There is nothing more beautiful than a broken man weeping before God. Why is the man weeping? He weeps because he is broken and he weeps because he is before God and that throws his brokenness into even sharper relief. He weeps because he has become aware of the greater extent of sin in his life and that he has indeed fallen short of the glory of God. He weeps because of the ungodliness within him, he cries out for his faith is weak and he does not think of God as he should. He weeps because he desires with a burning passion to rejoice in God and this desire is unfulfilled and the joy that should be so abundant is absent. He is broken because he is so self centred and thinks not of others and his prayers and thoughts revolve himself instead of his God. He weeps because the darkness seems strong and he has fallen. He is broken and knows that he is unworthy. And he weeps for he is not as obedient to God as he should be and the idols of his heart bear a heavy price on his soul. His heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Why is the man weeping? He weeps because above all else he remembers the words of his God: “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul…Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23 v 1 – 4 And he says:
“Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the LORD’s wrath, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.” Micah 7 v 8 – 9 He weeps because he knows that although he has fallen he will rise, though he sits in darkness the Lord will be his light. Because ‘if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself’ (2 Timothy 2 v 13) He weeps because he deserves God’s wrath and yet he will not get what his sins deserve. He recalls the words of Psalmist: “For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.” (Psalm 117 v 2) His heart has these words etched upon it: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8 v 1) He weeps because despite his brokenness God will uphold his cause not on the grounds of any merit of his own but purely because of the grace and mercy of God and the salvation and hope that comes in Jesus Christ. For while he was still a sinner Christ died for him. He loves God because God first loved him. And in his weeping he repents and asks for the forgiveness that is found in the death and resurrection of Jesus. And this broken weeping man knows that before the creation of the world he was chosen to be adopted as God’s son through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And again he weeps the more for the words of Hebrews 12 and Romans 8: ““My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Hebrews 12 v 5 – 6 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8 v 28 So he weeps because he knows that even through all that has occurred it is for his spiritual good. He weeps because his God is so great as to turn evil to good and he doesn’t grasp this fact as he should. He weeps because he has complete faith in God’s control over all things but fails terribly to trust in the goodness of the God he has no reason to doubt. But above all he weeps for joy for he knows that better times are to come: “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favour lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” Psalm 30 v 5 And he looks towards that future hope, that glorious inheritance and that day when he will be with God in heaven for all eternity. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8 v 18 For: “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21 v 2 - 4 And he cries: “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” Psalm 84 v 2 So behold the beautiful sight of a broken man weeping before God for does this not show the complete dependency of man on God for everything? Does it not glorify God that this man should realize his brokenness and weep for it? And does it not exalt the name of the Lord that this man weeps for the joy in God he longs to have but knows he lacks? There is only true way to come to God and that is as broken weeping men approaching his throne of grace with freedom and confidence in the work of our Saviour Jesus Christ and his righteousness. “Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD. "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.” Isaiah 66 v 2
1 Comment
Brian
24/2/2014 11:49:35 am
Thank you for this post. I have been so unholy in my life and have sinned against God and my family. I have failed in every way possible at helping my wife heal from the pain I have put her through as a result of my long term affair. I have wasted so much of my wife and my young children's lives by feeding my selfishness rather that leading them and serving them the way a husband and father should.
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