But I am poor and sorrowful; let Thy salvation, O God, set Me up on high. Psalm 69:29
Nobody is so poor as the wealthy who have lost their riches. Stories abound of the effects of the stock market crash of 1929, when many people who believed themselves to be rich suddenly found themselves to be penniless. Many lost their homes and virtually all of their possessions, driving them to depression, suicide, and even to crime as they were unable to cope with the change in their life’s circumstances. Billionaires turned paupers were unaccustomed to performing menial chores, had no taste for common fare on their tables, and were uncomfortable in the clothing worn by the destitute. Hungry and deprived, they were miserable and angry and disillusioned. How different they were from the Lord Jesus, Who was rich, but for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich!
Throughout His life on earth, we never read of a word of complaint from the Saviour. The food He ate, the bed He slept upon, or did not have to sleep upon, the clothing He wore, the humble upbringing, all these were so far removed from the comforts and blessings of His rightful place in Heaven. And yet, He entered willingly into His poverty, so unlike those who lost their shirts in the Wall Street crash. Knowing all of the depths of poverty, He came and endured it.
The sorrow that is mentioned in today’s text is part of the great poverty to which our Saviour came. There is no sorrow in Heaven, nor ever will be. Until He came to earth, the Lord Jesus knew no sorrow. Yet, we read of Him weeping with Mary and Martha at Lazarus’ death, his tears at the failure of Jerusalem to recognize her King, his torturous sorrow during His hours of agony on the cross. But there was no hesitation on His part to enter into that sorrow or to shrink from that poverty. Knowing that His submission to being poor and sorrowful was the only way to purchase our salvation, He gladly endured and willingly accepted.
Because of the achievements of His poverty and sorrow, the Lord Jesus is today set up on high. Although the world at large still rejects Him, we will exalt Him when we gather to remember Him. -Jim MacIntosh