This pain, this agony of soul. The fellowship of His sufferings. In this world He was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). That was because of the sin of the world. And because He saw the enmity of the human heart against His Father, it hurt Him, it grieved Him and He suffered. There is no more delicate test of our relationship to Him and our union with Him than the extent to which you and I know something about this suffering. It is not a glib talking about “wanting souls to be saved”. No, no. It is much deeper than that. That can be purely carnal. But this is something that is always spiritual; we really suffer because of the sin of men and women and their lost condition. Because of our union with Him, we may know something of groaning in the spirit as He knew it; this deep concern, this pain, this agony of soul. It is one of the subjective consequences of our union with our blessed Lord and Saviour.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
O For a Heart to Praise My God Charles Wesley
O for a heart to praise my God, A heart from sin set free, A heart that always feels Thy blood So freely shed for me.
A heart resigned, submissive, meek, My great Redeemer’s throne, Where only Christ is heard to speak, Where Jesus reigns alone.
A humble, lowly, contrite, heart, Believing, true and clean, Which neither life nor death can part From Him that dwells within.
A heart in every thought renewed And full of love divine, Perfect and right and pure and good, A copy, Lord, of Thine.
Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart, Come quickly from above; Write Thy new name upon my heart, Thy new, best name of Love.
