Father's Heart Bible™ (FHB)

Psalm 34:18

Our Father is near to the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:18 · Father's Heart Bible™

What Psalm 34:18 means

Psalm 34:18 is a short line of deep comfort: “Our Father is near to the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.” David wrote this psalm after escaping a king by pretending to be mad, so it comes from someone who had been afraid and humiliated.

The verses around it are honest. “The righteous face many afflictions,” the next verse says. The psalm does not promise a life without heartbreak. It promises something about where our Father is when the heart is broken: not far off waiting for us to recover, but near.

“Crushed in spirit” describes people who have no strength left to reach for him. The verse says he saves them anyway. That is the heart of a Father: he comes closest to the child who is hurting most. Earlier the psalm invites everyone to find this out personally: taste and see.

Written by Spirit Media Publishing · Edited by Kevin White · Published October 21, 2026

Psalm 34:18 in context

¹⁵ The eyes of our Father are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry.

¹⁶ The face of our Father is against those who do evil, to erase their memory from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and our Father hears; he delivers them from all their troubles.

¹⁸ Our Father is near to the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ The righteous face many afflictions, but our Father delivers each one from them all.

Read all of Psalm 34 →

Questions about Psalm 34:18

What does Psalm 34:18 say?

In the Father's Heart Bible™, Psalm 34:18 reads: “Our Father is near to the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.”

What does Psalm 34:18 mean?

Psalm 34:18 means that our Father draws near to people whose hearts are broken and rescues those who are crushed in spirit. The psalm admits that the righteous face many afflictions; its promise is his nearness and deliverance in them.

Who wrote Psalm 34?

David wrote Psalm 34, according to its heading “when he feigned madness before Abimelech.” It is a psalm of thanks from someone who had been in real danger.