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I. HIS RELATION TO SORROWING SOULS. "He healeth the broken in heart." There are broken hearts and wounded souls in this world. The whole human creation is groaning. God works here to heal and restore. Christianity is the restorative element He applies — the Balm of Gilead — the tree whose fruit is for the healing of the nations.

II. HIS RELATION TO STARRY SYSTEMS. "He telleth the number of the stars."

1. Those who deny God's active relation to both souls and stars. These comprehend those who deny the existence of God altogether, and those who admit His existence, but deny His superintendence in the universe; the latter regard all the phenomena and changes of nature as taking place not by the agency of God, but by the principles or laws which He impressed upon it at first. The universe is to them like a plant,: all the vital forces of action are in itself, and it will go on until they exhaust and die.

2. Those who admit God's active relation to stars, but, deny it to souls. They say that it is derogatory to Infinite Majesty to suppose His taking any notice of broken hearts. He has to do with the great, but not with the little. There are two or three thoughts which make this objection appear very childish.

(1) One is that man's great and small are but notions. When I say that a thing is great, all I mean is that it is great to me. To God there is nothing great nor small(2) Another is that what we consider small are influential parts of the whole. Science proves that the motion of an atom must propagate an influence to remotest orbs; that all created being is but one great chain, of which the corpuscle is a link, which, if touched, will send its vibration to the ultimate points. In the moral system facts show that the solitary thought of an obscure man can shake empires, produce revolutions, and reform society.

(3) Another thought is that — even on the assumption of our conception of magnitudes being correct — we have as much evidence to believe that God is as truly at work in the Small as the great.

(4) Human souls, though in suffering, are greater than the stars in all their splendour.

(5) There is higher evidence to believe that God restores souls than that He takes care of stars. The highest proof is consciousness. I infer, from my understanding, that God governs the heavenly bodies, but I feel that "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." This thought gives to its objection a contemptible insignificance.

3. Those who profess faith in God's active relation to both, but who are destitute of the suitable spiritual feeling. Antecedently, we should infer that, wherever there could be found a thinking moral nature like man's fully believing in this twofold relation of God — His connection with the heavenly bodies, and with all pertaining to the history of itself — there would be developed in that nature, as the necessary consequence of that faith, life, humility, and devotion. It is said that "an undevout astronomer is mad"; but an undevout believer in God's connection with the universe and man is impossible. Wherever, then, we find apathetic, proud, undevout men professing this belief, we find hypocrites.

4. To what class, in relation to this subject, dost thou belong? Thou wouldst probably revolt at the idea of belonging to either of the former two; but the latter, for many reasons, is worse than either: it is to play the hypocrite, and disgrace religion. Get, then, the true faith in the subject — the faith that will produce this true quickening, humbling, devotionalizing effect — and thou shalt catch the true meaning of life.

(Homilist.)

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KJV: He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

WEB: He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.