Day 6: I will give you rest
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18).
Our Father in heaven, Job's clumsy friend expressed one of the inescapable realities of our sin-ravaged world, Humans are born to trouble just as sparks fly upward (Job 5:7 - NRSVUE). And among all the troubles and storms of life, none threaten to engulf us so completely as pain, sorrow, loss, and despair.
The psalmist David captures so well the depth of human distress when he prayed, Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me... My eyes fail, looking for my God" (Psalm 69:1-2).
Yet, Father, the testimony of Your Word declares that You are a God of compassion and comfort. Time and again, You choose to so reveal Yourself. You give us language, and images, and promises of Your healing care and tender mercies.
But above all, through the Lord Jesus You show us the heart of a God who loved us enough to become one of us; Emmanuel— God, yet man— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief (Isaiah 53:3 - NLT).
Included in His Messianic mission was the explicit ministry of compassionate care and comfort: The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on Me… He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted… to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve… to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:1, 2, 3, Luke 4:21).
Today we bring to Your throne of grace those who are crushed by loss, grief, despair— those who say like the Sons of Korah, "My tears have been my food day and night..." (Psalm 42:3). We pray on their behalf, the prayer of David, Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me (Psalm 69:15).
We remember the words that Jesus taught, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:4 - ESV). We confess that we do not feel blessed in the hour of mourning.
But help us to believe the unfailing word of the One who knows our broken hearts and our crushed spirits, for surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows... (Isaiah 53:4 - ESV). In His very present, and very human emotions we see the deepest regard for our pain:
— Agonizing over the coming destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37). — Mourning the loss of his dear friend Lazarus, (John 11:33, 35), — Securing the well-being of His disciples who were shortly to experience the traumatizing events of His crucifixion (John 14:1).
And we see the same deep love and kindness in His invitation, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Lord, touch today the weary, the burdened, the brokenhearted, the overwhelmed.
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