Tag Archives: Sorrow

What God Gave Up for Lent – Day 41

41. Check Your Hearing

Child listeningJesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:37-38)

Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.

The question that must be asked: Do you hear His voice? If you do, then you are of the Truth. If not, then you are not of the Truth. And with Christ using the word everyone, this is a sweeping statement and stands as an insurmountable wall, which separates those who hear from those who do not; those who are of the truth from those who are of the lie.

We’ve seen the Greek word for everyone before; and it is most often translated as all. So one could just as easily say: All who are of the truth; and we find that the inclusive nature of Christ’s statement continues to stand.

Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice, is a proclamation made by the Living Christ, the Son of God, that we must grapple with. He does not leave us any wiggle room. There’s no way you can say this declaration does not apply to you. You either hear, or you don’t hear.

Hear in Greek is not just the physical ability to audibly hear; it also has within its meanings understanding, perceiving, to consider, and to learn. But we cannot allow this to be merely a simple hearing test or an intellectual exercise. The proof of the hearing is in the doing:

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. ( Matthew 7:21)

But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance. (Luke 8:15)

But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:21)

So what is it we hear? His voice. Do you understand, do you realize what an awesome blessing and privilege you’ve been given to hear His voice?

There is probably not a more beautiful sound than the voice of our Savior. And its beauty is two-fold: the actual sound of His voice, and what He is saying.

Think of the most beautiful song that you know. Is it beautiful because of the music? The one singing it? Or the words? Such is the voice of our Lord. The Person, the performance and the point, all come together to fill our need and satisfy our soul.

But when we hear Him now, in this place, before Pontius Pilate, I should think the sorrow in the song is overwhelming. Our hearts will be broken, to the point where it is almost too great to hear or bear. And yet in the midst of His sorrow, His suffering, His sacrifice, His separation, His torment, His torture, and being crushed by the sins of the world, He speaks to you.

There is a warning in Hebrews which appears over and over: Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. (Hebrews 3:7, 15; 4:7) So the question is: when you heard His voice, did you also hear with your heart? Or did you harden your heart against it.

And finally, note the incredible work that has been accomplished in your life: Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. (John 5:25) Hearing and responding to the Truth has brought you from death to life. What else did Jesus say about the Truth? It will set you free!

What God Gave Up for Lent – Day 34

34. With Jesus

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Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”  (Matthew 26:36-38)

Beside asking them to remain, He also asked them to keep watch. The root word for keep watch is very familiar: For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead,  and Christ will shine on you.” ( Ephesians 5:14) Jesus asked them to stay awake, but they could not.

The root word for watch is very powerful. It can be used with raising the dead; stir up and rise to arms; get up, come, and rouse. Apparently watching wasn’t just watching. Perhaps we have a contemporary analogy.

Think of the word worship. It’s both a verb and noun. It is both action and attitude. But oftentimes we fall too easily into the spectator mode. We watch the worship, rather than being engaged in it. Besides, who is it we are watching? Shouldn’t we be fixing our eyes on The Most High? And on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith? True worship should stir us; it should cause us to rise up. Who knows, we might even be risen from the so-many dead who occupy the pews on a Sunday morning. Figure out what pleases Christ, then do it.

In this verse, we again witness the amazing condescending love of Jesus Christ: Keep watch with Me. What an awesome privilege we have to keep watch with the Son of God. Like Peter, James, John; will you stay and watch with Him?

I suppose one could ask: Watch what? The disciples probably didn’t even have a clue. Do we just watch Him? Do we watch for the betrayer?

Well, maybe they had a clue, and so do we. We watch Jesus; and at this point we note that He was grieved and distressed.

Grieved is most often translated as some form of sorrow. There are many reasons for His sorrow: He was leaving His friends, His disciples. He is grieved because of what will happen to His disciples. He is experiencing first hand what it means to be ensnared by sin. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. (Hebrews 5:8) I’m sure the sorrow also had to do with the complete disregard and ungratefulness mankind for the great salvation He was providing for us. Yet as we learned in Isaiah 53, He still became our sacrifice.

Distressed is also translated as heavy. Surely the sins of the world were beginning to weigh Him down. The above passage from Hebrews applies here as well.

These were probably new emotions the disciples were witnessing in Jesus. In fact Christ being grieved during the Last Supper, just a few hours before, was only the second occurrence of grief. There it had to do with being betrayed.

But here in the Garden, we find Jesus providing insight into His condition to His followers Peter, James, and John. How grieved was He? He was deeply grieved, to the point of death. This may have been new to His followers, but it was foretold: A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. I wonder if this occurred to His disciples? Did they realize it was their sins which brought about His grief? Only once was the Savior grieved outside of the passion. It was earlier in His ministry.

He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. (Mark 3:1-6)

It’s worth noting that here is the origin of the Jews trying to kill Him. It had to do with the supposed breaking of the Sabbath. And the hardness of the Pharisee’s hearts, which caused them not to rejoice in the healing of someone in their midst, eventually culminated in the crucifixion. Let this be a warning to us all. Left unchecked, the hardening of one’s heart will lead to devastation and great loss.

Take heed of the peril of a hard heart: These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them. But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.” (John 12:36-40)

Only three times then, is it recorded of Christ being grieved: the first regarding the hardness of hearts; the second during the last supper; the final in the Garden of Gethsemane. Grief in His last days was brought on by betrayal and His impending death, as the sin of the world gathered around Him. Having a hard heart is serious; and we should consider well, its menace. Are you able to grieve because of what you caused the Christ, the Son of God to suffer? Or is your heart hard, unable and unwilling to see what Jesus Christ has done for you, what He went through for you?

