“While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and
pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from
death” (Heb. 5:7).
Of Andrew Bonar, a Scottish minister used mightily of God during the
great Revival of 1839-1840, it is said, he cared, wept and prayed like Jesus.
In the 17th century, Samuel Rutherford, said, “A bed watered with tears, a throat dry with praying, eyes a fountain of tears for the sins of the land are rarely to be found among us.”
Recently, David Smithers of the “Awake and Go Prayer
Global Network,” wrote, “Far too often our own eyes are dry because we are blind
to the needs around us... blinded by the temporal, we
can no longer see the holiness of heaven and horrors of
hell.” (edited)
My Belizean friend wrote to me recently: “I guess that the Good Lord has come to hear the crying of the few, and now He is moving.” I thought about his words 'the crying of the few.' "Yes," I thought, "but how few are crying these days." Immediately the story of Nehemiah came to mind: When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days (1:4a). What caused Nehemiah’s sorrow? Learning that the Jews who had returned to Judah were disgraced by the condition of Jerusalem—its outer walls broken. The same word “broken” is used in Psalm 51:17 for a "broken” heart.
Nehemiah’s heart was broken over the condition of God’s people. And when Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem some months later, not only did he rebuild the broken walls, he ‘restored’ the broken people. The Bible says as he read the Law, the people recognized their sinful condition and wept (Neh. 8:9).
Where is the weeping of God’s people today? Why is my own heart not more broken over the condition of God’s people in our age? Why are we not more grieved over the way this disparages the Lord’s reputation? Perhaps it is time to regard the words of James: Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Then, James immediately provides us with this promise of hope: When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor (James 4:9-10 NLT). But let me end with an even more positive note. After the Jews had wept, confessed, and repented, Nehemiah said: Do not be grieved [anymore], for the joy of the Lord is your strength (Neh. 8:10).
