God's Comfort for Our Sorrows
"Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.” (Matt. 2:17-18)
Ever since mankind fell into sin, there has been a separation of broken fellowship with God and the potential for all kinds of sorrow can find its way into our lives. Sometimes, we carry sorrows that we do not even know we are carrying. O how we need a Savior who can comfort us in the hidden places of our hearts!
Sorrow is a feeling of great sadness or suffering caused by loss, disappointment, or misfortune, or an instance of deep regret. We all have sorrow in this life but some of us carry it in such a way where it begins to have too much control over us. It is what we do with our sorrow and how we learn to release it to God that will determine how we let God work in each of our lives.
In the aftermath of the first Christmas, where God humbly entered our world and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, there was a terrible onslaught of evil that arose in Bethlehem and in all of its districts when Herod issued a decree to kill all male children from two years old and under. As the Christ child was being praised and adored, a great mourning and lamentation arose from the mothers of that region whose children were killed.
Today, this same spirit of Herod is alive and well in our world as there is an attack on children being killed in and out of the womb and there are those who are deceived into thinking that there way is the right way if it brings them pleasure. Paul described the condition of mankind in the last days as those who would be "lovers of themselves" and "lovers of pleasure rather than being lovers of God", having a form of godliness but deny the power thereof" (2 Tim. 3:2-5).
O how we need to be so ever careful about the condition of our hearts before God! Since there is so much opposition against God and His anointed, we can begin to let the sorrows of this life take hold on our hearts and get to the place where we refuse to be comforted.
In Psalm 77, Asaph speaks openly and honestly of this lingering sorrow when he says,
"In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted" (Psalm 77:2). His spirit went from being "overwhelmed" to being in "diligent search" as he sought answers to the following questions:
After deeply contemplating these questions, the psalmist sits with this for awhile and then allows God to minister to his heart by inserting the word "Selah" in that moment of despair, which means to pause and mediate and essentially listen to the tune that God brings to our hearts. He gets back to remembering the works of the Lord and His ways and wonders.
In another Psalm, we read where the psalmist finds his comfort in the LORD when he says,
"Unless the LORD had been my help, My soul would soon have settled in silence.
If I say, “My foot slips,” Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up.
In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul." (Psalm 94:17-19)
Only God's comforts can truly delight our souls. Only God can lift up the heavy burden of sorrow from our weary and sin torn souls. For He gives "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isa. 61:3)
This is shown beautifully in the hymn written in the late 1800s that says:
"What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Let us bring all of our sorrows and worries to the true King of Israel and the Savior of our souls. He knows our every need and because He bore our sorrows and carried our guilt away, we can cast all of our care upon Him, knowing that He cares for us" (1 Peter 5:7).
Jesus is the Man of Sorrows who can sympathize with us in our every weakness. Therefore, the more that we bring others and ourselves into His presence and into His loving care, we will see that Christ is able to be the lifter of our heads and the One who carries our expired sorrows away so that we can have His eternal joy fulfilled in us.
Ever since mankind fell into sin, there has been a separation of broken fellowship with God and the potential for all kinds of sorrow can find its way into our lives. Sometimes, we carry sorrows that we do not even know we are carrying. O how we need a Savior who can comfort us in the hidden places of our hearts!
Sorrow is a feeling of great sadness or suffering caused by loss, disappointment, or misfortune, or an instance of deep regret. We all have sorrow in this life but some of us carry it in such a way where it begins to have too much control over us. It is what we do with our sorrow and how we learn to release it to God that will determine how we let God work in each of our lives.
In the aftermath of the first Christmas, where God humbly entered our world and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, there was a terrible onslaught of evil that arose in Bethlehem and in all of its districts when Herod issued a decree to kill all male children from two years old and under. As the Christ child was being praised and adored, a great mourning and lamentation arose from the mothers of that region whose children were killed.
Today, this same spirit of Herod is alive and well in our world as there is an attack on children being killed in and out of the womb and there are those who are deceived into thinking that there way is the right way if it brings them pleasure. Paul described the condition of mankind in the last days as those who would be "lovers of themselves" and "lovers of pleasure rather than being lovers of God", having a form of godliness but deny the power thereof" (2 Tim. 3:2-5).
O how we need to be so ever careful about the condition of our hearts before God! Since there is so much opposition against God and His anointed, we can begin to let the sorrows of this life take hold on our hearts and get to the place where we refuse to be comforted.
In Psalm 77, Asaph speaks openly and honestly of this lingering sorrow when he says,
"In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted" (Psalm 77:2). His spirit went from being "overwhelmed" to being in "diligent search" as he sought answers to the following questions:
- Will the Lord cast off forever?
- Will He be favorable no more?
- Has His mercy ceased forever?
- Has His promise failed forevermore?
- Has God forgotten to be gracious?
- Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?
After deeply contemplating these questions, the psalmist sits with this for awhile and then allows God to minister to his heart by inserting the word "Selah" in that moment of despair, which means to pause and mediate and essentially listen to the tune that God brings to our hearts. He gets back to remembering the works of the Lord and His ways and wonders.
In another Psalm, we read where the psalmist finds his comfort in the LORD when he says,
"Unless the LORD had been my help, My soul would soon have settled in silence.
If I say, “My foot slips,” Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up.
In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul." (Psalm 94:17-19)
Only God's comforts can truly delight our souls. Only God can lift up the heavy burden of sorrow from our weary and sin torn souls. For He gives "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isa. 61:3)
This is shown beautifully in the hymn written in the late 1800s that says:
"What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Let us bring all of our sorrows and worries to the true King of Israel and the Savior of our souls. He knows our every need and because He bore our sorrows and carried our guilt away, we can cast all of our care upon Him, knowing that He cares for us" (1 Peter 5:7).
Jesus is the Man of Sorrows who can sympathize with us in our every weakness. Therefore, the more that we bring others and ourselves into His presence and into His loving care, we will see that Christ is able to be the lifter of our heads and the One who carries our expired sorrows away so that we can have His eternal joy fulfilled in us.
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