The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.
- KJV The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
- BSB The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
- NASB The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
- NLT The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Overview
This tender verse promises God's nearness to those broken and crushed by grief or sin. Far from despising the contrite, God draws close to save them. This comfort is fulfilled in Christ, who came to bind up the brokenhearted and is near to all who mourn.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 147:3He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.
- Ps 145:18Yahweh is near to all those who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
- Isa 57:15For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
- Isa 61:1The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;
- Ps 51:17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
- Ezek 36:26I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
- Isa 66:2For my hand has made all these things, and so all these things came to be,” says Yahweh: “but to this man will I look, even to he who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.
- Ps 85:9Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.
- Luke 4:18“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 heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed,
- Isa 55:6Seek Yahweh while he may be found. Call on him while he is near.
- Ps 119:151You are near, Yahweh. All your commandments are truth.
- 2 Kgs 22:19because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before Yahweh, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and have torn your clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard you,’ says Yahweh.
- Ezek 36:31Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
- Ps 75:1For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm by Asaph. A song. We give thanks to you, God. We give thanks, for your Name is near. Men tell about your wondrous works.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 34:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.