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JULY 2
COME WITH WEEPING
“They shall come with weeping, and with
supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to
walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way,
wherein they shall not stumble.” (Jer. 31:9)
With what tender mercies our Lord draws us onward,
and we marvel at His love, His faithfulness in
dealing with us, and the things He uses in the
processing. Man, being of a wayward and rebellious
nature, must be softened and mellowed, made pliable
by tears, that God may mold and shapen him into His
own image and likeness. “Going and weeping,” the
prophet says, “they shall go, and seek the Lord
their God. they shall ask the way to Zion.” (Jer.
50:4-5). Broken and contrite in spirit, they shall
seek after Him who shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes.
With repentance in the heart, we ask for the way to
Zion. “For the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be
established in the top of the mountains, and shall
be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall
flow unto it.” (Isa. 2:2). That they will come with
weeping, we know, but this will wash and cleanse,
and they shall be prepared to receive the word of
the Lord as it comes forth from Jerusalem, and as
the law proceeds out of Zion.
The Psalmist points out that there is a “passing
through the valley of Baca,” as one goes onward,
from strength to strength till “every one of them in
Zion appeareth before God.” (Ps. 84:6-7). Baca –
meaning, weeping, was a valley just below Zion. And
while we’ll never partake of the glories on the top
of the mount without first passing through this
valley, it can also be said that the weeping is
finished in the valley, for there is no weeping in
Zion. Weeping is with us during the dark night of
the soul, but joy cometh in the morning when we
partake of His kingdom in righteousness, joy, and
peace.
For there’s a weeping that doth
cleanse the heart,
Till we are contrite, tinder in every part.
But when at last on Zion’s mount we stand,
He wipes away all tears with loving hand.
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