A FOUNTAIN OF TEARS
Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 9-10
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
The desolation of one of the ancient streets of Laodicea (in present day Turkey). Today’s reading tells us of Jerusalem becoming “A heap of ruins” (Jeremiah 9:11a).
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Jeremiah 9:1
Oh, that my head were waters,
And my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
For the slain of the daughter of my people!
Jeremiah experienced the broken heart of God and he wept! “Jesus wept” (John 11:35), and He also wept over Jerusalem! Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34). The sorrow of Jeremiah is over, but the sorrow of Jesus, because He is alive and He sees all, continues to this very day. Jesus’ compassion continues in His mercy and willingness to forgive us our sins. If we have caused Him to weep over us currently, turn back to Him now. One of the most often repeated verses in the Bible is, “His mercy endures forever” (the entire 136th Psalm).
According to my son-in-law, Rev. Nizar Shaheen, who reads the Old Testament in the original languages, Jeremiah 10:11 is not in Hebrew but in the universal language of the time, Aramaic. Jeremiah wanted all nations to know that their gods would perish! It was believed that these gods controlled the heavens and the earth, but Jeremiah proclaimed that the Lord God of Israel, the sole Creator of the universe, has sovereign control of it all (read again Jeremiah 10:11-13).
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God of Jeremiah, I recognize that You, and You alone, are the great Creator, and that You, and You alone, took upon Yourself my sin and wrong when You suffered on the Cross. I weep over my sin and over the sin of the world. May I, like Jeremiah, proclaim Your Truth and Your Mercy to the world around me in a way that people can understand. I pray in the Name of the Saviour Who wept over the needs of all people, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I stood in amazement on the street in front of the Ethiopian Orthodox Cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city, as I heard a young priest preaching at the top of his voice that the terrible famine which had devastated the country was the result of the people turning away from God. He did this despite the risk in a country with an atheistic, communist government that had seized power and executed all male members of the family of the late Emperor Haile Selassie. This young man was fearless! He also proclaimed that if the people would turn back to God, He would have mercy on them. Crossroads raised, with matching funds from the Canadian Government, over 7 million dollars for the Ethiopian famine relief. I have no doubt that we were a part of the answer to the weeping prayers of the Ethiopian people. In fact, it was the tears of a former Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Joe Clark, who was seen to weep on the national Canadian news as he visited Ethiopia on his way home from the funeral of Indira Ghandi of India. There was an immediate initiative to act and give to help save lives.
“The Wailing Wall” is pictured below. Here, Jews and some non-Jews pray and sometimes weep and wail because of the destruction of Jerusalem. The word “wailing” is repeated three times in today’s reading. Several times during my life, in times of great crisis, I have experienced “wailing,” but not when anyone could hear me. After the death of loved ones in the Middle East, one can often hear the sound of wailing. The people are not ashamed of expressing their extreme grief. These people say that we who live in the west do not know how to grieve properly in order to express our pain. We do tend to keep it all inside and psychologists tell us that failure to express our deep grief is emotionally harmful.
Yours for genuine sorrow for our sins and for those things that break God’s heart!
David
Our former Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, at the “Wailing Wall” in Jerusalem.
From the end of chapter 10:
“Jeremiah’s Prayer
I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own.
We are not able to plan our own course.
So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle.
Do not correct me in anger, for I would die.
Pour out your wrath on the nations that refuse to acknowledge you—
on the peoples that do not call upon your name.
For they have devoured your people Israel;
they have devoured and consumed them,
making the land a desolate wilderness.”
Father, help people turn back to You. Prepare people’s hearts to hear Your voice, open the doors for Your Word to go to all people, and help all Your people to share Your Word with others. Today and every day until You return. In Jesus’s great name, amen
Amen,Rob.I wonder if history is now repeating itself?God bless
Is history now being repeated?
Amen Rob ! I pray Daily for world wide revival ,there is so much evil in the land .When the nations turn back to God , He will heal our land. I pray for eyes to open and hearts to receive . help me to be a light in the darkness .amen .
Agreeing with you Rob. Blessings all.
