Into my grief, “Hallelujah, what a Savior”

Oh Father,

I am grieving today. Loss surrounds me. 

My dreams, my plans, 

my abilities,

my desires.

Those I love, 

things I love,

experiences I love.

I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me (Job 7:3 ESV).

Like Job, it feels like loss is shattering my life. I keep looking at myself and looking back at all I’ve lost.

How can I keep going forward and moving through this grief I’m feeling?

I desperately need Your help today.

Praise interruption: Hallelujah, what a Savior

Man of sorrows! what a name
for the Son of God, who came
ruined sinners to reclaim:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

(“‘Man of Sorrows,’ What a Name,” Bliss, P. P., 1875)

I’m grieving losses of how I thought my life would go. It hurts. But my life now belongs to Jesus. I live unified with Christ who lived through so much loss on earth.

I praise You that I am not my own, but…

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20 ESV).

For Your steadfast love is great to the heavens (Ps. 57:10 ESV).

Singing the gospel into my grief

Like the hymn sings, I was a “ruined sinner,” but I am now “reclaimed,” rescued, a sinner saved, adopted, by Your grace. Your steadfast love is so great that Jesus took my deserved punishment for sin. I now have His perfect righteousness credited to my account, right standing with You that only comes through the faith in Him that You’ve given to me. Hallelujah!

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom. 10:9 ESV)…not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith (Phil. 3:9 ESV).

You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Rom. 8:15 ESV).

Oh Lord, I am Yours! You know sorrow and loss intimately. And You know me intimately. You know my losses right now. You know exactly what I need to walk through this in a way that glorifies You. You know I need to pour it all out, to You. I come to You today because You understand and You perfectly love me.

Hallelujah, what a Savior.

Into my grief, I praise You that You are with me

Lord, I am so sad, but You are with me now, in the person of the Holy Spirit. I am sealed, forever. Your indwelling Spirit will get me through this pain…grow me through this pain…

just as He empowered Jesus through His pain (Jn. 3:34; Lk. 4:1; Acts 10:38; Heb. 9:14; Rom. 8:11).

And Jesus’ pain? 

It was all for me as He willingly bore all my deserved condemnation.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1 ESV).

In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13 ESV).

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you (Rom. 8:11 ESV).

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
in my place condemned he stood,
sealed my pardon with his blood:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Thank You, Lord. I can keep moving forward…by the power of the gospel. Please help me to remember the gospel today…and every day of earthly loss. I’m moving through this, unified with You. In the name of my beautiful Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

Material adapted from Singing the Gospel to Job: Finding Hope in Suffering, Lauri A. Hogle, Copyright © 2022

Gospel-centered resources, into grief and loss

Dear sister in Christ, I’ve been walking through much loss this year, but with our Man of Sorrows. With Jesus. Oh, how He loves us. As an outpouring of His love, this week’s resources center on “singing the gospel” to our hearts as we sing to our Man of Sorrows, who understands our losses so well. If this might bless you, here are some gifts for you. Let’s bring our sorrow to Jesus this week.