Divine Sympathy by John McDuff
I Know Their Sorrows, Exodus 3, 7 Man cannot say so. There are many sensitive fibers
in the soul which the best and most tender human sympathy cannot
touch. But the Prince of Sufferers,
He who led the way in the path of sorrow, knows our frame. When crushing bereavement lies
like ice on the heart, when the dearest earthly friend cannot
enter into the peculiarities of our grief, Jesus can. Jesus does. He who once bore
my sins also carried my sorrows. That I, now on the throne, was
once dim with weeping. I can think in all my afflictions. He was afflicted. In all my tears,
Jesus wept. I know their sorrows. He may
seem at times thus to forget and forsake us, leaving us to
utter the plaintive cry, Has God forgotten to be gracious,
when all the while He is bending over us in the most tender love,
He often allows our needs to attain their extremity, that
He may stretch forth His succoring hand and reveal the plenitude
of His grace. The Lord is very pitiful and
of tender mercy, and knowing our sorrows is a guarantee that
none will be sent but only what He sees to be needful. I will
not, says he, make a full end of you, but I will correct you
in measure. All that he sends is precisely
meted out, wisely apportioned. There is nothing accidental,
no unneeded thorn, no superfluous pang. He puts our tears in a
bottle. Each one is counted, drop by
drop, tear by tear. They are sacred things among
the treasures of God. Suffering believer, the iron
may have entered deeply into your soul, yet rejoice. Jesus, a sorrowing, sympathizing
Jesus, knows your aching pangs and burning tears, and He will
come down to deliver you. Exodus 3.8 For we do not have
a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as
we are. Hebrews 4.15