To Bind up the Brokenhearted

By Terri Clifton

To Bind Up the Brokenhearted speaks life into the broken spirit of those who have been traumatized to their very soul by trials in life - whether self-inflicted or not. Based on a mantle from Isaiah 61:1, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. Trials come and go and sometimes it is difficult to navigate through them especially when one has been betrayed or experienced a hurt from someone close or from family or church that is indescribable. Each chapter is a sermon downloaded into me by the Holy Spirit which raised up a standard within me to conquer various situations. When the Word is breathed by the Holy Spirit, there are assignments attached to them for the very purpose of manifesting the Word of God for that very situation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jan 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667825304

Book preview

Chapter 1

Woman You Shall Live – It Is Enough

Scriptural Text: 2 Sam 24: 10–16, 18–21, 25

10 And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

11 For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,

12 Go and say unto David, Thus, saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.

13 So, Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

15 So, the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.

16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite.

18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded.

20 And Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground.

21 And Araunah said, Wherefore, is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing floor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

25 And David built there an altar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So, the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

Sometimes trouble just finds us and we weren’t doing anything to deserve it. But, if we are truthful with ourselves, some of our troubles are self-inflicted – a decision or a chain of decisions we made without consulting God, and then we find ourselves in the middle of a mess – pure chaos. It has been said that ‘your misery is your ministry’ and ‘your mess is your message’!  This story of David numbering the men of war is one that blessed my soul and helped explain the purpose of some painful experiences in my past. 

In this text, the Bible says the Lord moved David, the King, against the people to number the men of Israel and Judah.  Just to explain, it was not God moving David, but it was that He allowed satan to entice David – just like He allowed satan to test Job.  King David sent out the order to take a census through Joab – who was captain of the army and also David’s nephew. It even seemed odd to Joab for David to take a census as there was no upcoming battle. This is because it is a form of pride thinking the victory is based on the number of people in his army instead of trusting in God. So, Joab questioned David about this because the king usually put his full trust in the Lord, not in chariots, horses, or swords.  It took them 9-1/2 months to count all of the people.  Can you believe 9-1/2 months??!! Do you know what all he could have accomplished in 9-1/2 months but instead he wasted time counting people?  So, Joab gave David the final count.  Soon afterward, this upset David and he got a little troubled in his spirit because he, then, realized that his trust had shifted from strength in God to strength in man.  The Bible says his heart was condemned and he began to pray to the LORD. That sounds a bit like us, huh? We get ourselves into something leaning on our own understanding and then reach out to God for help. 

The next morning when David woke up, the Lord dropped a Word into Gad, David’s prophet.  You know when we feel a burden or ‘weight’ in our spirit and feel as if there is a deeper meaning behind something we have experienced? That is the nudge or unction of the Holy Spirit trying to drop a Word into us. It is comparable to a text message to our hearts, as my youngest, Brandon, would say. Since David showed trust in man and not God, the punishment was warranted. Gad conveyed to David what the Lord said and offered David three types of punishment to choose from – for yourself that I may do it to you (verse 12).  So, the three choices of punishment were: 

1) Seven years of famine in your land?

2) Flee three months before your enemies while they pursue you? 

3) Shall there be three days of plague in your land?

Then Gad said, Now tell me what I should tell the Lord.  When we are going through, sometimes we get in our emotions and end up making decisions on-the-fly which causes us to shipwreck when we should learn to lean on the LORD.  Even out of David’s distress, right in the middle of receiving these choices of punishments, he made a choice of wisdom. David responded, Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.  He understood it was better to be in God’s hand than the hand of man. David knew how finicky people can be – they will change on a dime. There are some who cannot wait to see you down so they can put their foot on your neck if given the chance. Our hearts are not pure.  The Bible says, The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer. 17: 9-10) and it also says, Many are the devices in a man’s heart but the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand (Prov. 19: 21). I am glad God is the Author and the Finisher of our faith.  Know that since we are in Christ, our fate is never in man’s hand but in God’s because from the start He has declared our ending (Isa. 46:10). 

So, because of this census and that David was attempting to take God’s glory, the LORD sent a plague upon Israel and 70,000 people died.  God says, . . . I will not share my glory with another . . . (Isa. 42: 8). But even in this, God showed mercy because verse 16 (above) says, And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it - and that meant He was going to wipe out the whole nation all because of David’s choice – the Lord stopped the angel, commanding, ‘It IS enough. Stay now thine hand!’ (Verse 16). 

When you are the head or the covering for your household, you must be careful to stay in the will of God to avoid exposing your family or kids and making them vulnerable to the enemy. God’s mercy prevailed! The LORD relented from destruction meaning He mitigated the situation or abandoned the mission.  See? God has all power in His hands and His mercy endures forever.  It is not His will that any should perish. 

Whatever you are going through God wants you to know that He cares.  Even if you feel you have done something so wrong or even if you have transgressed against Him, He said if you repent, He’ll cast our sins in the depths of the sea (Micah 7: 19). God is fighting your battle for you! How ironic that it is usually in the heat of the battle when you feel like you do not hear from Him. You feel alone.  That one friend cannot be reached. That once vibrant relationship has gone stale. There is no one available to talk to. That is usually when He is working on your case, working on the person that is going to bless you to prepare their heart, or working on you. I get to the point now where I say, God I don’t care how you bless me whether by friend or by enemy, I am just thankful that You heard my cry and saw my need!! 

God has not forgotten about you and because He woke you up today, you have a purpose. You may not feel Him near you, but it does not mean He has forgotten you. Do you not know the book of Esther is the only book where God’s name is purposely not mentioned? It is so you know that even when you do not trace Him, you can still trust Him.  See, it is about the relationship with God and your acts of faith!!

From all that you have been through, you might have some scars, some emotional ones, some that deeply penetrated and traumatized your very soul to where you could not eat, you lost your appetite, you could not sleep, lost weight unwillingly, just rattled in your spirit because of something that shattered your very heart or traumatized your soul, maybe thoughts of suicide, you have been on the receiving end of something negatively spoken into you and you have continually rehearsed it because it is what you now believe about yourself. Or maybe you have pain from abuse whether it is emotional, spiritual, sexual, or physical and you have scars.  There is a stigma attached to scars . . . that they are unattractive or ugly – that’s what the world believes. 

I remember working in Same Day Surgery and the number one question that parents asked about the elective procedure was, ‘Will it leave a scar?’ Of course, I reassured them about this concern while I kept thinking, ‘Who cares?’ What about ‘What is the risk of anesthesia’? Really? A scar is all you are worried about? But know there is treasure in your scars. A scar is indicative that a wound has been healed and I heard someone say, that it is proof that Jesus has fought and won for you.  So, once you