Baruch 4:17-26: a reflection

17But I—how can I help you? 18For he who brought these calamities upon you will deliver you from the hand of your enemies. 19Go your way, O my children. Go your way, for I am left desolate. 20I have put off the garment of peace, and put on the sackcloth of my petition. I will cry to the Everlasting as long as I live. 21Take courage, my children. Cry to God, and he will deliver you from the power and hand of the enemies. 22For I have trusted in the Everlasting, that he will save you; and joy has come to me from the Holy One, because of the mercy that will soon come to you from your Everlasting Savior. 23For I sent you out with mourning and weeping, but God will give you to me again with joy and gladness forever. 24For as now those who dwell near Zion have seen your captivity, so they will shortly see your salvation from our God which will come upon you with great glory and brightness of the Everlasting. 25My children, suffer patiently the wrath that has come upon you from God, for your enemy has persecuted you; but shortly you will see his destruction and will tread upon their necks. 26My delicate ones have traveled rough roads. They were taken away like a flock carried off by enemies.

In this tender passage, Zion is pictured as a grieving mother speaking comfort to her children who have been carried away into exile. She feels her own helplessness, I, how can I help you?, and yet she does not leave them without hope. He who brought these calamities upon you, she says, will deliver you from the hand of your enemies. Take courage, my children; cry to God, and he will deliver you. The very God who allowed the suffering is the one who will bring the rescue.

The heart of her comfort is a confident hope that mourning will give way to joy. I sent you out with mourning and weeping, she says, but God will give you back to me with joy and gladness forever. She has trusted the Everlasting to save them, and joy has already come to her because of the mercy that is on its way. Their present suffering is real, but it is not the end; deliverance is coming with great glory, and the tears of exile will be turned into everlasting gladness. She calls her children to endure patiently and to keep their eyes on the salvation their Everlasting Savior will bring.

This is a word of hope for everyone walking a hard road, and a fitting note on which to rest. Whatever exile or affliction you are enduring, the God who has permitted it is the God who will deliver you, and the mourning of the present will one day be swallowed up in a joy that lasts forever. Take courage, and cry to God. Keep your eyes on the Everlasting Savior, who turns weeping into gladness. The road may be rough now, but salvation is coming with great glory, and for those who trust him, the last word is not sorrow but everlasting joy.

Lord, to your grieving people you promised that the God who permitted their suffering would also deliver them, turning their mourning into everlasting joy. Whatever hard road I walk, give me courage to cry to you and to keep my eyes on you, my Everlasting Savior. Thank you that the tears of the present will one day be swallowed up in a joy that lasts forever. Deliver me, and turn my weeping into gladness. My hope is in you, and the last word is joy. Amen.