Psalms - Songs for the Journey: Psalm 147 - Wounded Soul | Pastor Pablo Morales

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website ecb .asia or our

mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. Good morning. So today

we are resuming the study on the book of Psalms.

And next week will be the last study of the series

with Pastor Phil. He will be concluding the study.

And the purpose of this series that we did was

to give you just a few songs to put in your repertoire.

songs for your journey, because as we are following

the Lord, there are different experiences that

we go through. And the book of Psalms is a collection

of songs that were written, ancient songs, each

one of them with a very specific message for

us. And as you have seen the studies, each one

of them touching on a very different aspect.

So today I will... Lead the study on Psalm 147.

But before we do that, please join me as I pray.

Lord, it is powerful to know truth. Truth that

can break through chains and deception and reach

the deepest parts of our being to free us, to

heal us. And I'm asking you, Lord, that today

you will use your word exactly for that purpose.

Will you use me in your power and your grace?

In Jesus' name, amen. Psalm 147 is one of the

psalms that is known as the psalms of praise.

Now, do you remember how many chapters are in

the book of Psalms? 150, right. This is the longest

book in the Bible. The last five chapters of

the book, there are songs that are called the

Hallel Psalms, the Hallelujah, Praise the Lord

Psalms, because each one of them starts and ends

with a call to praise God. But each one of them

has a very different background in the story.

Now, I know, I write songs myself, so I know

that different experiences inspire you to write

certain songs. And in this particular song, we

know what the background is. So you are in for

a treat because we'll be able to understand a

little bit of what was the background before

we even read the song. And the first thing that

you have to picture in your mind is catastrophe.

Think about it as a time of war, a time of destruction,

a time of everything, worst case scenario, happened.

And now after going through all this trauma,

all of this suffering, a nation is going to start

experiencing a new beginning. And we are told,

at the end of the book of 2 Chronicles, a summary

of what this period of time was like for the

nation of Israel. There was about two decades

in which the nation, before they experienced

the destruction, started going through decay,

and then political crisis, and eventually war,

and it kept deteriorating. Imagine two decades

like that. And we know that the years in which

Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar invaded Israel during

that time, invaded Jerusalem during that time,

was these three occasions in 605 before Christ,

597 before Christ, and 586 before Christ. And

during all of this time, 2 Chronicles summarizes

these two decades simply saying these words.

The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word

to them through his messengers again and again

because he had pity on his people and on his

dwelling place. But they mocked God's messengers,

despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets

until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against

his people and there was no remedy. They set

fire, this is the Babylonians, set fire to God's

temple, broke down the walls of Jerusalem. They

burned all the palaces and destroyed everything

of value there. So you can imagine the level

of catastrophe, invasion, destruction, sacred

places, places of political significance, everything

ruins. And on top of that, it says he carried

into exile to Babylon the remnant who escaped

from the sword. Yeah, because thousands of people

were killed. And those that survived became captives.

And they became servants to him and his successors

until the kingdom of Persia came to power 70

years later. So if you do the math. 20 years

of decay until destruction. 70 years of captivity.

That's 90 years. So that's about a century of

turmoil and catastrophe in the nation. Until

suddenly God starts taking them into a season

of restoration. And now that they are experiencing

the season of restoration. After hoping and grieving

and being wounded for so many years. Finally.

They start coming back. And that's why I call

Psalm 147, Wounded Soul. Because this nation,

this group of people were in a season in which

they had experienced so much suffering of all

sorts. And their souls were wounded. But can

God meet them there? Will God do something about

that? And the reasons why I want to share this

psalm with us today is because I understand that

a wounded soul was not just the experience of

their journey, but it's the experience of our

journey too. If we would make a big circle here

and everybody got to share their story of their

journey, you will discover so much pain and grief

and things that are unimaginable. And we will

not have enough tissues to pass around. As we

hear these stories. Our journey has also been

marked by trauma and things that have happened

in our lives. But that is not the problem. The

problem really is have I healed from those wounds?

