When Hurt Reaches The Heart
BRD REFLECTION 2026
Genesis 34 and Psalm 99 (NIV)
(Lim Tze Peng from Worship & Music Ministry)
READ:
As I read Genesis 34 and Psalm 99, these verses spoke particularly to me:
Genesis 34:31
“But they replied, ‘Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?’”
Psalm 99:4
“The King is mighty, he loves justice—
you have established equity;
in Jacob you have done
what is just and right.”
Psalm 99:8
“Lord our God,
you answered them;
you were to Israel a forgiving God,
though you punished their misdeeds.”
OBSERVE:
In Genesis 34, one thing that stayed with me was that Dinah’s brothers were angry because of genuine wrong. Yet what followed was further wrongdoing through deceit and violence.
Psalm 99:4 brings me back to God. He loves justice and does what is just and right. Yet verse 8 also shows that He is a forgiving God, even while He deals with wrongdoing.
God does not simply overlook what is wrong. He is just, and His judgment, unlike mine, is never clouded by hurt or anger.
APPLY:
There are times when I have been disappointed or hurt by people I respected, including people whose faith I looked up to.
The difficult part is not only what happened, but also what that hurt does to me afterwards.
I still wrestle with this: how do I recognise and address something that is wrong without becoming judgemental towards the person? I may be right that something is wrong, but that does not mean my response is always right.
Psalm 99 reminds me that God sees more than I do. I can bring the situation to Him, but I also need to let Him search my own heart.
DO:
I have a personal motto: allow myself to be angry for one second.
It does not mean the anger disappears after one second. It is simply my reminder not to let anger decide what I do next.
When I am hurt or angry, I want to bring it to God earlier, especially when I catch myself replaying the incident again and again in my mind. I want to pause and let His Word speak to me first.
Even when the hurt takes time to go away, I pray that God will keep my heart from becoming hard or cynical.
PRAY:
Holy God, You see what I cannot see. When I am hurt, keep my heart tender. When I am angry, keep bitterness and self-righteousness from taking root. Help me to trust You with what has happened, and show me how to respond in a way that pleases You. Amen.
