👉🏾👉🏾👉🏾(#Anqetse#Bitsuan )#blessed are those who #mourn. For they will be #comforted.(#Matthew 5:4; #Luke 6:21)
(Part 6)
Dear followers of the Orthodox teachings, we greet you with the peace and blessings of God.Today, based on the above-mentioned topic, we bring you this important lesson. We ask you all to read it carefully and learn from the examples of the saints and prophets who wept before God.
The Prophet David
The noble Prophet David wept for his sins, for the sorrows he suffered, and for the mercy of God.
David, who was pursued by King Saul, mourned deeply even when Saul his pursuer died. 2 Samuel 1:12 teaches us that we should weep not only for our friends but also for our enemies.
When his son Absalom rebelled against him, David went up the Mount of Olives barefoot and weeping, wearing sackcloth. Those who were with him also wept. (2 Samuel 15:30) When Absalom was later killed, David cried bitterly, saying:
“O my son Absalom my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son!” (2 Samuel 18:33)
After Ziklag was captured by the Amalekites and burned, David and his men lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep. (1 Samuel 30:3–5)
David also mourned for the death of Uriah, for the sin he committed with Bathsheba, and for the death of their child. (2 Samuel 12:22)
Because of all this, Saint David lamented for himself, for the people of Israel, and for Jerusalem, saying:
“I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim, I drench my couch with my tears.” (Psalm 6:6)
“My tears have been my food day and night.” (Psalm 42:3)
“For I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping.” (Psalm 102:9)
“Rivers of water run down from my eyes because they do not keep Your law.” (Psalm 119:136)
David wept both for his own repentance and for the sins of his people.
The Prophet Isaiah
The Prophet Isaiah lamented his own sinfulness, saying:
“Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5)
He also mourned the destruction of Moab:
“Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah; I will water you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for the shouting has fallen over your summer fruits and your harvest.” (Isaiah 16:9)
Isaiah lamented the destruction of Jerusalem, saying:
“Turn away from me; let me weep bitterly. Do not try to comfort me because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.” (Isaiah 22:4)
When King Hezekiah became sick and was told he would die, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord:
“Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart.”
Hezekiah wept bitterly, and the Lord said through Isaiah:
“I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.” (Isaiah 38:1–6)
The Prophet Jeremiah
The Prophet Jeremiah wept for his people, saying:
“For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt; I am mourning; astonishment has taken hold of me.” (Jeremiah 8:21)
He lamented greatly:
“Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jeremiah 9:1)
His grief was deep and constant:
“My sorrow is beyond healing; my heart is faint within me.” (Jeremiah 8:18)
In the Book of Lamentations, Jeremiah mourned the destruction of Jerusalem and begged God for mercy. Through him, we learn that when people sin and God’s anger comes upon them, believers must weep for themselves, for their people, and seek forgiveness from the Lord.
Continues 👇🏾