Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 34:18

"Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit." — Psalms 34:18 (ASV)

The Lord is near to those who are of a broken heart — Margin, as in Hebrew: “to the broken of heart.” The phrase, “the Lord is near,” means that he is ready to hear and to help. The language is, of course, figurative. As an Omnipresent Being, God is equally near to all people at all times; but the language is adapted to our understanding, as we feel that one who is near us can help us, or that one who is distant from us cannot give us aid. Compare the notes at Psalms 22:11.

The phrase, “those who are of a broken heart,” occurs often in the Bible. It refers to a condition when a burden “seems” to be on the heart, and when the heart “seems” to be crushed by sin or sorrow; and it is designed to describe a consciousness of deep guilt, or the heaviest kind of affliction and trouble.

Compare Psalms 51:17; Isaiah 57:15; Isaiah 61:1; Isaiah 66:2.

And saves those who are of a contrite spirit — Margin, as in Hebrew: “contrite of spirit.” The phrase here means the spirit as “crushed” or “broken down;” that is, as in the other phrase, a spirit that is oppressed by sin or trouble. The world abounds with instances of those who can fully understand this language.