John 11:35 "Jesus wept".  

Think about it.  He already knew that he would raise Lazarus from the dead.  But when he saw Mary and the others weeping, his spirit groaned and he wept.  To me, it is just a brief glimpse into the incredible compassion and nature of Christ.

Anyway, just wanted to share.

Agreed.

It chokes me up to think of our Creator weeping for us.

Thinking about Him weeping causes me to tear up.

That verse causes me the same reaction just about every time I read it and think about it.

The Mormon Church did a nice portrayal of the scripture. BTW, I'm Southern Baptist.

Love that, it makes me realize if He was willing to share His true feelings with us shouldn't we be willing to approach Him with how we are doing? Are you hurting, having doubts, frustrated?
Maybe He does care about you......

As it is said, the Lord works in mysterious ways.  I have been dealing with some things lately -- we'll just leave it at that.  In trying to work things out I have been spending a lot of time in scripture.

I had never posted a scripture in this forum before but for some reason I made the original post as I was thinking about Jesus and his life and purpose.

In Church, we have been studying Genesis.  Today, out of the blue we had a guest speaker.  The message was about Lazarus and he spent time discussing John 11:35.  Do you ever get the feeling that a particular sermon is just for you?  Candidly, I had a hard time holding it together.

Coincidence?  The Lord at work?  Your call.  I know what it means to me.

When you get a chance read Psalm 73 (written by Asaph the worship leader in the temple) and when you get to verse 17 remember this, sometimes when we go to church God knows what we need to hear or the right words we need spoken to us, in my life i've heard countless people say "man i needed to hear that" or "that really spoke to me", alot of times it's only in His presence that we get a proper perspective of our situation. Coincidence? i dont think so He knows all about you

"And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows."

Thank you CombatVector.  I read Psalm 73 today and enjoyed it.  With that said, I'm not sure I understand the overall context of the Psalm.  I will need to study this a bit more.

Did He weep because of their unbelief and doubt about His ability to raise the dead?

Or did He weep because He felt sympathy for them?

Was it both?

He has emotions and feelings. We are made in His image.

In my view, both.

Great thread and great testimony here!



...all the time!

the older I get, the more and more I really "see things" for what they are: God showing me his infinite mercy and grace.

     Sorry i didn't respond earlier, but what i wanted to convey was Asaph started the psalm out saying i don't have a theology problem i know God is good, (btw i love the gut level honest that the psalms writers have with God).
But Asaph was struggling (you said you were as well) he was looking at the world around him seeing (VS 2-12 ) that his godless neighbors were better off than he was, envious of their prosperity, pride and popularity.

Then he begins to look inside himself (vs 13-16) and basically says am i wasting my time? i've done all these things but it's getting me no where.

Then he looks ahead , you see he's saying i got my theology right but my practical experience doesn't match that, but don't miss this part he says Then i went to church (vs 17-22) and the God he was looking for met him there!! (just like you said and why i posted Psalms 73 for you to read) God saw him slipping and knew what he needed to hear. He got a proper perspective of the situation. God said, “Let me show you something.” – all you see is what you see, but you don’t see all there is!

The issue for the Christian is what does God have for me --- not what does my neighbor have instead of me! In other words, God is saying you have got to learn how to live life from a long-range perspective – a bigger picture!

Then he cites in closing, his newly regained perspective of the benefits of following God (vs 23-28)
He'll be your companion vs 23
He’ll give you guidance vs 24
He’ll give you a future  vs 24
He’ll give you a purpose/desire vs 25
He’ll give you strength vs 26
He’ll give you protection vs 27
And lastly i know You may be struggling right now but He’s going to give you a testimony vs 28

Stay close to the sanctuary so that He can give you the long range view of life and one day you’ll be able to look back & tell a story (been there done that)

Hopefully you get my point i don't often explain myself well

Thank you so much OP. Absolutely a defining moment in scripture... The tears of God.

I cannot thank you enough for the clarity in which you laid this out.  I really appreciate your time on this as well.  

I reread the Psalm this morning in the NIV.  I typically study from the KJV which is usually fine in the New Testament but the Old Testament can be hard to decipher.  You commentary, plus the modern language, made this much easier to understand.  The Psalm as you note is very encouraging.