BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN

Sorrow from Laughter

Ecclesiastes 2:1–2 “I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?””

Ecclesiastes 7:2–4 “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”

Luke 6:21 ““Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.”

Luke 6:25 ““Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.”

Godly Grief

See 2 Corinthians 7:10–11...

1 John 1:8–9 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1 Timothy 1:15–16 “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”

See Isaiah 66:1–2...

Isaiah 6:5 “And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!””

Psalm 32:3 “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.”

Psalm 51:3–4 “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.”

Job 42:5–6 “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.””

Luke 5:8 “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.””

Romans 7:24 “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Comfort for the Mourners

See Psalm 32:1-5...

By God’s Word at last my sin I learned; Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned, Till my guilty soul imploring turned to Calvary.

Hebrews 10:10 “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Hebrews 10:14 “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

Psalm 103:11–12 “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

James 4:8–10 “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

Romans 8:15–17 “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

John 6:37 “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”

John 14:16 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,” (He will never leave or forsake us. Hebrews 13:5)