From Weeping To Rejoicing

"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

Jeremiah is known as the "weeping prophet" because he spoke the true words of God and people did not heed or take them to heart.  He warned self-righteous people entrenched in idolatry of the sure judgment that was on the horizon, yet they did not listen.  They would not weep for themselves, so Jeremiah wept for them.  How great was his longing for people to receive the word of the LORD and return to God so He might be glorified and their judgment turned aside.  They had the truth and would not receive it, and thus they remained in their sin and would face God's judgment.  God is so good and glorious, and the thought anyone would give up on Him or be resigned to a hopeless existence is among life's great tragedies.

When Jesus was being led to be crucified, He was met by a group of women Jesus addressed despite His pains.  Luke 23:27-31 reads, "And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. ²⁸ But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!' ³⁰ Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" ' ³¹ For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?"  Having rejected Jesus when He was present, the Jewish nation would reject His message of salvation which would result in greater destruction.  Jesus was going to the grave and would rise after three days, but those who refused the Gospel were heading to eternal ruin.

How appropriate is Psalm 126:5-6 in the context of these passages:  "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. ⁶ He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."  The people who heard Jeremiah and Jesus in person may not have listened to them, and it may be the words of preachers or caring Christians are heeded today.  But there is a promise that when good seed is sown in tears, the one who sowed it shall doubtless come again with rejoicing with a harvest.  The women wept over what God intended for their salvation, and if their tears were merely out of pity for Christ's pains they missed the point.  In the Parable of the Sower the seed was sown on all kinds of ground, even on a hardened footpath where seed could not grow.  God who created seeds and speaks forth His word causes it to be fruitful in due time, and in Him I rejoice now and forever.