the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
John Gossner's Treasury
The Lord will not cast off for ever. But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. Lamentations 3:31-32. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Psalms 130:1.
He that would ascend to the heights must first go down to the depths. He who would go to heaven must first go through a hell. Scarcely any one gets through this world without great tribulation. Have not St. Paul and all the elect, in the old covenant and in the new, had to enter into the kingdom of God through much tribulation? Must not Christ enter into all the depths and abysses of human suffering? Must not His soul be sorrowful unto death? Even though His sufferings were chiefly as an atonement for our sins, in that God permitted the trespasses of us all to meet Him, the sorrows of Jesus are a source of consolation to us. Christ’s sufferings are the more comforting to us in proportion as we believe that by His sorrows He has turned away eternal sorrow from us all, and that we in all our sorrow may turn to Him with all confidence. Therefore, when you are sorrowful and lie in the depths as David did, join your Savior on the Mount of Olives. He is able to comfort you; He knows what a sorrowful heart means. But He also causes you sorrow that you may know what He has suffered for you and how highly He has loved you. He will not let you die in your grief; He will take pity on you. Only seek Him and you shall find an end of sorrow.
O draw me, Savior, after Thee!
So shall I run and never tire.
With gracious words still comfort me;
Be Thou my Hope, my sole Desire.
Free me from every weight: nor fear.
Nor sin can come, if Thou art here.
