Day of Sorrow

 Who has believed our report?
      And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
       For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
      And as a root out of dry ground.
      He has no form or comeliness;
      And when we see Him,
      There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
       He is despised and rejected by men,
      A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 

~ ~ ~

O sacred Head, now wounded,

with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns,

Thine only crown...

Men mock and taunt and jeer Thee,

Thou noble countenance,
Though mighty worlds shall fear Thee

and flee before Thy glance.
How art thou pale with anguish,

with sore abuse and scorn!
How doth Thy visage languish

that once was bright as morn!
~ ~ ~
      And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
      He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
       Surely He has borne our griefs
      And carried our sorrows;
      Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
      Smitten by God, and afflicted.
       But He was wounded for our transgressions,
      He was bruised for our iniquities;
      The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
      And by His stripes we are healed. 

~ ~ ~

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered,

was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression,

but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!

’Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor,

vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

~ ~ ~

     All we like sheep have gone astray;
      We have turned, every one, to his own way;
      And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
       He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
      Yet He opened not His mouth;
      He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
      And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
      So He opened not His mouth.
       He was taken from prison and from judgment,
      And who will declare His generation?
      For He was cut off from the land of the living;
      For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 

~ ~ ~

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.

~ ~ ~ 
And they made His grave with the wicked—
      But with the rich at His death,
      Because He had done no violence,
      Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
       Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
      He has put Him to grief.
      When You make His soul an offering for sin,
      He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
      And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
       He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
      By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
      For He shall bear their iniquities. 

~ ~ ~

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day,
With its shadows o’er me.

~ ~ ~      
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
      And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
      Because He poured out His soul unto death,
      And He was numbered with the transgressors,
      And He bore the sin of many,
      And made intercession for the transgressors.

photo courtesy christian-graphics.net

Scripture: Isaiah 53, NKJ

with O Sacred Head Now Wounded

and Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross