Number the Stars Part II

Psalm 147:3-4 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.”

Do you feel invisible? Do you feel as if God has turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to your pain? When I heard this verse used in the novel Number the Stars I had to read it in context. Because of my own history of pain, I could relate to God healing the brokenhearted and binding up their wounds since He did it for me. But what about before the healing and the binding? I was in great pain, and I wondered if I would ever feel like myself again. I’ve written before about being depressed, but I’ve also been brokenhearted. A great love left me and broke my heart. I had cried before from a broken heart, but this time was different. A person who was an addict left me. He chose alcohol over me. How many “mes” have you already read in this blog? During that time there was a lot of looking at me. My pain, my breakup, my brokenness…all pain that I held onto intensely. So intensely that I didn’t see how I could cross over to a place of healing, wholeness, and joy. Isn’t that what pain does to us? Doesn’t it take us to a lonely place of isolation and agitation? Our spirit and soul can’t heal because we separate ourselves from anyone or anything that can bring us relief. “I don’t want to hear songs of praise. I only want to sing and hear sad songs.” Been there! Psalm 147 is called “Praise To God For His Word and Providence” in the New King James Version. And here is what I’ve learned. Praise takes the focus off of me and onto a God who is bigger than me or my pain. Pain made my insides feel like a roller coaster, topsy-turvy and twisting only into the abyss of misery. Praise lifted my spirits and reminded me that even though this breakup looked bad and made me feel like I was being taken out, the presence of God lifted me out of all of that turmoil. Verse 4 says that God counts the number of stars. Can you count the number of stars? I can’t. So this must mean a God with that much power can heal the heart that He created. Surely He could take a spirit that seemed bleak and hopeless and lift it again.