What God Gave Up for Lent – Day 21

21. Carried Our Sorrows

Good Shepherd2

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Sorrows are not sins. And these were not carried away. These are the burdens that Christ is willing to carry for us even now. He has paid for our sins, they are gone and buried. Christ has taken them away. But the pain in this life, the grief we endure, the sorrows of living in a fallen world, and sharing in His sufferings, these are the things—and more—He willingly carries.

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. (Psalm 55:22)

Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God. “Speak kindly to Jerusalem; and call out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins. ( Isaiah 40:1-2)

For thus says the LORD, “Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.” Then you will see this, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like the new grass; and the hand of the LORD will be made known to His servants. ( Isaiah 66:12-14)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. ( 2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

So what happens when we cast off our burdens to the LORD? He gives us His comfort. And wouldn’t you rather carry His comfort. Now I know we will always have trials and troubles in this life; but we do not endure them alone; His comfort is right there with us. But we are not just recipients of this comforting and burden bearing work Christ has done for us and in us. Paul reveals we are also to comfort others the way we are comforted. Those who have received must give.

Implied within the Hebrew carried, is carrying a heavy load, to the point of having to drag oneself along. Sorrows can be overwhelming, and Jesus is willing to carry them for you.

This is the second of the substitutions: He carried (drug) our heavy load of sorrows.

What God Gave Up for Lent – Day 14

14. Sorrows   

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A man of sorrows… (Isaiah 53:3b)

What does it mean to be a man of sorrows? Would it be fair to say that the life of this man was defined by the sorrows he experienced; that the seminal characteristic of his life was sorrow? When people looked at Him, was sorrow all they could see? If sorrow not only describes but defines Christ, wasn’t there more to His life than sorrow?

Perhaps we can see the determination that got Him through this sorrow:

And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” (Mark 14:36)

Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, “Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.” (John 12:27)

Was this world just something to endure? Was it something to just push through? Christ certainly had a grasp of the big picture, but He also had joy, and it was found in obedience. Something we too can experience.

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. ( John 15:9-11)

“I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.” (John 17:11-13)

How do you find joy in the midst of sorrow? Consider the opening statement of James in his New Testament letter: Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)

Joy in the midst of sorrow may require the long view (see Hebrew 12:2 above). We need to see that the process, and the result of that process is being perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. That sounds like something to be joyous about.

What God Gave Up for Lent – Day 4

4. What It Cost God

Burning Garbage2

My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; and You lay me in the dust of death. (Psalm 22:15)

This last phrase is not simply laying someone down in the dust; it literally has to do being laid in a fire. The word dust can mean ashes, powder, debris and rubbish. But this is a death that is fiery and debasing, perhaps like being laid out in a burning garbage dump.

There’s a place just south of Jerusalem called the Valley of Hinnom, where Old Testament Israel sacrificed their children in fires to Molech and Baal. It eventually became a collection place for all the city’s refuse, and its fires were always kept burning. This became the New Testament picture for hell.

Note Who it was that has placed Christ in this situation: The LORD Himself—You lay me in the dust of death. How great the Father’s sorrow must have been to place the sins of the world upon His Son, then put Him to death, so that He would be the sacrifice offered for those same sins. Yet as great as the Father’s sorrow, how much greater is His love for us. And it was this same love that Christ Himself exhibited as He willingly went to the cross.

This love should stop us in our tracks. Just because The LORD is the Sovereign Creator, Ruler, and Sustainer of All, we must never think that His love for us cost Him nothing. It’s not like the federal government, where you simply print more to pay your debts. Our salvation cost God dearly, personally and intimately.

One more thought. The depravity of man can reach such depths. Consider what God said to Jeremiah, concerning this Valley of Hinnom: “They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind.” (Jeremiah 7:32)

Although there are some things that do not come into the mind (or heart) of God, embrace the wonder knowing you were on His heart and mind even before He created the foundations of the world.

Save

SInging with the King (77) – It’s Only a Song

It’s Only a Song…

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God! (Psalm 42:5)

Singing AloneThis verse appears three times, twice in this one and once is Psalm 43. When you read these Psalms together, you realize that this phrase (v. 5, 11, and v. 5 in the second psalm) fills the function of a refrain or chorus. Now the purpose of a chorus (except for those who aren’t very good with lyrics and need to say things over and over) is to repeat lines both thematically and musically to ensure it sticks, and that we don’t miss whatever it is being said (sung). So what precedes this chorus?

Verse 1 . (musically speaking) Apparently the Psalmist is no longer near the Temple, is missing the  worship and the fellowship, and is taunted by his enemies about the very existence of his God.

We should remember the passage from Hebrews:  And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:25)

If for some reason the writer found himself alone, then worship and encouragement would have been is short supply.

Verse 2. More isolation; more taunting and oppression.

But in the midst of this second verse, the Psalmist sings: But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. (42:8) Now I’ve got to ask: if God is pouring out His unfailing love each day, and he’s singing and praying every night—what’s wrong with his heart?

Verse 3. The oppression continues, as well as false claims against him.

Here he prays for God’s deliverance and guidance.  Then the chorus appears for the last time.

So the question still stands: what’s wrong with his heart? It is not for me to question, for clearly there is something troubling this saint. Within these two psalms, we’ve seen plenty of reasons for sorrow. But we’ve also seen God’s provision. So is sorrow winning over God’s grace?

I suppose it can, if we leave ourselves to it, and surrender to the sadness. Then depression an discouragement can set in. But all throughout this psalm, this songwriter examines his surroundings, his emotions, and his relations. And his decision? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God! I will, he says. And he chooses action over inaction. He chooses worship over weeping.

One more thing.  The last phrase is: my Savior and my God. And the Hebrew word for Savior is Yeshua, which is Jesus. So if you’re experiencing this sorrow, remember: Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30)

Choose the Savior over sorrow.