During the difficult years of the 1960s, popular music in America was a strange mixture of protest and patriotism. Some songs lashed out against war, greed and injustice in society, while others affirmed duty to country and traditional values. But “Pack Up Your Sorrows”, written by Richard Farina and Pauline Baez Marden, seemed to fit all of the categories with its focus on the quest for personal peace. The chorus says the following:

Well, if somehow you could pack up your sorrows, / And give them all to me / You would lose them, I know how to use them, / Give them all to me.

Perhaps everyone hoped that someone really could bring them peace.

The good news is that there is Someone who can! Isaiah 53 is a picture of the promised Saviour. Christians see its fulfilment in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows . . . . He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the [punishment] for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (vv.4-5).

Jesus took our sins and sorrows on Himself so that we could be forgiven and have peace with God. Will you give Him your sorrows today?

No sorrow is too heavy for our Saviour to bear.

Author

David C. McCasland

Topics

Our Daily Bread