15 Sep Biblical Myth Busted

Recently, I was briefly taken in by a biblical myth that apparently has been around for a few centuries. One of my daily devotionals focused on Psalm 51:8: Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of penitence for his indiscretion with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. The author of the devotional implied an interpretation of the portion about crushed bones:

“In the ancient Middle East…if a lamb continually strayed, a shepherd would break one of its legs. Until it healed, the lamb depended on the shepherd to carry it around and bring it to grass. Once it healed, the lamb would usually stay nearer the shepherd than any other sheep. Sometimes God allows accidents and misfortune to cause you to focus on Him and His doings.”

While it is true that God uses hardship to bring us closer to Him, my research indicates that the author fell for a myth. (Full disclosure, I shared it with two people before checking.) It appears this myth first appeared in America in the 18^th century. No, ancient Middle-East shepherds did not break the bones of their sheep, and the Good Shepherd doesn’t break our bones. He does, however, allow us to stray (free will) and sometimes we get the spiritual equivalent of broken bones all on our own. When we do, God is there to pick us up and care for us as our fractured spirit heals.

God allows us to endure difficult situations. He does not cause them. We often cause them with the choices we make. Whether we face trials by our own hand or due to circumstances beyond our control, we need to remember that as believers in Jesus Christ, there is always purpose in our pain:

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 (NIV)

Then there’s Apostle Paul’s take on trials:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)

What Paul describes is a process:

1. Suffering
2. Perseverance
3. Character
4. Hope

Paul tells us that all this is since we have been justified through faith, that we have peace with God through Jesus. God has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us, and that He goes with us and before us.

No, God doesn’t break our spiritual bones or cause us to suffer. But he allows us to suffer, which produces perseverance, character, and ultimately hope in Him. As we go through the process, he will mend our broken spiritual bones. And your hope in that will never be dashed!

Pastor Jerry Bader