Have those traumas been addressed? And have I

encountered God's healing power in my life? Or

I have simply learned just to survive, just go

into that survival mode, and just try to ignore

the wounds, try not to think about them, and

yet continue to follow God even though I'm wounded.

You see, that is the problem. The problem is

that we have learned to just follow God without

addressing the wounds. And what Psalm 147 will

do for us, is that will give us a perspective.

So as we read it, one of the things that I want

to do is that because each one of the three sections

of the psalm starts with the call to praise,

I highlighted it. And that will be the hint for

you. When you see the beginning of the section

highlighted, you will read that out loud and

I will read the rest. So let's see how we can

sing this song together without actually singing.

Here it goes. How good to sing praises to our

God. How delightful and how fitting. The Lord

is rebuilding Jerusalem. And bringing the exiles

back to Israel. He heals the broken hearted.

And bandages their wounds. He counts the stars.

Calls them by name. How great is our Lord. His

power is absolute. His understanding is beyond

comprehension. The Lord supports the humble.

But he brings the wicked down into the dust.

End of first section. Second section. Sing praises

to our God with a harp. He covers the heavens

with clouds. Provides rain for the earth. And

makes the grass grow in mountain pastures. He

is the one who gives food to the wild animals.

And feeds the young ravens when they cry. He

takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse

or in human might. No. The Lord delights in those

who fear Him. Those who put their hope in His

unfailing love. End of second section. Third

section. Praise your God, O Zion. For He has

strengthened the bars of your gates. And bless

your children within your walls. He sends peace

across your nation. And satisfies your hunger

with the finest wheat. He sends his orders to

the world. How swiftly his word flies. He sends

the snow like white wool. His cutters frost upon

the ground like ashes. He hurls the hail like

stones. Who can stand against his freezing cold.

Then at his command. It all melts. He sends his

winds. And the ice thaws. He has revealed his

words to Jacob. His decrees and regulations to

Israel. He has not done this for any other nation.

They did not know his regulations. Praise the

Lord. And that is the end of the song. The song

of the wounded soul. I do not know your journey

of woundedness. But despite the different journeys

that we all bring. Whether it be the ancient

journey of this song that we just heard. Or your

own. The symptoms of a wounded soul are very

similar. We suffer from addictions. We engage

in behaviors that bring us shame, and we don't

want them in our lives, but there we keep going

back to them. We call those compensating mechanisms.

There's a wound that needs to be addressed, but

because I have not addressed it, I am compensating.

There's anger. You become easily angry towards

your children in your job. There's this feistiness.

There's this thing. Why do you feel that way?

You do not know. But you're trying to manage

anger rather than heal the source of it. There's

also the overachieving. We focus on things so

that we don't have to pay attention to the wound

and the pain. So we succeed and we focus on the

things we're good at because those bring praise

from people. But it doesn't matter how high you

are in your job or how much money you have achieved

all of these years, you have no peace. And there's

no amount of money that can heal your wounds.

And we experience all of these symptoms throughout

our lives and we have learned to follow God by

managing the symptoms. Well, all along, what

God wants to do is to heal us, not help us manage

it. That's why this psalm is so significant.

Because a wounded soul, if it's ever going to

experience healing, will have to ask some important

questions in that journey. And the first question

that we have to ask as we are journeying with

our wounded soul is, Who is God? Because if I

believe that God is the very person who is guilty

and responsible for my wounds, it's like, why

do I want to even follow that God? It's almost

like the woman that was raped and then is forced

to marry the person who raped her. It's like,

why would you do that? And if you think that

God is the one that is against you, Understandably,

you will want to have nothing to do with that

God. But what if God is actually not that? What

if God is a different God altogether than the

one you are picturing? That's why this psalm

matters. Because it tells us after everything

that had happened. And all the catastrophes that

the nation experienced. This is what the psalm

says. God heals the broken hearted. And he bandages

their wounds. Would you read that aloud with

me one more time? He heals the broken hearted

and bandages their wounds. This is who God truly

is. He is interested. In your wounds. And your

healing. And this is the very first hint. That

helps us in the journey. Of the wounded soul.

