Hope for grieving hearts

There is this Man Who was a Man of sorrows
of His fame we have heard
For upon His broken heart He bore the sin of all the world
in Love, in redeeming us, that He might bring us to God
But He was brutally killed by powers of sin and rebellion and darkness
And they laid Him in a grave to bring the story to its everlasting end
However… from deep, deep, deep within the heart of the Rock of ages
came an anguish so great and so overpowering:
The beloved Son of God had been taken away!
And in a moment an everlasting resolve rose up
from untold depths in Almighty Power in Indestructible Life
declaring that this will not stand, this will not be the last word
For there is One Who will say the last thing in all of heaven and the world
And no power — in heaven or on earth or in the universe —
will be allowed to withdraw the good and perfect Gift of the Father of Lights
No power or thing will be permitted to separate
the Love of God from His Beloved
Not will be taken away The Son of God
Not will be shut up The Way of Life
Not will be put out The Light
Not will be withdrawn The Love of God
Not will be aborted The Adoption of sons and daughters
And came an unalterable unchangeable Speaking…
Indestructible Life reanimated, the Son of God stood and departed from His grave
death, that ancient foe, was overpowered and conquered
with his wretched companions suffering and sorrow
Father God — Who is greater than all —
gathered His Beloved Son into everlasting arms

into heavenly places

and drew Him into the safety of His bosom
never to see corruption
highly exalting Him with The Name above every name
Where, in His Presence, there will be pleasures forever more
The Firstborn among many brothers,
The Resurrection and the Life,
The First and Last
The Alpha and Omega
The Almighty
The Ark of Refuge for all who have taken His Life as their own
believing into Him and subsumed into His Indestructible Life
who have been changed into glorious new creatures,
who will never die but will be awakened from sleep
and lifted up from the dust of the earth
into unending joy unspeakable and full of glory,
the Life of God’s Anointed One now their anointed life
And so — in hallowed Nearness to God —
we will be with the Lord forever
Never doubt it
O my sorrowful and contemplative brother or sister
who find yourself and your loved ones,
and all you have known here on earth,
passing so quickly out of time and into eternity,
I exhort you to take up the eyes of eternity
and endure your sorrow now with the joy set before you
with the Hope of Glory, which is God’s Anointed One in you:
He Who was, He Who is, and He Who is to come, the Almighty!

Our Precious Lord Jesus,
Savior of the world,
Son of the True and Living God:
We call You to come!
Come quickly Lord Jesus!

Psalm 61:

Hear my cry, O God, and attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart faints;
Oh lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.
For You have been my shelter, a strong tower before the enemy.
I will dwell in Your tabernacle forever;
I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah.
For You, O God, have heard my vows;
You appointed the inheritance of those who fear Your Name.
You will add days to the days of the King;
His years will be as generations to generations.
He shall abide forever before God;
appoint mercy and truth to preserve Him.
So I will sing praise to Your Name forever,
so that I may pay my vows day by day.
(To the chief musician. On stringed instruments. Of David.)

Psalm 71.3:

“Be a Rock of strength for me, to which I may always go”

Psalm 73.23-26:

“Yet I was continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. You shall guide me by Your counsel; and afterward You will take me to glory. Whom have I in Heaven? And I have no desire on earth besides You. My flesh and my heart waste away; God is the Rock of my heart and my Portion forever.”

Revelation 21.1-7:

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea no longer is. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, having been prepared as a bride, having been adorned for her Husband. And I heard a great voice out of Heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God with men! And He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no longer, nor mourning, nor outcry, nor will there be pain any more; for the first things passed away. And the One sitting on the throne said, Behold! I make all things new. And He says to me, Write, because these Words are faithful and true. And He said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending. To the one thirsting, I will freely give of the fountain of the Water of Life. The one overcoming will inherit all things, and I will be God to him, and he will be the son to Me.”

