PSALM 69:20 – I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.

THEME OF THE DAY. BEING LIKE JESUS. Today’s scripture verse has been one of the most penetrating, instructive, and challenging verses ever to be marked up in my Bible. With each of those words, let’s explore why it is so. I think we will find it is also so for each of us who follows the Lord Jesus.

First, it is penetrating because it reveals how much our heart is like the heart of the Lord Jesus. When I read this verse, I must ask myself (and you may ask yourself), “Am I seeing people like Jesus does? He was observant of all the hurting people around Him – “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). In the course of living out our lives, people really matter. A lot. It is why Jesus came to save and rescue people. It is why we are still here. In today’s scripture, David is feeling quite unloved, uncared for, and unsought. This should never be rightly placed upon any church or Christian.

Next, the verse is instructive. It shows us we have glorious Gospel work to do. Seeing the hurting heart of David actually becomes a source of motivation to be reaching into our spheres of influence with the Person and message of the Lord Jesus. What could be more meaningful and satisfying in life than to be an instrument of God’s grace to reach a hurting sinner, uplift a hurting saint, and be just like Jesus? As it was said by Jesus of Himself, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19), may we follow His example and instruction to hurting people needing Him.

Thirdly, the verse is challenging; extremely. If we are never to have hurting people rightly say of us, “No one showed me pity. No one comforted me”, then a couple of challenging things must happen in us. First, we need to be close to the Lord Jesus. And it is a closeness that draws us to experience His love so that we can be controlled by His love. The Apostle Paul wrote, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). He is telling us that where the love of Christ controls a person, the ability to live for others and not ourselves takes hold in our lives. So, we must face and overcome the busyness of life to ensure we get close to Jesus. Without this closeness, we won’t be able to see beyond our own interests to serve the hurting people all around us. And that leads to the second challenge to overcome; death to self. Our Lord told us, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). If we do not learn to “put self on a shelf” and start engaging the hurting world around in word and deed, we simply cannot be like Jesus.

So, what does the world need? Christ’s people being Christ’s people; seeing as He sees, and then ministering to all the people around us as He did. Then the world will know God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

PRAYER: “Father, help me to be observant to the hurting people around me, then enter into their hurt.”

QUOTE: “To be like Jesus, we need not only the heart of Jesus, but His eyes to see people in their need of Him.”