Because you know. There's a big difference between

being fixed. And being healed. Let me say it

this way. My car can break down. And I send it

to the mechanic. And I say to the mechanic. you

need to fix my car. I'm not going to say, you

need to heal my car. No, fixing is like, I put

this part here, here, here, done. So I will tell

the mechanic, look, I really need the car in

three days. And he says, no problem. Pay me extra,

I'll just work extra hours and get your car done

in three days. Fixing. Healing. I break my arm.

I go to the doctor. And I said, doctor, I broke

my arm. You need to fix this. So I need my arm

fixed in three days. And he says, okay, sure.

Pay me extra and three days your arm will be

healed. No, it doesn't work that way, does it?

The doctor cannot heal my arm. She can give me

a treatment. But the body will have to heal it.

And the person can tell me it may take between

two to three weeks. Before you can move it again.

And it ends up being three months. And in the

healing process, as it's healing, maybe I mess

up. And now the wound becomes worse. And now

healing takes a year. Healing is a messy process.

It's not in a timeline. It's much more in a direction.

And did you notice what God is interested in?

Is he interested in fixing you or in healing

you? Ah, he's interested in healing your wounds.

He knows you have a broken heart. And he cares

about that. Right, of course, when we're in the

midst of the pain, we can be under the deception

that God doesn't care. Because if he really cared

to start with, this wouldn't have happened. It

makes sense. But it happened. So God does really

see me? Does he really care about my pain? That's

why the following verse says right away, look,

God counts the stars and calls them all. By what?

By name. All of them. Not even today with the

technology and the telescopes that are in orbit

today. We know all the stars. We know that there

are too many to count. And astronomers give some

of them a name, a number. But God knows all the

stars by name. And his understanding is beyond

any comprehension. His power is absolute. Which

means that I am in that place of pain with my

wound. I have to understand that I'm not going

to understand why God allowed this or not. There's

no way I will ever figure it out. It's beyond

my understanding but not beyond His. And if He

knows the stars by name, He knows me by name.

And if He knows me by name, He knows about my

journey. He knows about my wounds. And He tells

me, I care about you and your journey and your

wounds. And if you would just let me, I want

to take you through a process of healing. Because

I can give you peace. It makes such a difference

to understand who God is. Because if we have

the wrong perspective, we will never invite him

into that healing place. We will keep him away.

There was a young guy in the U .S. that did not

have a good relationship with his parents. So

especially dad, he felt abandoned by his father.

But he started growing as a teenager and then

he became an adult. Whenever you have that trauma

with your dad or the absence of your dad, we

call that the father wound. Because you learn

to just move on with life. But a bad relationship

with your father wounded you. And the effect

of that can last for decades. And so it happened

with him. As a teenager, he got into music. He

was good at singing. He got together with some

friends. They were all Christians. They believed

in Jesus. They were following the Lord. And then

they started getting some gigs here and there.

So they started singing in different venues.

And before you know it, they became a famous

band. So he was the co -founder of a band called

Newsboys. And as he became very famous and he

started... Giving big concerts. And making lots

of money with his band. John James is his name.

He realized that. His father wound. Never healed.

And you know what happens with a wound. That

is not healing. Gets infected. So now the pain

is worse than when it started. So by the way.

Take your antibiotics for that reason. In the

process of healing something. Because it gets

infected. It gets worse. More pain. But also

if it starts developing certain kind of infection.

Then it starts stinking. And with the wound of

the soul. It's kind of like that. For John. He

started focusing on his career. The success and

everything. But because his wound had not healed.

