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Baruch 4:22. "For I have put my hope in the Everlasting to save you, and joy has come to me from the Holy One, because of the mercy which soon will come to you from your everlasting Savior."

 

Baruch is personifying Jerusalem as a mother to her children in exile. It is Jerusalem who tells her people to "take courage ... cry to God, and he will deliver you from the power and hand of the enemy." (Baruch 4:21). She has put her hope in God to do this, and feels joy because of the mercy which will soon be shown to her children.

 

This verse is a primer in consolation, showing us how it works. In times of distress and uncertainty, especially when we realize we can do nothing on our own to alter the situation, we turn to God and put all our hope in Him, as Jerusalem did. God often does not answer our direct desire right away, but when we have put our hope and trust in Him completely, we can feel joy, even as the situation continues. We know God is in control, that He is all good, and that He will make all things work for good. Consolation grows in the realization of God's power and love, because we have turned to Him in trust. We know that God will eventually show His mercy to us or the people for whom we are concerned, just as Jerusalem had the joy of knowing that the mercy of God would soon come to her children.

 

Consolation does not come from having our prayers answered. It comes, rather, from the peace and joy we receive from putting them in God's hands and trusting in Him completely.