Night of Weeping

by Horatius Bonar

Does God correct his people? The church is being influenced by materialism and selfism. Some Christians believe that God shows his approval by the amount of material blessing they receive whilst on this earth. The concept of a God who would use poverty or pain in order to help them grow spiritually is totally alien, if not blasphemous. Yet God tells us in Hebrews 12:6 (quoting Proverbs 3:11f) that 'whom the Lord loves, he chastens'. In Revelation 1:9 we are told that we are 'brothers and companions in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ'. The path of the Christian is not an easy one, but it is one of great reward - just as Christ's path was. As Bonar says in the preface ' the way is rough, and the desert blast is keen.' But, for those who accept God's chastisement, 'He will satisfy their craving souls; He will turn their midnight into noon; He will give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness,'

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Christianity

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Horatius Bonar (19 December, 1808 – 31 May, 1889) was a Scottish churchman and poet.

The son of James Bonar, Solicitor of Excise for Scotland, he was born and educated in Edinburgh. He comes from a long line of ministers who have served a total of 364 years in the Church of Scotland. One of eleven children, his brothers John James and Andrew Alexander were also ministers of the Free Church of Scotland. He had married Jane Catherine Lundie in 1843 and five of their young children died in succession. Towards the end of their lives, one of their surviving daughters was left a widow with five small children and she returned to live with her parents. Bonar's wife, Jane, died in 1876. He is buried in the Canongate Kirkyard.
In 1853 Bonar earned the Doctor of Divinity degree at the University of Aberdeen.

He entered the Ministry of the Church of Scotland. At first he was put in charge of mission work at St. John's parish in Leith and settled at Kelso. He joined the Free Church at the time of the Disruption of 1843, and in 1867 was moved to Edinburgh to take over the Chalmers Memorial Church (named after his teacher at college, Dr. Thomas Chalmers). In 1883, he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland.

Reviews

[Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs]

When I read this tract by the redoubtable Christian apologist Horatius Bonar, it HIT ME WHERE I LIVE.

How many evangelical works can we say that of? Not many. But the real key lies in our own receptivity. If we’re not ready to DROP EVERYTHING for a good book, it may well leave us cold.

Same thing goes for personal encounters with the Divine Spirit. If we’re NOT ready to meet Him, the experience may only appear to be one of sweet serendipity.

But, no - actually, the most fertile side of us for a heavenly encounter is on our personal Dark Side of the Moon.

Remember that blockbuster album from the 1970´s by Pink Floyd? God loves to meet the Loser, the Derelict, the hopeless Outcast in all of us UP CLOSE - just like that face-to-face encounter with Moses that scalded his appearance and flatlined his ego.

I had a dream of such an encounter last night. No, no - there was no bright shining moment, for the time of this encounter was in my alert DREAMTIME. And sure, it involved a mental voyage through my mental “dark side of the moon” as is the way with MOST dreams, so the atmosphere was gloomy...

But it was as if the Spirit was painting a picture with my own memories in an encounter with my deepest sensibilities.

It was a bleak and somewhat lonely dreamscape, as I think most dreamscapes often are.

But it CONNECTED ME WITH ALL MY INNER HURTS, making me understand that a lofty Kindred Spirit FELT THEM TOO.

Just so, Bonar’s 19th century tract deals with the inner and outer deprivations of a suffering family who find a sense of unbreakable resilience in their faith. But its tenor is traditionalist - not modernist - so his hints of Victorian sensitivity may not be attuned to modern ears.

Be that as it may, the takeaway message from all this is that our closest meetings with God are often in the loneliest places.

And those encounters can be the Most Productive.

[Mattie Thompson]

Written to the family of God. As such He dwells in the midst of it, cares for it, and watches over it. His dealings with it are those of a father - fond yet strict - loving yet wise - sitting among His children, having His eye on each, and ordering in his gracious wisdom all the concerns of His household.

[Aurimas Gudas]

Knyga, kurią labiausiai verta skaityti kančios laikotarpiu. Dieve, kur Tu?! man patiko daug labiau.

[Chad]

Biblical guidance on how to have comfort in, and spiritual profit from, suffering. It points to God‘s goodness and the benefits in this life and especially in heaven. It's packed with Bible verses. It's somewhat repetitive.

The audiobook uses modern English, but for ease of copying and pasting, my quotes below are from an older version from Monergism (which lacks many of the Bible references the audiobook includes).

