Our souls long for restoration when we grieve, either for our sins (when we pray for redemption), for succor and strength in times of disaster such as the Ukraine invasion, (when we pray for strength and understanding in the loss of a homeland), or for comfort when a loved one dies (when our knees are weak and our tears flow).
It helps me to understand that God is sovereign, that He sees the entire panoply of history, that the death of an idea or a dream may lead to a more creative one, and that He too lost a Son to death. Even our Lord wept. Can we do any less?
Last night I attended a Space Coast Symphony performance. They played the Shostakovich 5th Symphony (magnificently, I might add) with a preface talk about the composer’s situation when his music was banned in Russia by a dictator’s whim. But the most moving part of it all, was mention of Ukraine twice during the program. Once in Christopher Marshall’s introduction to his newest composition, a premier performance by the symphony. It dealt with grieving we’ve done with COVID and other challenges, but he added that it could just as easily been created for the suffering we’ve seen this week in Ukraine. Sorrow is universal, I think.
Before the orchestra played the famed 5th Symphony, they played the Ukrainian Hymn, a moving tribute to a people under attack. Some of us, me included, wept.
Here, then is “My Psalm 303 Sorrow.” This is the first of two poems on this topic. The other was published a few days ago in my blog and used this past Friday in Jay Given’s Memorial Service, should you care to read a more personal poem of grief, hope, and restoration.
MY PSALM 303 SORROW
Almighty Father, Creator of all things,
We call upon Your Name in supplication,
For we so need Your Presence this day.
Your Word tells us that the death of Your saints
Is precious in Your sight, and we grieve this day.
We know You loved us enough to sacrifice Your Son
Jesus Christ for us, atonement for our sinful nature.
He willingly left the heavenly realms
Where He counseled in Your Presence,
Was worshiped by angels and saints,
And bathed in the holiness of Your heavenly home.
You saw our need for a Savior, sent Him to live among us,
Where he knew scratchy straw at His birth,
No home, no wealth, no status, a man of sorrows,
Acquainted with grief, scorned, betrayed, murdered
A life untarnished yet sacrificed
So that we could also call You Abba, Father.
With His stripes, we are indeed healed,
And even in this life where hatred and callous indifference
And sin and disease and grief surround us,
Because of His resurrection, we have hope.
Today, be so very close to those who mourn,
Those who bury spouses, fathers, children, siblings.
Those who know the depth of sorrow this day.
We pray Your loving arms to surround and comfort,
We pray Your wisdom will prevail,
We pray in thanksgiving for these loved ones in our lives
And commit them to their heavenly Presence with You,
May bereavement bring us ever closer to You
For only in You can we find a place
Where there will be no more tears, no more sorrow
Because of the atoning work
Of the Son You sent to live among us.
As we walk through this season,
May we meditate on Your Word as never before,
Contemplating Your redemptive message.
May we find cleansing for our sins,
The joy of our salvation, and live as those renewed,
Refreshed, strengthened, and ready to tell of Your mercy
So that others too will know Your Story,
That indeed, good can come out of tragedy and sorrow
Because we see everything
Through the prism of redemption
Through Jesus’ Precious Name. Amen.
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