O Come and Mourn
Scripture Reading: Zechariah 12:10
And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
This is one of those Old Testament prophetic passages that, at the time it was written, was cryptic. Even Zechariah must have wondered at what it could mean that they would look on him whom they pierced. Peter wrote as much when he said, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.” (1 Peter 1:10-11)
True faith, saving faith, has both elements of joy and grief which exist simultaneously in the Christian heart. We “rejoice with joy indescribable” and yet we also mourn. These are both gifts of the Spirit. They are both birthed from grace.
The Lord, speaking through Zechariah, tells us that it is this Spirit of grace and mercy that produces the fruit of mourning when we look on Him whom we have pierced.
There is an old hymn titled “O Come and Mourn with Me a While” that captures the idea of this text from Zechariah. Here are a few of the verses:
O come and mourn with me awhile;
O come ye to the Savior's side;
O come, together let us mourn;
Jesus, our Love, is crucified.
Seven times seven he spoke, seven words of love;
and all three hours his silence cried
for mercy on the souls of men;
Jesus, our Love, is crucified.
O break, O break, hard heart of mine!
Thy weak self-love and guilty pride
his Pilate and his Judas were:
Jesus, our Love, is crucified.
O love of God! O sin of man!
In this dread act your strength is tried;
and victory remains with love;
for he, our Love, is crucified.
If you want to read all of the verses they can be found here at this link.
Here is a modern rendition by Indelible Grace if you want to listen to the song – recommended…
May the Lord give us the grace to not only rejoice but also to mourn.