Notes
The Family
"And though their present condition be a lowly one, their prospects are the brightest that hope ever painted, brighter than what eye hath seen or ear hath heard." (1 Cor 2:9)

The Family Life
Looking ahead to heaven brings comfort in this life (2 Cor 4:17; 6:10; Ps 16:5-6; Isa 35:10; 1 Thess 4:13-18; 1 Cor 15:53-54; Rev 7:16; Heb 4:9; Phil 1:21; Rom 8:18; Jn 14:2; 1 Pet 1:3-5).

"Why should we, who shall wear a crown and inherit all things, sigh or fret because of a few years' poverty and shame?"

The Family Emblem
Jesus suffered, so we shouldn't think we don't need to (Mt 10:17-26; Heb 2:10; 2 Cor 4:10).

God chastens His children (Heb 12:6-8).

No matter how difficult life is, Jesus gives peace (Jn 16:33).

The Family Discipline
God loves us, and won't do us wrong. He won't inflict needless suffering. (Ps 119:75)

Suffering helps us learn the Bible better (Ps 94:12; 119:71).

While suffering, we may not feel that we're profiting. That may come later.

The Family Rods
When wicked defeat saints, it's only when God allows, and only in this life, so we shouldn't fear (Ps 112:7).

Illness exposes our idols of "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life" (1 Jn 2:16).

Illness shows the limitations of earthly things and other people to help us, and causes us to rely on God (Job 23:10; 33:19).

Chastening yields righteousness (Heb 12:11).

Suffering tests our faith and produces patience, which produces perfection (maturity) (Jas 1:2-4).

Poverty causes us to prize Christ's riches (1 Pet 1:6-7).

When others maliciously damage your reputation, remember God knows the truth.

When friends abandon you, remember Jesus is still your friend.

God intends good in our suffering; He's pitying and merciful (Jas 5:10-11).

God chastens us so we won't be condemned (1 Cor 11:32).

Trials produce perseverance, character, hope (Rom 5:3-5).

The Proving
Do you have a right to be angry or complaining toward God when He's forgiven you (Ps 103:3, 12), delivered you from judgment (1 Thess 1:10) and evil world (Gal 1:4), given Jesus as your friend, given His love, given Kingdom as your inheritance?

The Reproving
We shouldn't overlook God's lighter rebukes (lesser suffering), or God may need to bring greater suffering so we pay attention.

Our foolishness is making our voyage a rough one, but it is homeward bound. All these many blasts and billows are toward Canaan, not away from it; and sometimes, from their topmost crest, we get a brighter glimpse of our eternal heritage than from the level calm of more unruffled days.

The Purifying
God may send trials due to our particular sins, so it's worthwhile considering which sin(s) have brought the trial, but not obsessing over figuring that out; it's better to repent of all our sins.

God prunes us to make us more fruitful (Jn 15:2).

The Awakening
Chastisement wakes us up spiritually, and motivates us to work harder.

Chastisement motivates us to pray, because it removes our earthly comforts and drives us to God, giving us a greater sense of nearness to Him (Rom 8:26).

The Seriousness
We should be "too happy ever to be gloomy, but too happy also ever to be light or vain."

The Warning
Affliction warns us not to love world, showing how empty it is (1 Jn 2:15). It causes us to desire Him and His Kingdom instead (Ps 16:11; Isa 33:17; Rev 21:18-21).

Suffering shows the vanity of our idols.

Chastisement drives us to Jesus, and our focus on Him fights our selfishness.

The Recollections
We should reflect on God's chastisements and His grace in them (Deut 8:2-5; Josh 23:14; Rom 8:28).

Chastisement may be more profitable to us after it has ended, as we reflect on it (Heb 12:11).

The Consolation
Take comfort in the glory that awaits you (1 Cor 2:9; Heb 11:16).

The Father thought the glory worth the suffering and death of His Son, so we should think it's worth our lesser suffering in this life (Rom 8:18).

We're made like Christ in suffering (Col 1:24), just as we'll be made like Him in joy. "To be treated better than Christ was is neither what a thoughtful soul could expect, nor what a loving heart could desire."

All things work together for the good of God's people (Rom 8:28).

Affliction helps us learn more about God.

Trials make us more useful to God (2 Tim 2:21).

We deserve nothing but affliction. Any joy we have is by grace (Eph 2:7).

The Eternal Results
We suffer with Christ now, and will enjoy glory with Him later (2 Tim 2:12; 1 Pet 4:13).

