"Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah; I drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for over your summer fruit and your harvest the shout has ceased." -- Isaiah 16:9

There are many who refer to the Old Testament writers as "Prophets of Doom". There are also many preachers who have taken the roll as "Prophets of Doom" in the pulpit. They preach with a fiery presentation of God's condemnation of sin and the rebellious. But, one must ask... does God take pleasure in the death of the wicked?

According to this passage, Isaiah was moved to tears as he announced the coming judgment of God. His sorrow was so overwhelming that he spoke of drenching tears. The passage seems to express both the prophet's heart and the Lord's. God chose a man who would proclaim both the message and mind of God as spoken of in Ezekiel 33:11, "... As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live..."

The question is my friend, do you weep over the lost? When you see great rebellion or wickedness in your community or nation and those who persist in sin, are you just angry? Or are you saddened to the point drenching tears? Before we shout words of judgment, we need to join the prophet of old in weeping for the wicked and pray for their salvation. Consider the heart of Jesus as he approached Jerusalem in Luke 19:41-42, "And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!"