He was engaging. And immoral behaviors on the

side. And he started having a dual life. Imagine

being invited for a Christian concert with the

goal of ministering spiritually to everybody.

While during the week he is engaging with women

and other things. So he was feeling miserable.

But he could not break it. He kept going through

all of that time after time until it became known

to the band. And the band asked him to step down.

Then his wife that tried to work with him says,

you know what? This is the end of our marriage.

He lost his band. He lost his marriage. And now

that he has hit bottom, he is wondering about

this God that he follows. And he prays, he talks

to God in a moment of desperation. And he says,

God, how are you ever going to fix someone like

me? Because that's how you feel as a wounded

soul. It's disorienting. I keep making a mess

out of my life. And I hate it, but I keep doing

it. So God, am I beyond redemption? Am I beyond

your power? But one thing that John had to understand

was that he didn't need fixing because he was

in a car. What he needed was healing. And healing

is painful. Because now you have to be willing

to start talking about things that you decide

that you would prefer to forget. You have to

start getting face to face with truth and the

shame. And all the complications of what it has

done in your life. That's why he says, letting

God heal the wound of the abandonment and the

rejection and the unfaithfulness. I can tell

you, it was the most God -wrenching experience

of dying to self I ever, ever had in my life.

But that pain was healing pain. And that is what

started leading to restoration in his life. And

that is where he started experiencing God as

the one who heals the brokenhearted and bandages

their wounds. That's why he concludes in his

testimony and he says, I believe that God is

not only the God of the mountaintop, but the

God of the valley, of the storm, of the grief,

of the shipwreck. Of the loss. Of the pain. And

he is there. Every step of the way. It has to

be. Because if God is interested in your healing.

He is going to walk with you. Until the healing

is complete. And some healing. Will never be

complete. Until you are in God's presence. That's

why the apostle Paul says, I'm confident that

the one who began the good work in you will complete

it until the day of Jesus Christ. Because if

God is the healer, he will walk with you through

the process, but be ready for the pain. I remember

somebody once described it like holding an onion

in your hand. Would you imagine you have an onion

in your hand? All like this, pick it up. Okay,

now you have to peel it. Ah, well, you go through

one layer, out. Oh, there's another one there.

Let me take it out. Oh, there's another one there.

So many layers. And the time you peel one and

then you peel the other, what starts happening

to your eyes? Oh, you want to cry, right? It's

like, I cannot contain my tears. It's like, I

don't know what's happening. Welcome to healing.

You are that onion. Your wound is that onion.

You have so many layers. And you think you're

done. Thank you, Lord. And God says, no, look

at it. Really? Okay. And then another one? How

long is this going to take? As long as you...

Because I see you and I want to heal your broken

heart and bandage your wounds. Would you let

me? And if you need to cry all along, I'll cry

with you. God heals. Would you let him? The first

question that we have to ask in the wounded soul

journey is, who is God? Do I see him as the one

that can heal me deep inside or not? Because

if that is true, as long as you are trying to

find healing anywhere else, you will never be

able to experience healing. Only fixing. The

second thing the psalm tells us. Is that there's

a second question of the wounded soul. And that

has to do with what is my attitude. About the

pain I have and the wound I carry. Because one

of the things that will happen. If you are going

to be in avoidance mode. Rather than invite God

to heal these aspects of your journey in your

life. If instead of doing that. You just keep

him aside. And you just try to manage it. then

you are going to develop attitudes that are going

to try to make you rely on your own strength,

on your own plan, on your own control. Because

as long as you control the outcome, you will

find security. And one of the things that we

have discovered in the study of abuse and sexual

molestation, is that a large people who have

experienced these things in their childhood,

they end up working in sectors that are standing

for justice. They are missionaries. They are

helping the displaced, the poor, the people that

are in a position where they need someone to

defend them. So this wound suddenly starts becoming

the reason why you start pursuing a career in

your own strength. But what happens is you start

pursuing your career in your strength while your

wound has not healed. You know what happens?