One hour of eternity, one moment with the Lord will make us utterly forget a lifetime of desolations. … Our sorrows here are but adding to the weight of our eternal crown. … Need we then grudge or rebel against that which is preparing for us such glad and sure results?

Be comforted by looking ahead to the rewards of heaven (2 Cor 4:17; Rev 2:7, 17; 3:21; 7:16-17; 21:7; 2 Tim 4:7-8; 2 Pet 1:11).

For affliction not only profits us much just now, but it will serve us much in eternity. Then we shall discover how much we owe to it. All that it is doing for us, we know not now, but we shall know hereafter. It is preparing for us a "more abundant entrance," a weightier crown, a whiter robe, a sweeter rest, a home made doubly precious by a long exile and many sufferings here below.

[Emily Stem]

I don’t necessarily agree with everything Bonar describes about Christ’s character but I’m allowing the cultural and generational difference to account for that.

[Becky Pliego]

A little book filled with biblical words of comfort for those going through the valley of afflictions.

[Katie]

Joni Erickson Tada found this book to be very helpful to shape how we think about our sufferings and God. I would agree.

[☾❀Mirelle✩]

"We cannot be trusted with too full a cup, or too pleasant a resting-place. We abuse everything that God has given us, and prove ourselves not trustworthy as to any one of them. Some God cannot trust with health; they need sickness to keep them low and make them walk softly all their days. They need spare diet, lest the flesh should get the mastery. Others He cannot trust with prosperity; they need adversity to humble them, lest, like Jeshurun, they should wax "fat and kick." Others He cannot trust with riches; they must be kept poor, lest covetousness should spring up and pierce them through with many sorrows. Others He cannot trust with friends; they make idols of them, they give their hearts to them; and this interferes with the claims of Jehovah to have us altogether as His own."

[Craig Williford]

At heart, Bonar is a poet and so his writing is brimming with images, contrasts, and warmth. Here, he builds out a helpful and comforting metaphor of family and the first 2 chapters are worth the whole book. The sections I most dreaded on discipline also ended up being really practical and insightful. Puritan Work #2/24

[Steven Gattuso]

Horatius Bonar wrote "Night of Weeping" about 175 years ago. It has been variously subtitled "When God's Children Suffer" or "Why God's Children Suffer".
Even today, in many parts of the world, it is dangerous to be Christian. But even where it is safe, the genuine Christian should expect and will experience suffering. This may take many forms, of course, and degrees of severity. Some lose friends for proclaiming God's truth. Some are imprisoned, tortured, or killed. Some are afflicted with illness or disease. But a Christian whose life is untroubled and one of ease should question his level of commitment.
Why is this? The great apostle John who wrote "God is Love" was cast into boiling oil. It is said he miraculously survived, but the other apostles were martyred by one cruel means or another. Why this universal "Problem of Pain" of which C.S.Lewis writes?
When Bonar wrote so long ago, it was much more readily assumed that man was sinful and in need of correction. This correction implies deprivation and maybe even painful consequences. Paul goes so far as to say,"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted". 1Tim.3:12. Why?
We must think of God as perfect Father, perfectly loving and unrelenting in His fervent desire to drive out our selfishness, our sinfulness. If we regard sin as an obsolete, archaic concept with no real meaning, God will not trouble us, He will let us be. We are not His children.
But if we will know the Father in His goodness, His greatness; He will be known by us, but not without cost, and the cost will not be small. There will be a new you, transformed, reborn. There will be inner peace, joy. But only if we submit to the Father and His Word until He calls us home.
This short work of 111 pages can be read in one or two sittings. Bonar expands upon these themes in various ways and rather poetically. This was my third reading and perhaps not my last. The lessons are timeless, but easily forgotten.

[Rocky Henriques]

Updated for the modern reader

I had never read Horatius Bonar before this, and I encourage others not to make the same mistake I did. Understand, even the updated version is not a quick read, as Bonar's work is not fluff! Read it slowly, carefully, and with a mind to soak up the insights he has in the Word of God and the subject of suffering in light of eternity.

[Gabriel Magill]

Bonar is an author that was completely unknown to me, but he has a way with words that is powerful and profound. So many thoughtful, quotable lines in this short work. It’s always hard to rate books on suffering when you are not in the midst of suffering yourself, but I think this book would minister to any Christian wrestling against hardships.

[Grace]

Glorious.

[Connie]

Beautiful book

I so enjoyed this book. I’ve been going through a lot and this helped me to understand the importance of staying focused on God and not turning to man.