Comfort for the Comfortless
Today’s Verse:
For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed. ~Lamentations 1:16
Comfort is what we all need when tragedy or unexpected circumstances come into our life. Spurgeon is quoted as saying, “Troubled one, you will enjoy calm yet.” That was his way of saying that comfort is on the way. Another quote of his is, “The night shall not hang its darkness for ever over our souls.” Jeremiah uses the word comfort six times in the first two chapters of Lamentations. In each case, he said that there is none to comfort or no comforter. Can you imagine being in such a predicament that there is no comforter? Let us see how there is comfort for the comfortless.
We see the loss.
Jeremiah wrote Lamentations during the outset of the Babylonian conquering of Jerusalem and the captivity of many of her people. The ones weeping were the ones left behind. He said that there was none to comfort. He said that she had no comforter. It’s one thing to be sorrowful when trying circumstances come our way, but it is another thing to have sorrow and no one is there to comfort you. There was no one to comfort Jerusalem because of her sin. He said, “She remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully.” There was no one to comfort her because she had been abandoned. There was no one to comfort her because her children had been taken into captivity. When there is no comforter, the enemy prevails.
We see the languishing.
Jeremiah describes her tears in very expressive terms. “She weepeth sore in the night.” “Mine eye runneth down with water.” “Let tears run down like a river day and night.” Jeremiah and Jerusalem were languishing. They were eaten up with much sorrow, remorse, guilt, and grief. One of the consequences of sin is the languishing of our soul. It hits us hard that we did not repent sooner. We have sleepless nights and no desire for the normal things of life. We feel like we are wasting away in our grief and misery. Without a Comforter, we are blindsided by thoughts that are negative. We allow ourselves to be stuck in a mode of decline, discouragement, and non-productivity. We languish and withdraw.
We see the Lord.
Despite the loss and languishing, there is comfort for the comfortless. “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit is God living in us. He is the One Who comes alongside of us. The Greek word for comforter is also translated “advocate” in 1 John 2:1. We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. When there is no one to comfort us humanly, the Lord is there to comfort us. God is the God of all comfort. We see that the Godhead individually and collectively give us comfort when we are comfortless. Even when we sin, God is still there to comfort us. Listen to the words of Isaiah: “And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me” (Isaiah 12:1). The Lord’s timing and His gracious working in our life gives us the comfort that we need for our soul. “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul” (Psalm 94:19). Don’t let the devil convince you that have no comforters: there is comfort for the comfortless.
Have a comforted God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Jeremiah 51-52
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