My Times of Sorrow and of Joy

by Benjamin Beddome

My times of sorrow and of joy,

Great God, are in thy hand;

My choicest comforts come from thee,

And go at thy command.

If thou shouldst take them all away,

Yet would I not repine;

Before they were possessed by me,

They were entirely thine.

Nor would I drop a murmuring word,

Though the whole world were gone,

But seek enduring happiness

In thee, and thee alone.

Upon reading these stanzas, you may be reminded of Job’s first reaction to his unimaginable losses, in which he says, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21, KJV). Job’s immediate response to his tragedy is astounding in two ways: first, that he recognizes God as the sovereign who does what he will with what is his, and second, that he praises God after this acknowledgment. Notice that he is not only praising the Lord, but he is also praising his name. The name LORD is a translation of the Jews’ covenantal name of God (YHWH), which is made pronounceable when transliterated to “Yahweh.” It is considered the most reverent name for God, and it is this name that Job blesses—the name of the one who mere moments before justly and righteously took all that Job had.

What’s in a name?

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Different names engender different responses from everyone. The name of our dearest friend causes love, affection, and compassion to rise to the forefront of our hearts and minds. Conversely, the name of our greatest enemy incites wrath, bitterness, and dread. With an imperfect understanding of justice, most in Job’s circumstances would be at least tempted to treat God’s name like that of an enemy, holding it in contempt. Yet here stands Job, blessing and revering the unutterable name of the Most High God.

While it may seem shocking to us, the truth is that Job’s is the most natural response to God’s performing his will. Unfortunately, our sinful nature necessarily makes this kind of reaction an unnatural one. The truth, however, supersedes our fallenness, and tells us that we can “know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28, KJV). The verse is not implying that all things work together for what we think of as “good,” but what is good, and who knows best what is good besides God himself? If you read the next verse in the same chapter, you will find that the greatest good is to be more like Christ and for Christ to be known (Rom. 8:29, KJV). At the outset of his suffering, Job demonstrated a clear understanding of this truth that would not be written down until thousands of years later.

How Did Jesus Respond?

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If we can scarcely imagine the pain and sorrow of Job’s loss, we could never begin to fathom the suffering of Christ, who, as the perfect, spotless lamb, willingly took the sin of all the world upon himself. It would seem to us that he suffered the greatest injustice of all—God himself taking the form of his own creation with the message of salvation for mankind, only for that creation to reject him and crucify him. But a closer look at the Bible will show us that this was no injustice. Rather, it was the most beautiful fulfillment of justice that ever was, is, or will be, planned from before the beginning of time. Jesus, as the only one able to satisfy the debt of sin owed by all the world, laid down his own life and “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2, KJV). In the face of indescribable mental and physical anguish, Christ revered the name of his Father. A look in the gospel of Matthew shows Jesus in Gethsemane, praying, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39, KJV). Of all people throughout all of history, Jesus Christ has experienced the most loss. He left his seat at the right hand of the Father to become a man. His own countrymen rejected him. His closest followers, betrayed, denied, and abandoned him. He gave his life for all, even those who will never receive him. And if that were not enough, he knew this was the plan from the beginning. Yet he still said, “Not my will, but thine.”

So, Christian, do you recognize that all times—sorrowful, joyful, and anywhere in between—are, at all times, in the same hand that made you and that is continuing to make you into his likeness? Do you bless the name of the Sovereign who gives and who takes away? Do you know that he who loses the world but has God has everything? We have the perfect person and example of Christ to turn to when we find ourselves at our wit’s end. When we recognize and accept the fact of God’s perfect will, then we can say with this hymn writer, 

“Nor would I drop a murmuring word,

Though the whole world were gone,

But seek enduring happiness

In thee, and thee alone.”