** He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. ** Psalm 34:20
We can look at this as a prophetical verse of the death of Jesus Christ. He was tortured and tried and hung on the cross but not one of his bones was broken. He suffered greatly because of our sin, but the Father protected Him from the pain of a broken bone. **For his mercy endureth forever** Even though Christ suffered greatly because of us and He did it willingly, The Father mercifully held back additional pain. I also wonder if the Father did not allow any of Christ’s bones to be broken because He was sinless. Take a look at the following verses from David’s Psalms. Do you see how the broken bones are connected with our sin?
David used language we could all understand. Words we could identify with. He reflected a day to day life that each of us can easily identify and sympathize with.
Here we see that David talks about our bones a few other times in the Psalms …
**There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. ** Psalm 38:3
** Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. ** Psalm 51:8
** As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? ** Psalm 42:10
I think each of these verses are allegorical. That each one helps us to ‘see’ and ‘feel’ what David is telling us. He is making his pain and suffering relatable. He is letting us know that his pain and our pain in this life are the same. Whether we are shepherds or kings, pain and suffering are the same for all of us.
Some heartache feels like a broken bone. It could be heartache over great loss in this life or heartache over the damage we have caused to ourselves and others because of our sin. Or heartache over those we love who die without knowing the Lord like we do.
If we are ‘broken’, physically or emotionally, even spiritually, renewed hope comes from verse 18 of Psalm 34, ‘the Lord is near us’. And He saves us OUT of all of our troubles. That doesn’t mean He will always make our suffering have a happy Hollywood ending, but He will always do what is right and good for us. And, of course, in eternity we will forget all about our sufferings, like a new mother forgets about painful labor.
The Lord will …
… turn for us our mourning into dancing: He will put off our sackcloth, and gird us with gladness ** Psalm 30:11 (paraphrased)
Maybe not today. But He will do it. He will bring us to the other side of the pain, just like He resurrected Jesus Christ from the dead. He will do the work in us that He promises to do. He will transform us and clean us up from the inside out, deep into our “bones”. He will give us a spiritual bone marrow transplant and we will become someone else. We will be more like Him.
One trial at a time.