Divine Sympathy I know their
sorrows. Man cannot say so. There are many sensitive fibers
in the soul 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 supporting
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 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 he sends
is precisely meted out, wisely apportioned. There is nothing
accidental or fortuitous, 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! Great is your honor! You are
partaker with Christ in His sufferings. Jesus, a sorrowing, sympathizing
Jesus, knows your aching pangs and burning tears, and He will
come down to deliver you.