The Darling of Heaven

We were singing in church today and in one of the songs, Jesus was called the ‘Darling of Heaven’. We don’t hear this very often in our songs and in church, but my heart melted every time we sang that line. I’m quite certain Jesus was never called that in the Bible, though I am not sure if there were any Hebrew equivalents. I do like that name very much, because of the sense of intimacy that it invokes.

Jesus was indeed the ‘darling of Heaven’, the beloved Son of YHWH, in whom He was so very pleased. I cannot ever imagine what God must have felt, when He saw His dear Son hanging on the cross, bleeding and in so much pain. Oh, how it must have shattered His heart when He heard his darling crying out to Him, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’, knowing that He could do nothing to help His own Son. Not because he did not have the means to, but because of His love for the people of the world. It was His love for us that stayed His hand. It was His love that allowed Him to bear the pain of being separated from His Son; of having to turn away from His own Son at the hour of His greatest suffering. He knew how much it would hurt His Son, when for that tiny moment they would be separated because of the sins that Jesus bore. He knew how much His darling loved Him. He knew that His darling would obey Him. He knew that His darling would understand, because they were one. They had known each other so well. God must have been torn apart by both His love for His darling and His future darlings. It was because He knew, that one day, both of them would be wedded together - Christ and the church; the bridegroom and the bride; His beloved Son and His children whom He had called. Oh, what joy that day will be for the Father, to see His Son and the bride, joined together in eternity!