Jesus, King of Sorrows

 A Lament

Jesus, King of sorrows,

Crowned with thorns,

Bearing even in Your resurrected glory

Marks of nails and spear:

You alone, of all the gods of this world,

Are the God who suffers.

You are the Man of sorrows,

Acquainted with grief,

Crushed for our sins,

Your soul in anguish for our iniquity.

You suffered for us,

And you suffer with us.

You are the High Priest who suffers with our weaknesses;

When Your children, Your body, are persecuted,

You are persecuted.

Your Spirit dwelling in Your saints

Groans with us,

Deeper than our deepest whispered longings.

Lord God,

We do groan.

How long must Your afflicted ones

Flee the terrors of the night

And the bullets that fly by day,

The pestilence that stalks at midnight,

The destruction that devastates at noon?

How long must we bear the griefs

Of the boldface, all-caps, headline Troubles

That drive people from their homes

And jeopardize their daughters?

That bury nations' hopes in piles of rubble

And devour communities in tongues of fire and pillars of smoke?

How long the griefs of unseen, individual troubles

Which exact no less a toll?

The cancers, the deaths,

The disease of mind and body,

The fear, the heartache,

The hardships, the prodigals,

The persecution for truth's sake?

But You, O Lord,

When Trouble is near,

God, be nearer!

Make the thorns we bear

Blossom with the rose of Your presence.

Hide not Your face

From the affliction of the afflicted.

Open Your ears and soften Your heart

To our pleas.

Be the fourth man in the flaming fire.

Part the waters.

Open the spring in the desert rock.
Lead with Your pillar of fire.
Shelter with Your pillar of cloud.

Mark Your people with the shield of Your presence--

"Touch not the apple of My eye."

Work mighty deliverances

For Your name's sake.

In our troubles big and small,

Write stories like lighthouses

To draw many to Yourself.

Come quickly, Lord.

We trust You;

Give us grace to trust You.

In living, in dying, in sorrows, in joys,

Make us bold to call on You,

O Triune God and Shepherd,

In gratitude that no created thing

From Your conquering love

Can sever us,

Through the keeping of Jesus our suffering Savior.

Amen.