_The Sorrowful_.
Sorrow is the most common of all human experiences. There are no homes
without it, and there are very few hearts which have not tasted of its
cup. Earth is a vale of tears. Sooner or later, all men suffer. "Man is
born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward," and to millions of men
Christ has appeared in their affliction and taken possession of their
lives.
What was the secret of His influence over them? Was it His dominion from
sea to sea? Was it even His victory over death and His kingly conquest of
the grave? Was it His sovereign throne of power? No, I do not think it was
thus He won them; but as "the Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief,"
who learned obedience by the things that He suffered, and who could
compassionate with them in their sorrows also.
It is one of the commonplaces of life that people associated in great
suffering and trials obtain great influence with each other. And it is so
here. Let the human heart once realise that in its deepest depths of
sorrow it may have for helper One who has been deeper still; and it is in
the nature of things that it should fly to that One for succour, for
sympathy, for strength. And when that One out of His riches gives of His
own might, and of His own sweet, unfathomed consolations, then His
government is assured, His rule is established.