. . .for they shall have comfort.

On a Saturday night, we went to the Salt Lake Choral Artists production of Brahms’ Requiem “How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place”.  Conceived as a concert work by a Lutheran composer, it takes its German texts entirely from the bible, the passages thoughtfully selected and ordered by the composer himself from the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha.  Our son, Brooke, sings bass in Salt Lake Choral Artists, conducted by Brady Allred.

I really loved the messages of comfort and hope.

Blessed they, blest are they who mourn, for they shall have comfort.  Matthew 5:4

They that sow in tears and weeping surely shall reap with joyful singing, reap in joy.

Who goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed,

shall come with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.  Psalms 126:5-6

Behold, all flesh is as the grass, and all the glory of mankind is as the flower of grass.

For lo, the grass withereth, and the flower thereof is fallen. 2 Peter 1:34

No therefore, be patient, dear brethren, unto the coming of the Lord,

See how the husbandman waitheth for the precious fruit of the earth,

and with patience he waiteth till he receive the early rain and also the latter rain.

So be ye patient.  James 5:7-8

But still the Lord’s word standeth forever more. 1 Peter 1:25

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return with singing unto Zion, coming rejoicing, joyful.

Joy everlasting shall crown their heads forever more.

Gladness and glory welcome and embrace them, and grief and sighing shall flee from them.  Isaiah 35:10

Lord, make me to know the measure of my days on earth,

that my life is but frailty, and I must perish.

Surely, all my days here are as an handbreadth to thee,

and my lifetime is as naught to thee.

Verily, mankind walketh in a vain show; even his best state is vanity.

He goeth about like a shadow in his anxieties, and in vain he heapeth up riches,

but knoweth, nay, knoweth not who shall gather them.

Now Lord, what then do I wait for? My hope is in thee!  Psalms 39:4-7

For the righteous souls are in the hands of God,

and ne’er shall harm reach until them.  Wisdom of Solomon, Apocrypha

How lovely is they dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts!

For my soul, it longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord.

My heart and flesh cry out for joy unto the living God.

Blest are they who make thy house their dwelling: they praise thy name evermore.

Ye now are sorrowful.

Weep not, for I will see you again, and your heart shall be joyful,

And your rejoicing no one taketh from you.  John 16:22

and I will comfort, as one whom his own mother comforts.  Isaiah 66:13

Look, on me then, for it was but a little time, labor and trouble were mine,

yet I have found at last comfort.  Ecclesiasticus 51:35 Apocrypha

and I will comfort you.  Isaiah 66:13

Here on earth have we no continuing place, wherefore we seek one to come.  Hebrews 13:14

Lo, I will show unto you a mystery;

We shall not all sleep here forever, but we shall all be changed

in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the trumpet.

For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,

and we shall all be changed.

Then when the prophet long hath foretold, the saying, shall be brought to pass.

For death is swallowed up in victory.

Grave, where is thy victory?

Death, O where is thy sting?  1 Corinthians 15:51-55

Lord, thou art worthy of honor, praise, and glory and might;

by thee alone were all things created,

and by the good will all creatures have their being,

and were created.  Revelation 4:11

Blessed are the dead who from now on shall die in the Lord, from henceforth.

Saith the spirit: that they rest now from all their labors,

and that their works follow after them.  Revelation 14:13

Blessed they, blest are they that mourn,

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, blessed.

I wasn’t going to copy the entire Requiem; I was only going to use:  Blessed they, blest are they who mourn, for they shall have comfort.  Matthew 5:4 but how could I leave any out?  How?  It is so beautiful and meaningful and hopeful and yes, heavenly. 

I was only ten years old when I first remember feeling the “comfort” promised in this scripture.  A bunch of us kids were in the back of the pickup coming home from the cemetery.  We had just buried our daddy.  First he was lost; then his body was found where he had fallen at the bottom of a cliff.  Weeping; crying; shock.  How would Mama nurture, protect, support, educate and rear eight children ranging in age from barely 1 to barely 18?  What would we do?  How could we survive?  The loss was monumental.  We missed him.  We hurt so much.  My 9-year-old brother wailed out during one of the funeral talks.  Heartbreaking. 

Jumping out of the pickup onto the dirt driveway, I still remember nearly 70 years later, feeling elation.  How could I feel so happy when we were so devastated?  It was a light and airy feeling of pure joy.

The Comforter.

Maybe children feel it more because they are not jaded by life’s experiences; plus, they don’t have the responsibilities.

I never liked inspirational stories about families who pray and their daddy is miraculously found or gets better or is protected because they had faith.  Or the soldiers who came home from the war because of their righteousness.  Things like that.  What about those who didn’t?  I think we should be grateful for good health and safety but I believe random things happen and when they do, God’s part is to comfort and bless and fill us with resilience and hope.

They that sow in tears and weeping surely shall reap with joyful singing, reap in joy.

Joy everlasting shall crown their heads forever more.

Gladness and glory welcome and embrace them, and grief and sighing shall flee from them.

For death is swallowed up in victory.

Grave, where is thy victory?

Death, O where is thy sting?

Blessed they, blest are they who mourn, for they shall have comfort.