David Wilkerson emphasizes the call to Christlikeness through the example of the prophet Jeremiah, who engaged his heart to seek the Lord and shared in God's burden of weeping for His people. Despite being known as the weeping prophet, Jeremiah also delivered messages of hope and glory, revealing the depth of his brokenness and the divine compassion he experienced. Wilkerson highlights that when we share in God's sorrow, we gain insight into His thoughts and the state of our times, ultimately leading us to a deeper understanding of Christ's heart. This connection allows believers to experience both the joy and pain of God's eternal heart, reflecting the essence of Christ in their lives.

Jeremiah spoke of engaging the heart to seek the Lord (see Jeremiah 30:21). Jeremiah also set his heart to seek the Lord, and the Word of God came to him. Over and over we read of the prophet, “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.” Many commentators call Jeremiah the weeping prophet, and that’s certainly true of him. But this man also brought us the happiest, most praiseworthy gospel in the Old Testament. After all, he foretold the coming glory (see Jeremiah 32:40). Now, that’s good news. The prophecy Jeremiah gives is full of mercy, grace, joy, peace and goodness. But, you see, there is a personal history behind each of Jeremiah’s words here. And that history includes a brokenness far beyond the capacity of a human being. Jeremiah wrote, “My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war” (4:19). “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (9:1). Jeremiah was weeping with holy tears that weren’t his own. Indeed, this prophet actually heard God speak of his own weeping, broken heart. First, the Lord warned Jeremiah that he was going to send judgment on Israel. Then he told the prophet, “For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation” (9:10). The Hebrew word for lamentation here means “weeping.” God himself was weeping over the judgment to come upon his people. When Jeremiah heard this he shared the burden of God’s weeping over his people. So, what happens when we share God’s burden of weeping? The Lord shares with us in turn his very mind and thoughts. Jeremiah testified of this. He was given a discerning knowledge of his times that enabled him to see what was coming. “The Lord of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee…and the Lord hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then thou shewedst me their doings” (Jeremiah 11:17–18). Any broken, Word-saturated saint will be given a discerning sense of the times. I believe God has a human heart and that heart is Christ, who is the very essence of the Father. He is the human heart of God who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He wept! He sang! He rejoiced. Precious men of God are privileged to share in the feelings, the joy and pains of this eternal human heart of God.