The Scriptures are filled with desperate cries from the wounded of heart… “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?” (Psalm 13:1-2). “Make haste to help me, O LORD, my salvation!” (Psalm 38:22). “My soul melts away from grief; strengthen me according to your word” (Psalm 119:28). “Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit” (Psalm 143:7). God know that “hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov. 13:12), so there can be no turning to God, no teshuvah, apart from the presence of real hope (תִּקְוָה). Indeed, as the Apostle Paul wrote: “We are saved by hope” (Rom. 8:24).
The apostle Peter wrote, “for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials” (1 Pet. 1:6), which indicates that sorrow and grief are part of the walk of faith. Troubles, oppression, heartache, loneliness, loss, and so on, can grieve and seriously depress us. Lev yodea marat nafsho, “the heart knows its own bitterness” (Prov. 14:10). The cry of the heart is directed heavenward: “I am suffering terribly; O LORD, revive me according to your word” (Psalm 119:25); “for I am on the verge of collapse; my pain is always with me” (Psalm 38:17). We must be careful not to judge those who are hurting by regarding them as weak in faith or perhaps even deserving of their sorrows. On the contrary, the Lord sometimes allows the soul to be grieved by various trials; the heart is broken, the light of the eye grows dim… and there is no ready answer….
Your Heavenly Father sees in secret — yea, even the secret sorrow and dread of your heart. You may languish and shed tears, but the pain drives you to lonely places of despair and darkness. Our Lord is present for those who are hurting; he heals the shattered of heart and binds up their wounds (Psalm 147:3). Tehom-el-tehom: “deep calleth unto deep.” There are depths where we must be alone, but it there where our sorrows find voice to lament and cry out for God’s comfort in the midst of our sorrows. “For in Thee, O LORD, do I hope; thou wilt hear, O Lord my God” (Psalm 38:15). Kiviti Adonai, kiviti nafshi: “I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope; my soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning” (Psalm 130:5-6).
We sometimes sigh: “O Lord, I know that Thou wilt help us; but wilt Thou help us before Thou wilt help us?” It’s not always easy to wait for God, especially when we are in pain or anxiety, but we must never give up; we must never abandon our heart’s longing for ultimate healing. Faith exercises hope in the reality of God’s love and is captive to undying hope (Heb. 11:1). Therefore the Spirit cries out: “Hope to the LORD; be strong and strengthen your heart; and (again) hope to the LORD” (Psalm 27:14). “Blessed are you, LORD our God, King of the Universe, who walks with the wounded of heart”.
Hebrew Lesson:
