The Place of Pleading

Jeremiah pleads, “Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins. But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter” (Jeremiah 12:1-3).

There's the place of pleading with God that grace particularly knows, exclusively knows, the communion of covenant loyalty and God to man closeness. It's like the time you're at the city park and you're both sitting quietly at first. You've know the guy sitting across from you for the past 8 years. The bond is solid. The words start to come out. You look into the back of the eyeballs of this dear friend. He has come to meet you and confess his adultery against God and his wife, and he genuinely wants help. It's a confession that soon turns to prayer. It's pleading, in anguish, and aimed at repentance and restoration. But this trainwreck will take time, and a lot of it. Can there be grace in this black night sky? This Land of the Midnight Sun, doubly-long, dark black night sky? Can there be pleading, talking with the Lord, with a heart of spoil, wondering, questioning, doubt and fear? Of course. Do we like that place of grace? No. But darkness is not darkness to Him.

G. Mark Sumpter