2 Corinthians 5.1-8:

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle is taken down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in Heaven. For also in this we groan, greatly desiring to be clothed with our dwelling place out of Heaven, if indeed in being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For indeed, being in the tabernacle, we groan, having been weighted down, inasmuch as we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed, so that the mortal may be swallowed up by the life. And the One having worked in us for this same thing is God, who also is giving us the earnest of the Spirit. Then always being fully assured, and knowing that being at home in the body we are away from home from The Lord (for we walk by faith, not by sight), even we are fully assured, and think it good rather to go away from home out of the body, and to come home to the Lord.”

Psalm 9

I will give thanks, O Yahweh, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful acts; I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will praise Your name, O Most High. When my enemies turn back, they will fall and perish before You. For You have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging right. You have rebuked the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have put out their name forever and ever. The desolations of the enemy are ended forever; and You have uprooted the cities; their memory has perished with them. But Yahweh is seated forever; He has established His throne for judgment. And He shall judge the world in righteousness; He shall judge the peoples in uprightness. Yahweh also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of distress. And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, Yahweh, have not forsaken those who seek You. Sing praises to Yahweh who dwells in Zion; declare His deeds among the nations. For He remembers them, the seeker of bloodshed; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. Be gracious to me, O Yahweh; see my affliction from ones hating me, be lifting me up from the gates of death, so that I may declare all Your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion; I will rejoice in Your salvation. The nations have sunk into the pit they made; their foot is taken in the net they hid. Yahweh has been known, He has executed judgment; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. A meditation, Selah. The wicked shall be turned to Sheol, all the nations forgetting God. For the needy shall not forever be forgotten; the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, O Yahweh! Do not let man have strength; let the nations be judged before Your face. O Yahweh, put fear in them; let the nations know they are but men. Selah.

Psalm 42 – Thirsting for God

As the deer pants after the channels of water, so my soul pants after You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and see the face of God? My tears have been my food by day and by night, while they say to me all the day, Where is your God? When I remember these things and I pour out my soul on me (for I passed over with the throng; I led them to the house of God with the voice of rejoicing and praise, a host keeping the feast). O my soul, why are you cast down and moan within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet thank Him for the salvation of His presence. O my God, my soul is cast down within me; on account of this I remember You from the land of Jordan, and from the Hermonites, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep through the voice of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and Your billows have passed over me. Yahweh will command His loving-kindness by day, and His song shall be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life. I will say to God my Rock, Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning when the enemy oppresses me? Ones vexing me reproach me with crushing in my bones, when they say to me every day, Where is your God? O my soul, why are you cast down? And why do you moan within me? Hope in God, for I yet thank Him for the salvation of my face and my God.

— Psalm 42 (LITV)

Psalm 15

Psalm 15 – A Psalm by David.

Yahweh, who shall dwell in your sanctuary? Who shall live on your holy hill?

He who walks blamelessly does what is right, And speaks truth in his heart;

He who doesn’t slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his friend, Nor casts slurs against his fellow man;

In whose eyes a vile man is despised, But who honors those who fear Yahweh; He who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change;

He who doesn’t lend out his money for usury, Nor take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be shaken.

“For I, Yahweh, do not change”
—Malachi 3:6

Psalm 57

To the chief musician. Do not destroy. A secret treasure of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.

1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for my soul trusts in You; yea, in the shadow of Your wings I will make my hiding place, until the great destruction passes by.
2 I will cry to God Most High, to God who works for me.
3 He shall send from Heaven and save me; He will shame the one who crushes me. Selah. God shall send His mercy and His truth.
4 My soul is among lions; I lie among those on fire, the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp sword.
5 Be praised above the heavens, O God; let Your glory be over the whole earth.
6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down; they have dug a pit before me; they have fallen into it. Selah.
7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise.
8 Wake up my glory! Wake up, harp and lyre! I will stir the morning dawn with praise.
9 I will praise You among the peoples, O Lord, I will sing to You among the nations.
10 For Your mercy is great to the heavens, and Your truth to the clouds.
11 Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Your glory over the whole earth