Amen Rob!
I’ve written (as in taking dictation) many ‘poems of comfort’ and grief.It is the most significant part of my testament,for I did not want it but I would not trade it for something else.I was only His pen,nothing else.These are 2 of my favourites.Attached notes explain some of them.May God bless
[This is the one where I tried
to type the angle ‘ I ‘ wanted but
the words would stop coming. When
I went with what I felt,the words
would resume flowing.It’s so very
humbling when I realize what that means ! ]
Remove The Pain (4 Grieving Mothers)
I do not know me any more,
Nor where I am going to,
For I search for an open door
And a hand to help me through.
Nothing seems to matter now
For pain is my constant kin,
And if I could figure out how,
I’d reclaim what was taken.
The world thinks time heals,
But has never been down here,
Nor known how Satan steals,
And leaves you trapped in fear.
I speak for those that can not,
For sorrow entraps their hearts;
So know that we all have fought
The vile demon death imparts.
I now speak for I have risen
And broke the hold of sorrow,
But freedom from this prison,
May vanish on the morrow.
We all have walked through hell
And been burned by the flames,
But through prayers I can tell,
These demons have no names.
They’ve stolen our soul’s crowns,
To leave only our grieving frowns,
For sorrow has it’s ups and downs,
And Hades knows not any bounds.
So if someone has lost a child,
Know that one so badly defiled
Is in a world gone horribly wild,
Drowned by sins dark waters riled.
If you have been blessed enough,
Then have endless patience for
Our tortured souls atop the bluff,
That need your love ever more.
We can not possibly ever forget
The loss that our tragedy begot,
Nor will time and love ever offset
A life that seems all for naught.
If you want us ever to smile again,
Then bring our children all back,
For only that can remove the pain
And restore the joy we all lack.
G W (Bill) Marshall /Sept03, 2012
The Holy Spirit is very real.Without
Him lifting me,I could not go into the
grieving sites yet I do/did.He also lets
me feel His love for the bereaved
but that also is more powerful than
mortals can handle so he knows just
how much grief or love I can manage.
It has happened too many times to
have the slightest doubt.If you don’t
believe you are cheating yourself.
God bless
Faith Defeats Sorrow
You speak of me in the past tense
But I am more alive than you,
For I know now what makes sense,
It’s in the grace I never knew.
I’m free of every earthly care,
Not even sorrow can touch me
In this blissful home I share
Where everyone will each be free.
Earthly eyes can ne’er understand
The truth in His words,left behind,
For He came from this very land,
To which earthly eyes remain blind.
Faith defeats sorrow every time,
Without it each day is the same
And Satan repeats his crime
By imparting to you the blame.
G W(Bill) Marshall / 15 March, 2014
Idols
Woe to they who can’t foresee
Their path without the Almighty
When they choose to fall mightily,
Forsaking the gift of eternity,
For if only they could see
What their idols truly be,
Then repentance would be their decree;
But blind are the eyes ne’er free…
Until they have called out to Thee.
GW(Bill) Marshall (2015
Without repentance,true repentance there can be no revival.Let us each of us be that light of repentance for our fellow church members (and the world) to see/become aware of so that they will ‘want to’ emulate that light.The Holy Spirit will cause the ones He chooses to ‘want what we have’.He does the work (through us?).
The Kingdom Is Ours
Oh,Lord,though we have sinned against You
And have done evil in your sight,
You still love us the ages through,
Withholding from us Your just might.
To each of us You have been a Friend,
Your guidance led those who would hear
And shown Your mercy has no end;
As we repent,you draw us near.
Lord,restore to us a right spirit,
For You have washed away our sin
And we know we’re not to fear it
When evil seeks to come within.
Oh,my Savoir,You are always true
And we want to walk in Your light
But there is one who will undo
And e’er seeks to bind us in fright.
Oh Lord,we know Your word is our shield
But relentless thoughts from the snake,
Seek to steal what we must not yield,
For the kingdom is ours to take.
G W(Bill) Marshall/13 Sept, 2015
Amen