“The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master. "Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave? Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? For my sighing comes instead of my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water. For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes."”
Devotional
There are two kinds of listeners here: those who are in the thick of unanswerable pain, and those who walk alongside them. To all, this text offers a model of reverent honesty—telling God what shakes us, while not losing sight of God’s steadfast presence. Let us bring our own groanings before the Lord, trusting that light can still meet us in the shadow and that rest does not depend on the absence of trouble but on the presence of God.
May we learn to lament with trust, to name our fears without surrendering our hope, and to cling to the truth that God does not abandon the broken-hearted. In Jesus, the invite continues: come, bring your burden, and find rest for your soul with the One who holds all things in divine care.