God's Broken Heart

There is a song by Hillsong United that has touched my heart and caused me to worship in the deepest way the last year or so. The song is beautiful and touches my soul, causing me to seek the God who I know is God of All, God of Eternity, God of Mercy, and the God of my salvation.

Hosanna
means
Save us!

The chorus in this song has become my prayer, many times, and I have prayed with so much truth and desire that it has changed my life and changed my heart.

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause
As I go from nothing to
Eternity

The prayer, "break my heart for what breaks yours" has changed who I am and how I think about things. Those of you who know me know that "mercy" is not one of my gifts. I am, in my human nature, not a very compassionate person. I break my own heart at how cold-hearted that I can sometimes be so I have found this prayer very in line with one of the things I desire for myself in my desire to become more like my God.

He does answer prayer. He has given me a heart so soft that sometimes I fear that it will kill me. But I find that the things that break my heart, that hurt me deeply, are in fact answer to that very prayer. My heart breaks over some of the more obvious things...the hungry people, the ones without water in Sudan, the political climate in our country and countries around the world, and certainly the people who still need to hear about Jesus.

But what He has also done is broken my heart over things right here, right now, in my sphere of influence and in my life. My heart breaks for those many people I know who battle cancer. My heart breaks for those who I know who are going through divorce. My heart breaks for my own child as he mourns the loss of his dear friend, and my heart breaks for those in who mourn death and loss in their families. My heart breaks for those who are trying to live with alcoholism or abuse and my heart breaks for the many broken and unhealed relationships that I am either aware of or part of. My heart breaks over lack of trust, lack of reconciliation, forgiveness that is in word spoken out of obedience only, but not from the heart and my heart breaks over the self destruction that comes from sin.

I have come to see how God wants us to treat each other and my heart breaks for the many times I have fallen short of His desire in that. I am aware of the depth of His desire for forgiveness; that it is much more than just making the choice out of obedience to what is right in His eyes, but that forgiveness is to bring Him glory in the great work that He can do. My heart breaks when I sin. My sin breaks God's heart.

The verses to the song go like this:

I see the king of glory
Coming on the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes
The whole earth shakes

I see his love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing
The people sing

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith

I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees

We're on our knees

He is my King of Glory. I see His love and mercy, washing over all my sin and I sing...I pray...I seek and I am on my knees.

Hosanna