Daily Bible Reading Plans to help you read and understand God’s Word

Scripture Reading: Psalm 42:1-11, Luke 22:39-46, Isaiah 25:8, Psalm 43:1-5, Isaiah 65:19-20

Grief. It’s a word that holds a lot in a few letters.

We don’t want it. We don’t want to think about it. We don’t want it to come up unexpectedly when we are not ready for the wave of sadness that crashes over us. But what if this is a place where we must linger?

David, the tender-hearted shepherd king, knew the range of emotions well. When he was in a state of happiness, he couldn’t contain himself, making a joyful noise to the Lord and lifting his heart in praise. When he was low, he sank to the depths, covered himself with sorrow and cried out in exhaustion and loneliness.

David dwelled where his heart was, and he wasn’t afraid or hesitant to tell God about all he felt. God was his friend, and David had lived in His goodness before. David reminded himself that he would again live in goodness. But first, he wrestled with the dark.

Inconsolable as he was, David took his pain to God. He looked back and lamented the times in his life he knew joy, and he looked to his God while speaking truth to his downcast soul.

Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God. 
—Psalm 42:11

David knew God. And David knew grief.

For us to know God deeper, we, too, need to know grief and not be afraid to follow where it leads. Because, if we let it, grief will lead us straight to His heart. 

If we’re in a rush to get to a sunnier state internally, we miss the God whose presence is actually in the clouds. God asks us to stay in our sadness a little longer. He knows there is a depth to our faith that forms when we let the pain pour into our hearts and invite Him to reside with us in it.

Unexplainably, joy can dwell alongside sadness. It’s in our tears where we taste the Savior’s love for us, His own heart hurting with ours. Because, and don’t miss this, God is with us wherever we are. In our happiness and our heartbreak, our hope and our disappointment. Our despair and delight. There is nowhere we can go where God is not (Psalm 139:7–12).

When your heart hurts, when the tears won’t stop, take solace in Immanuel—God with us. Remember His care for you, His love, His provision in the past. And believe that He is with you now, acknowledging your pain, while preparing your hope for tomorrow.

Written by Sarah Freymuth