Baruch 5:1-9: a reflection

1Take off the garment of your mourning and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God. 2Put on the robe of the righteousness from God. Set on your head a diadem of the glory of the Everlasting. 3For God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven. 4For your name will be called by God forever “Righteous Peace, Godly Glory”. 5Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand upon the height. Look around you toward the east and see your children gathered from the going down of the sun to its rising at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them. 6For they went from you on foot, being led away by their enemies, but God brings them in to you carried on high with glory, on a royal throne. 7For God has appointed that every high mountain and the everlasting hills should be made low, and the valleys filled up to make the ground level, that Israel may go safely in the glory of God. 8Moreover the woods and every sweet smelling tree have shaded Israel by the commandment of God. 9For God will lead Israel with joy in the light of his glory with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.

To a Jerusalem worn down by grief and exile, this passage brings a tender word of comfort and hope: Take off the garment of your mourning and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God. God promises to clothe his grieving people not in their mourning, but in his own glory, a robe of righteousness, a crown of glory. He promises to gather their scattered children, to level the mountains and fill the valleys to bring them safely home, and to lead them with joy in the light of his glory.

Notice the exchange God offers: the garment of mourning for the beauty of his glory. God does not merely comfort his grieving people; he promises to clothe them in glory, to exchange their mourning-clothes for a robe of splendor. This echoes a promise Isaiah gives, of a garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness. God's intention for his grieving people is not that they stay in mourning, but that he clothe them, in time, with his own glory and joy.

That is a hope to hold onto in seasons of grief. Grief is real, and God does not despise our mourning. But he does not intend it to be the last word; he promises to exchange the garment of mourning for the beauty of his glory, to clothe his people, in time, with splendor and joy, to gather and lead them home with gladness. If you are grieving, hold onto this promise. Your mourning-clothes are not forever; God intends to clothe you, in his time, with glory and joy. Take heart that the God who sees your grief promises to exchange it, in the end, for the beauty of his glory, and to lead you home with joy in the light of his presence.

Lord, to your grieving people you promised: take off the garment of mourning, and put on the beauty of the glory from God; and you promised to gather your scattered children and lead them home with joy. Thank you that you do not intend mourning to be the last word. Grief is real, and you do not despise it, but you promise to exchange the garment of mourning for the beauty of your glory, to clothe your people, in time, with splendor and joy. When I am grieving, help me hold onto that promise. My mourning-clothes are not forever; you intend to clothe me, in your time, with glory and joy, and to lead me home with gladness. Take heart into me that you, who see my grief, will exchange it, in the end, for the beauty of your glory. Lead me home with joy in the light of your presence.