Jesus, Man of Sorrows

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A Book Soaked in Tears

Lamentations is a book soaked in tears. “She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks” (1:2).

“My eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me” (1:16). “My eyes are spent with weeping… because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city” (2:11).

The references to tears continue throughout the book. Tears are the shuddering of the body at the pain of the soul. They are a gift from God, because they act as a release valve for your pain. God has given you a Savior who knows what it is to weep, so let your tears flow and don’t hold them back.

Lamentations puts grief into words, and it models how grieving people pour over every detail of their loss. Help comes from facing the dark corners of your grief, and bringing it out into the light of God’s healing presence

in the company of others who love you.

Hope for Today

In a book about grief, you might expect to find a great deal about the hope of heaven. But there is very little about heaven in Lamentations. Why?

The fulfillment of God’s ultimate purpose is very wonderful, but heaven may seem a long way from the painful reality faced by a grieving person.

When you grieve, your first question is: “How am I going to get through today?” Heaven is not the answer to that question. God’s mercy is.

“This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him’” (Lam. 3:21-24).

God’s mercy will be sufficient to get you through today. And when you wake up tomorrow, His love and mercy will be waiting for you.

Christ will give you the strength you need to match the load you carry at any given time.

Jesus Is the Man of Sorrows

The Son of God became the man of sorrows, and He is acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3). Because Jesus has suffered, He is able to help us when we suffer.

A suffering world needs a suffering Savior, but we also need a Savior who has triumphed over suffering. Suffering was not the end for Jesus. He came through it and triumphed over it in His resurrection. And this Savior offers Himself to you. “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psa. 30:5), and one day God will wipe away all tears from your eyes.

When you pass through the valley of sorrow and loss, you are in a place where Christ can be found. The Savior knows what it is to walk sorrow’s path, and He is well acquainted with grief.

Any path on which you come closer to Jesus will be blessed, even if it is a path you would never have chosen to walk.

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