That wound remains. And you will continue with

the same symptoms time after time after time.

It's not in our strength that these things are

addressed. The psalm says it very clearly. He

takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse

or in human might. You're not a horse, so that

doesn't apply to you, but you're human. And God

is not interested in you saying, God, I figured

it out, all fixed. That's not going to happen.

You can't figure it out. It's too complex and

deep for you. It doesn't matter how many counseling

books you read. They will help you understand.

But understanding is not healing. God heals.

And you have to start by realizing that, God,

I need help. I'm not strong. I'm weak. I'm wounded.

Would you encounter me in that place? That's

why he says at the end. No. The Lord delights

in those who fear him. Those who put their hope

in what? In what? Oh. I can only experience healing.

If I can rest in the fact that God. Loves me.

With an unfailing. Never ending. Never disappointing.

Never changing. Love. And it's when I rest. That

is not my strength. I don't need to figure out.

It's his strength. His power. His love. I'm just

like the person that goes to the doctor. And

says surgery. Just put me out. I have no idea

what you're going to do. But I know I can trust

you because you know what you're doing. God,

I will never be able to understand you, but can

I trust in your love? Because at the end of the

day, that is the question. If you are stuck in

the, but why Lord? Why that? Why this? Remember,

it's not an issue of understanding for you, but

it is an issue of trust. Will you trust in God's

love? Now, something that happened in the life

of Laura. It was an amazing journey of the wounded

soul. Because Laura grew up in a home that they

were all Christians. She went to church, but

she did not have a good relationship with mom.

And then she experienced sexual molestation as

a child from a friend. And then as a teenager,

she became promiscuous. And then she started...

Not walking with God. And that led her into a

path. Into adulthood. Where she decided. That

the solution to her inner world. And the feelings

that she was having. Was that she needed to become

a man. So she did. She had all surgeries. All

done. Then she went and did all the paperwork.

And she became legally. And her name now was

Jack. And now as Jack, she was working in different

companies. And she always introduced herself

to people as a man named Jack. And then she started

dating this person. And then she started living

with this partner. And now she had a relationship.

All of it as Jack. Until... The God who heals

the broken hearted. Started calling her. And

she had an encounter with the gospel of Jesus

Christ. And now she started following Jesus.

And as she started following Jesus. She reasoned

and she thought. Okay. Jesus you are my savior.

I'm going to follow you. But I'm going to be

the most faithful man until death. To you. So

she was going to follow Jesus until the end.

As Jack. Obviously. I'm already a man. She thought.

But one day. As she was seeking God. She says

that she had this impression. As God asking her.

So if you were to come to my presence today.

What name do you want me to call you? And at

that moment. She started feeling tension. It's

as if God was pointing to the onion, and she

didn't want to look at it. But then it continued,

and then one day, as she's seeking God, she says,

you know, I felt in my heart as if God was really

directly asking me this question. Would you let

me tell you who you are? And it was at that moment

that the realization started slowly becoming

completely open in her mind that all of these

years what she had been trying to do was to pursue

an identity of her own in order to bury the wounds

that she had been carrying all along. And now

God was inviting her to a place of healing, not

fixing. A journey that was messy and complex.

Not a strategy. And she writes and she says,

I had been running from God all my life. Trying

to define myself. Trying to discover who I was.

When all along, all I had to do was to ask Him.

Then I knew that only God could define me because

He had created me and there was freedom in that.

That was the wrestling of her wounded soul. She

had to come to terms with the realization that

if God had created her and that if God loved

her, could she trust her identity in God's love?

And until she did, the messy journey of healing,

the painful journey of healing began. And there

was the moment in which she felt that that healing

God was leading her to now embrace her identity

as Laura. God had created her a woman and maybe

God knew what he was doing and she was going

to trust in God's love. She did not know that

that was the beginning of a whole new season

of her life that was going to lead her into getting

married and also into serving God. And now her

journey is completely different from where she

was when the God who heals the broken heart had

met her. Because that's the way that God works.

