Mensa Otabil - He Binds Up the Broken
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Ezekiel 34:16: I will seek that which was lost and bring back that which was driven away, bind up the broken, and strengthen what was sick. We’re still looking at God as our Shepherd, and He leads us, protects us, and feeds us. But He does more than that. In this passage, God is telling us a bit more of what He can do for us. We are very familiar with artistic depictions of a shepherd carrying his sheep, and Jesus Christ spoke about Himself as the Shepherd who goes out looking for the sheep that is lost. He says that He will leave even those who are safe to go and look for those who are at risk, and that shows the deep love and care that God has for us. He is our Shepherd, and there are three things I want to highlight about what the passage says that the Lord does for us as Shepherd.
First, He seeks that which was lost; He goes looking for those who are lost. You know, many times when people are troublesome, we call them the black sheep. They are the ones who give problems, and after they give problems for a while, we say, «Listen, he’s a lost cause; leave him alone. Abandon him. I don’t think anything good can come out of him or her.»
But that’s not God’s approach to us. God has no lost cause; there is nobody in this world that God says, «You know, that’s a bad case; that’s a lost cause; nothing can be done about him.» God pursues that which is lost, including the so-called black sheep, the troublesome ones, and those who bring trouble on themselves. God still seeks that which is lost. So even if we are in church and the church thinks we are too troublesome and expels us, God still goes out for us. He seeks for that which is lost because there is no lost case with God.
The second thing is that He binds our brokenness. Listen, sooner or later, life is going to hit you somehow, and you’re going to be broken. All of us experience brokenness in one way or another, either through words that people speak against us, experiences we go through, or bitter memories from our past.
Something just crushes us and breaks us. When we get broken in life, we just get tired of life. We sit down; we don’t want to go any longer; we don’t want to fight any longer. God says part of His job is to go for those who are broken and mend them. So God is able to mend the broken; He fixes broken people. If you’re broken and life has broken you, friends have broken you, or whatever has broken you, God wants to mend your life. He doesn’t leave the broken by the wayside to their own devices and say, «Well, you brought it on yourself; you can die and leave me alone.» No, God doesn’t do that. God goes for the broken people.
The third thing the passage says that the Lord does for us as Shepherd is that He strengthens the sick. You can be sick in many ways. Sometimes we are sick in the body-that’s the easiest one-but people can be sick in their minds, sick in their thoughts. Something can wound you, something can hurt you so deeply, and it can hit you so badly that you can’t function. It’s like somebody with a broken bone; you can walk, but in the same way, somebody can be broken in the spirit and they can’t function. They can’t smile, they can’t laugh, they can’t be happy. Sometimes we say that they are depressed, or we give them all kinds of descriptions.
No matter what kind of sickness afflicts you in your body or in your mind, there is a Strengthener, and His name is the Lord God Jehovah. He will strengthen you and protect you; He’s your Shepherd. He’ll go after you if you’re lost, bind up those who are broken, and strengthen those who are sick. What a gracious Shepherd we have in the Lord God!
Let’s pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, heal me and make me whole, restore my joy, and fill me with Your peace. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.