From Mourning to Comfort
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)
In a world obsessed with bad news, we are strangely allergic to mourning. Man will part with arm and leg, but he will not part with his comfort. How many people have justified scandalous sins with one simple statement – “God just wants me to be happy.” Of course! God wants families to drown in debt, to live in broken homes, and to approve of abounding lawlessness so that you can be happy. It sounds ridiculous when phrased that way, doesn’t it? Jesus does not say, “Blessed are the comfortable,” or “Blessed are the happy,” but “Blessed are those who mourn.” Jesus’ greatest concern is not earthly pleasures but a godly people. Therefore, the next step in our understanding of godly character is godly mourning.
If mourning is to be blessed, the question must be asked: what should we mourn? The mourning is not earthly. We suffer acutely from F.O.M.O – the fear of missing out. This has led to much moaning, but this is far from mourning. We suffer the loss of fame and fortune, but this leads to more moaning, but not mourning. Herod and David committed the same sin, and both listened to God’s prophet. Herod feared his company; David feared his God. Herod moaned over his situation; David mourned over his sin.
Those who would be blessed must be washed in tears of repentance. This is the spiritual mourning of which Christ speaks. We mourn over our sin and squalor. Who cannot hear these Beatitudes dripping from the mouth of the perfect Son of God and not have their eyes pouring over their own imperfections? Yet this beautiful Son was marred beyond all human semblance for the imperfections by which we marred ourselves (Isa. 52:13, 53:5). And yet, we continue to cling so dearly to the sin He has taken from us. Is this not cause to mourn? The striking of the Son should flood our stony hearts with tears of repentance.
As the old writers once said, “conviction fits us for comfort.” God knows the proud from afar, but He dwells near the broken hearted and contrite in spirit. Like a loving father, God sends the most aid to those in the deepest agony. As Thomas Watson says, “Outward comforts can no more fill the heart than a triangle can fill a square.” If we want true and lasting comfort, He will fill our emptiness from His own fullness, our mourning with the comfort of His Spirit, our sorrow with the joy of His presence.
“Rejoice, then, you sad-hearted,
who sit in deepest gloom,
who mourn over joys departed
and tremble at your doom.
Despair not, He is near you,
yea, standing at the door,
who best can help and cheer you
and bids you weep no more.”
(Paul Gerhardt, “O Lord, How Shall I Meet You”)
