Voice of Ukraine

From Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 597):

He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3

These past couple of weeks have been emotionally exhausting. All the turmoil in the world and worrisome forecasts do not help the situation.

I’ve had several people ask me how I am coping with all of it. Honestly, I don’t know if I have an answer to this question. Over the past year and a half (and the previous years of the war), I’ve grown numb to many horrible things – perhaps that’s my defense mechanism. But my heart is still raw, so the pain around me does get into my heart. On those days, I use two solutions.
The first one is to focus on something practical and important at hand. Last year was weeding or tilling the garden soil or planting. And this year, I have my students, and they are a constant reminder of why we must keep fighting this war.
The second one is to fix my eyes on the One who is bigger than any pain or any evil. When you grasp His greatness and might, you get a better perspective on other things.

Psalm 147 was my tonight’s medicine for the heart. Many of these verses feel distant today, but I pray for their fulfillment in Ukraine in the near future.

Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
The Lord lifts up the humble;
he casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre!
He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares rain for the earth;
he makes grass grow on the hills.
He gives to the beasts their food,
and to the young ravens that cry.
His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
He makes peace in your borders;
he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes.
He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
who can stand before his cold?
He sends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and rules to Israel.
He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his rules.
Praise the Lord!