I insist that the effective preaching of Jesus Christ, rightly understood, will produce Christian experience in Christian believers. Moreover, if preaching does not produce spiritual experience and maturing in the believer, that preaching is not being faithful to the Christ revealed in the Scriptures. Let me say it again another way: the Christ of the Bible is not rightly known until there is an experience of Him within the believer, for our Savior and Lord offers Himself to human experience. When Jesus says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden," it is an invitation to a spiritual experience. He is saying, "Will you consent to come" Have you added determination to your consent" Then come; come now!" Yes, our Lord gives Himself to us in experience. David says in Psalms 34: "0 taste and see that the Lord is good." I think David said exactly what he meant. Surely the Holy Spirit was saying through David: "You have taste buds in your soul for tasting, for experiencing spiritual things. Taste and experience that God is good!"

A.W. Tozer's materials are a mainstay in Evangelical churches in our day and he is one of the most quoted authors. He was a prophet in his day and his writings are even more influential in our day. One of his books: The Pursuit of God, has had over 1 million copies sold world-wide.

Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer

FAITH AND EXPERIENCE

The&nbsp;Lord&nbsp;is close&nbsp;to the brokenhearted &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and saves those who are crushed in spirit. - Psalm 34:18 NIV
Here again, the parallelism tells us something.
He is nigh to save. His presence is salvation. Their misery is not nearer to them than their deliverer. To their broken heart, the whole universe seems broken; to their desolate spirit, all creation seems desolate. Crushed beneath a sense of unworthiness, forlornness, helplessness, they dare not lift up their eyes to heaven, and they know that it is useless to lift them to anything less than heaven. Irremediable sorrow seems their portion.
But the Lord hasteneth to the place where they sit solitary. He does not announce his coming by angelic precursors; he does not descend on a bright cloud; no visible glory, no audible sound attests his presence. But the eye of the broken-hearted sinner falls upon the eighteenth verse of the thirty-fourth Psalm, and beholds there the intimation of God's presence. The earthquake of the heart has opened a way for faith; and faith has opened a way for God.
Formerly this word would have seemed like an engaging falsehood, a poetical fiction; nothing less than a hand of flame tracing the announcement in letters of fire upon the wall would have induced the recognition of such a truth. But faith lets God be true; and places him also among those whose words are to be believed. And if the Lord is nigh, then is all good nigh.
When the Lord was with the first disciples, lacked they any thing? All our lost treasures are found again in him. All our bankrupt powers are found perfected in him. In his presence is fulness of joy.

A daily devotional written by a Baptist Missionary to India, Reverend George Bowen (1816-1888) over 150 years ago.

Bowen's Daily Meditations

The Lord Is Close to The Brokenhearted

Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men! You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. If you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear. § The Lord is near to all who call upon Him … in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. “Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord … and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord. § On this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word. § The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 His mercy is on those who fear Him. 

18 <poetry>The <smallCap>Lord</smallCap> is close to the brokenhearted <indent>and saves those who are crushed in spirit.</indent></poetry>

The <smallCap>Lord</smallCap> is close<cr>1</cr> to the brokenhearted<cr>2</cr> <indent>and saves those who are crushed in spirit.</indent><pb/>

Psalm 34:18

 18 The Lord is close   to the brokenhearted   and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

<poetry>The <smallCap>Lord</smallCap> is close to the brokenhearted <indent>and saves those who are crushed in spirit.</indent></poetry>

 The Lord is close   to the brokenhearted   and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 

Bible Verse of the Day

March 6, 2026

Psalm 34:18 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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