Come, Ye Disconsolate (ELW 607)
Devotion
1 Come, ye disconsolate, where'er ye languish;
come to the mercy-seat, fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts,
here tell your anguish;
earth has no sorrow that heav'n cannot heal.
2 Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure;
here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
"Earth has no sorrow that heav'n cannot cure."
3 Here see the Bread of life; see waters flowing
forth from the throne of God, pure from above.
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
earth has no sorrow but heav'n can remove.
Text: Thomas Moore, 1779-1852, sts. 1-2; Thomas Hastings, 1784-1872, st. 3
Disconsolate is not an adjective we commonly hear or use, yet Irish poet Thomas Moore (d. 1852) makes beautiful use of it in this hymn. Meaning "without consolation," it expresses a human emotional condition born of pain or hopelessness.
Our scripture readings this week, as well as our newsfeeds, offer a myriad of reasons for people to be disconsolate: oppression at the hands of corrupt power; guilt from the knowledge of participating in, or benefiting from, systems of oppression; fatigue in faith; disintegration of community life; broken hearts and misunderstood identity; suffering caused by chronic physical, spiritual, mental, or emotional pain; and the list goes on.
Moore's choice of words, including languish and anguish, give us a swift, deep dive into pathos, but thankfully, he doesn't leave us there for long. In the final line of each stanza, he pulls us back up and catapults us to transcendent hope in God's steadfast love and promise, made known to us in Christ, our mercy seat.
Prayer
Gracious God, you do not leave us alone in our suffering; instead you enter into our broken and empty places. Renew our hope in the certainty that there is no sorrow or bondage on earth from which Jesus cannot set us free. Amen.