Psalms 34:18
in Psalms 34The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit.
KJV
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
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This verse in Psalms 34
Commentary
13 notes on this verseHe who has despised present things, and has given himself to the word of God and is using his mind for thoughts that are above and are more divine, he would be the one who has a contrite heart and has made it a sacrifice that is not despised by the Lord. For "a contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise." … He who has no vanity and is not proud of anything human, he is the one who is contrite in heart and humble of spirit.
This site's exposition
His ears are inclined
on Psalms 34:15-18
Eyes, ears and face divide the LORD's attention, on the righteous and against those who do evil. Verse 17 makes the cry of verse 6 a standing rule, heard whenever the righteous cry out. Verse 18 puts Him nearest the brokenhearted.
This site's exposition
near to the brokenhearted
Adam Clarke read the Hebrew as a heart broken to shivers and a spirit beaten out, both words implying a hammer. Augustine drew the lesson that the high God comes down to the lowly. Charles Spurgeon added that the brokenhearted often think God far away.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"The Lord is near unto them that have broken their heart; and saves such as be lowly in spirit" [Psalm 34:18]. God is High: let a Christian be lowly. If he would that the Most High God draw near unto him, let him be lowly. A great mystery, Brethren. God is above all: you raise yourself, and touchest not Him: you humble yourself, and He descends unto you.
He did not apply the terms "lowly" and "contrite of heart" simply to those reduced to this condition from the disasters but to those in this condition by intent and resolve. Even if tested by disasters, on the basis of their lowliness of intent they …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, when he says, "The Lord is near," he shows how the eyes of the Lord are upon the just. And concerning this he does three things. First, he presents the merit of the just. Second, their impending danger, at "Many are the tribulations." Third, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Nigh - Ready to hear and succor them. To - Those whose spirits are truly humbled under the hand of God, and the sense of their sins, whose hearts are subdued, and made obedient to God's will and submissive to his providence.
): He is nigh to those that are of a broken heart, and saves them. Note, First, It is the character of the righteous, whose prayers God will hear, that they are of a broken heart and a contrite spirit (that is, humbled for sin and emptied of self); they are low in their own eyes, and have no confidence in their own merit and sufficiency, but in God only.
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5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart,....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. Near in friendship to accept and console. Broken hearts think God far away, when he is really most near them; their eyes are holden so that they see not their best friend. Indeed, he is with them, and in them, but they know it not. They run hither and thither, seeking peace in their own works, or in experiences, or in proposals and resolutions, whereas the Lord is nigh them, and the simple act of faith will reveal him. And saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. Near in friendship to accept and console. Broken hearts think God far away, when he is really most near them; their eyes are holden so that they see not their best friend. Indeed, he is with them, and in them, but they know it not. They run hither and thither, seeking peace in their own works, or in experiences, or in proposals and resolutions, whereas the Lord is nigh them, and the simple act of faith will reveal him. And saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. What a blessed token for good is a repentant, mourning heart! Just when the sinner condemns himself, the Lord graciously absolves him. If we chasten our own spirits the Lord will spare us. He never breaks with the rod of judgment those who are already sore with the rod of conviction. Salvation is linked with contrition.
A broken heart - נשברי לב nishberey Web, the heart broken to shivers. A contrite spirit - דכאי רוח dakkeey ruach, “the beaten-out spirit.” In both words the hammer is necessarily implied; in breaking to pieces the ore first, and then plating out the metal when it has been separated from the ore. This will call to the reader’s remembrance Jer 23:29: “Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord? And like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” The breaking to shivers, and beating out, are metaphorical expressions: so are the hammer and the rock. What the large hammer struck on a rock by a powerful hand would do, so does the word of the Lord when struck on the sinner’s heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. The broken heart, and the contrite spirit, are two essential characteristics of true repentance.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart - Margin, as in Hebrew: “to the broken of heart.” The phrase, “the Lord is nigh,” means that he is ready to hear and to help. The language is, of course, figurative. As an Omnipresent Being, God is equally near to all persons at all times; but the language is adapted to our conceptions, as we feel that one who is near us can help us, or that one who is distant from us cannot give us aid. Compare the notes at Psa 22:11. The phrase, “them that are of a broken heart,” occurs often in the Bible. It refers to a condition when a burden “seems” to be on the heart, and when the heart “seems” to be crushed by sin or sorrow; and it is designed to describe a consciousness of deep guilt, or the heaviest kind of affliction and trouble. Compare Psa 51:17; Isa 57:15; Isa 61:1; Isa 66:2. And sayeth such as be of a contrite spirit - Margin, as in Hebrew: “contrite of spirit.” The phrase here means the spirit as “crushed” or “broken down;” that is, as in the other phrase, a spirit that is oppressed by sin or trouble. The world abounds with instances of those who can fully understand this language.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קָר֣וֹב | karov | [is] near | H7138 → | 77 times |
| יְ֭הוָה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְנִשְׁבְּרֵי־ | lenishberei- | to [people] broken of | H7665 → | 147 times |
| לֵ֑ב | lev | heart | H3820 → | 595 times |
| וְֽאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דַּכְּאֵי־ | dakeei- | [people] crushed of | H1793 → | |
| ר֥וּחַ | ruach | spirit | H7307 → | 378 times |
| יוֹשִֽׁיעַ׃ | yoshia' | he delivers | H3467 → | 206 times |
קָר֣וֹב[is] near
karovH7138 →77 times
יְ֭הוָהYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְנִשְׁבְּרֵי־to [people] broken of
lenishberei-H7665 →147 times
לֵ֑בheart
levH3820 →595 times
וְֽאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
דַּכְּאֵי־[people] crushed of
dakeei-H1793 →
ר֥וּחַspirit
ruachH7307 →378 times
יוֹשִֽׁיעַ׃he delivers
yoshia'H3467 →206 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 61:1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty…
it leads to
- Luke 4:18–19
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight…
- Luke 7:22
So He replied, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and…
- Isaiah 42:7
to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.
- Matthew 11:5
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
- Psalms 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
- Luke 4:18–19
Through
Psalms 145:18The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 29:12–13
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- Deuteronomy 4:7
For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?
- Jeremiah 29:12–13
Through
Psalms 147:3He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
it leads to
- Job 5:18
For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
- Job 5:18
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 34; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 16:12 (PS 34); Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 34:19B and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.