He meets you in your woundedness, but He doesn't

want to leave you there. He's there to walk with

you to healing, whatever that healing looks like

and whatever long it takes. She wrote her entire

testimony in this book called Transgender to

Transform, which is raw. She says it as it is.

And she talks about the whole experience of going

through the wrestling. In this time of healing

in her life. So if this is a topic that matters

to you, this is a book that might help you see

through the eyes of someone that has gone through

that journey. So I have to ask you that question.

What is your attitude? Are you trusting in God's

love? That He actually cares for you and your

future? And that if you come to him with the

messiness of your journey and your woundedness,

that perhaps he does have the power to bring

order to chaos. You will have, if you want to

experience healing, you will have to stop trying

to be this strong and to figure it out on your

own. And you will have to accept that you are

broken, wounded, and you need to simply come.

To the one that knows better. And cares for you.

Powerful psalm. And this is what the nation experienced.

And they write it for us to know. But then they

say one more thing. At the end of the psalm.

Which does not have to do anymore with what I

think of God. Or the attitude I have about him.

But it talks about what is my foundation. Because

whenever you are in a process of woundedness,

naturally if you want to find healing, you're

going to seek help. But in the process of seeking

help, one of the things you discover is that

not all the voices tell you the same message.

Not all the experts agree on what you need to

do. And therefore you talk to this person, and

if they are experts in their field, but they

do not believe in God, they tell you one thing.

But you talk to another expert in the field that

believes in God, tells you a different thing.

And then you talk to a religious leader, they

tell you another thing. And then you read a book,

and it tells you another thing. What is your

foundation? Is there a foundation that actually

is like a light to light the path? This is what

the psalm says at the end. Yes, there is a foundation

that the book of Psalms calls the light. And

to our path. And they write it like this. God

has revealed his words. To Jacob. His decrees

and regulations. To Israel. He has done this

for no other nation. They do not know the regulations.

They have complete different foundations. But

we have the word of God. And God revealed his

word to us. And that is true. From Moses, to

the Psalms, to the prophets, to the New Testament,

to the Gospels, to the letters, to Revelation.

From beginning till end, the word of God was

revealed to the Jews. It was entrusted to Israel.

And we owe the word of God to the nation of Israel.

It was after that. That we Gentiles heard about

the love of God. And that Jesus was the Messiah

that came to die for our sins. We have for centuries

and millennia. The foundation given to us by

God himself. And you have it now in your language.

You have it in many versions. In many types of

covers. But the problem is not whether you have

it or not. The problem is do you trust it? Do

you believe that God's word is the ultimate foundation

to give you the direction and the clarity in

the time of confusion so that it will lead you

into the healing? It was a very interesting story

because in the case of Cheryl, she did not know

God. She was not a Christian. She just was focused

on her career, living like what we call in the

U .S. the American dream. You got the career,

you got the job, you have the money, you have

the family. Just be as affluent as you can be

and enjoy life. So she was and her husband both

very successful in their careers. But then she

started... Feeling dissatisfied with her marriage,

she started becoming more fake. And she started

thinking that she didn't really love him. But

at her job, she was getting all the attention

as the executive. And she was getting all the

attention from some co -workers. And in one of

those business trips at a hotel, she had an affair

with one of the co -workers. And she decided,

you know what, I'm done with my marriage. And

so they ended the marriage in divorce. Husband

was completely heartbroken because of the betrayal.

He could not believe. She didn't recognize who

this woman was. But it was in their time of brokenness

and that journey that they heard about Jesus

individually from each other. Just a few weeks

apart, they both gave their lives to Christ.

And at that moment, God started working deeper

in their lives separately from each other. And

one of the things that Cheryl started sensing

was, God wanted her to not get remarried, but

to wait for the healing of her marriage. Really?

