My soul weeps because of grief. Strengthen me according to Your Word. Psalm 119:28
When you read the phrase “my soul weeps”, what picture comes into your mind? Have you ever wept to the depths of your soul?
The soul has been defined by Oxford Dictionary as “the spiritual part of a human being regarded as immortal.” When we use the word ‘soul’ in conversation, we are usually referring to the very deepest convictions we have. When I read this verse, I identify with the first phrase because, after our 17-year-old son died suddenly in a car accident, I would often weep in such emotional agony that I literally felt as if the grief was actually tearing my body into pieces. It was not only an emotional experience, it was a physically wrenching pain that I actually cannot fully describe in mere words. It was pain to such depth that you have to experience it to really grasp what I am trying to say.
The devastation of such grief is not something a person can understand by merely observing it. They can sense the dark despair of it but are rendered helpless by the vast extent of such pain. The immediate response of an observer is the desire to help ease the pain, but along with that desire comes the conviction that there is nothing in their arsenal that is adequate to quench such a flame of agony. Only God can comfort in times of intense grief.
Sharing verses of Scripture is like spreading a soothing balm of intense relief over a painful, disfiguring 3rd degree burn. There is almost an “Ahhh” of relief from the bereaved person as the healing power of God’s Word begins to comfort his or her heart.
Nothing in the situation has changed. What Scripture changes is the sufferer’s perspective of the pain and loss, and perspective is Everything.
God’s Word offers comfort, healing and hope.
