted, of bones that remain unbroken, and praises the Lord who saves all who are "crushed in spirit." The psalm reminds us, not of our own broken bones—if we ever had any—but of the unbroken bones of the lambs sacrificed to celebrate Passover and the unbroken bones of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

When God, with mighty acts of power, rescued the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, He commanded His people to mark the doors of their homes with the blood of the lambs. As God moved through the land to destroy the firstborn of Egypt, He would pass over the blood-marked homes of the Israelites, and they would be saved from death. Year after year this miracle of freedom was celebrated. As lambs were killed and prepared for the Passover meal, the lambs' bones were not to be broken (see Exodus 12:46). The Passover celebration of freedom, and even the small detail of unbroken bones, pointed to a greater Lamb of sacrifice yet to come.

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous" and Jesus, the righteous Son of God, knew the afflictions of rejection and betrayal for the sake of our salvation. He was condemned to death and nailed to a cross. When the time came for the bodies of Jesus and the two criminals crucified with Him to be removed from the crosses, the soldiers saw that Jesus was already dead. It was not necessary in Jesus' case to follow the customary practice of breaking the victim's legs to hasten death. A soldier, to be certain, pierced the Lord's side with a spear. The Scriptures were fulfilled: "... when they look on Me, on Him whom they have pierced" (Zechariah 12:10b) and, as written in our psalm, "He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken."

Jesus is the perfect Lamb of sacrifice, whose death atoned for the sins of the world. Just as the blood of lambs marked the doors of ancient Israel to save them from death, Jesus' blood marks our lives. The Passover celebration points to Jesus, the true Passover Lamb, the willing sacrifice whose death and resurrection set us free from our slavery to sin. When we are brokenhearted and crushed in spirit over our sins, we can be certain that the Lord is near to deliver us. That is the sacrifice of repentance that He desires: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm 51:17).

WE PRAY: Lord Jesus, when I am crushed and broken in spirit, hear my prayer and forgive me. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.

Reflection Questions:

1. Breaking a bone is no fun. Have you ever broke a bone? How did that happen?

2. Why did the soldiers not break Jesus' bones at His crucifixion?

3. What does it mean that God desires "a broken and contrite heart" of His children?

Today's Bible Readings: 1 Chronicles 4-6    1 Corinthians 7:1-19

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