Would he ever take me back after everything I

did? So she talked to him. And she says, look,

I am following Jesus now. I heard you are following

Jesus too. I think that God is wanting us to

restore our marriage. And I just need to know.

Is this something that you will be willing to

do? And with all the bitterness that was in his

heart, he looks at her and says, never. Don't

ever think about it. Don't ever bring it again.

I will never do this. He was wounded, of course.

But he was in that journey now that God started

speaking to him. And you know how long that healing

took? Seven years of divorce until the wound

was healed. And now God called them to come back

together. And now both were able to start building

a marriage that was founded on the Word of God.

Once you realize that the Word of God is the

true foundation, it's amazing. What God can do

in your life. If you just trust his word. And

don't trust those that disagree with it. He heals

the broken hearted. He can't heal infidelity.

He can't heal a broken marriage. He can. And

even though it is true that in his wisdom he

has allowed some marriages to end. And die. He

has the power to heal wounds that other people

will say this will never happen. This is the

God who heals the brokenhearted. If you are looking

back at the past that you have left behind, and

you feel this is beyond redemption, Look at the

words that Cheryl wrote because she says, I look

at what I left behind and I realize I made such

a huge mistake. You know that weight? What have

I done? The mess I've created? God, would you

ever be able to fix someone like me? Those are

the prayers of the wounded soul. And the answer

here that Psalm tells us is yes. There is hope,

there is future if you allow God. To heal you.

So is the word of God your foundation? Or you

have bought into the deception. That you cannot

trust God's word. Antiquated. Cannot tell you

how to live life today. Because it's too old.

Life is different today. Not so. So with this

in mind. I want to remind you. That God wants

to encounter you. In your journey. He doesn't

want you to just get used to the wound. He wants

you to address it and heal it. And he can indeed

meet you in that place. That's why the words

of Jesus who are the invitation to us. He says

this to you and to me. Come to me. To me. Not

to them or to that. Come to me. All you who are

weary and burdened. And I will give you rest.

I can give you peace if you let me. But how could

you ever experience my peace if you don't trust

in my love? So in conclusion for this study.

If you are a wounded soul today. No matter how

complex your journey is. These are the three

convictions that will lead you to healing if

you listen to what God is saying to you today.

First thing, remember that God is interested

in your healing, not in your fixing. Therefore,

you have to be willing to engage with the mess

and the pain for as long as it takes. God is

willing, but are you? Secondly, God loves you.

And you have to rest and trust in his love if

you will ever be able to endure the process.

He loves you. And thirdly, you will have to trust

in the direction that he has given you in his

word. Because that direction is the one that

will lead you through the path of confession

all the way to healing. And one day, who knows,

after you have gone through the 70 years of captivity

in your own life, you will be able to sit down

and write your own song of praising God because

of what He did in your life. And you will be

able to join the voices of all of these people

that said, God heals the brokenhearted and bandages

their wounds. Praise God! And I just pray that

that will be your journey. Lord, it is in your

presence that we acknowledge you. The one who

created us, who designed us, who loves us. The

one who is interested in our wounds and our journey.

The one who is willing to walk with us all the

way till the end. The one that is not here to

fix us. But to love us through healing. We proclaim

and agree with what your word says. You are the

God who heals the broken hearted and bandages

our wounds. We believe that. So it is in Jesus

name that I ask you Lord that as we worship you.

You let this true be like a sword that is breaking

chains. Like a balm that is reaching the deepest

parts of our being. Beginning the healing process

that you are inviting us to. Holy Spirit, lead

us into truth. Truth that heals. You are the

one that convicts. So as we worship, convince

our hearts and speak into our wounded souls in

Jesus' name. Thank you for tuning in to the ECB

Sermon Podcast. Whether near or far, if you are

looking for community or are in need of prayer,

we welcome you to engage by sending us an email

to office at ecb .asia. If God is calling you

to support our ministries, you will find giving

options on our website. And remember to join

us next week. God bless you.