They That Mourn

The Beatitudes Pt 2

Introduction

Matthew 5:4

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

It is not an oxymoron nor is it a paradox, the first five words are not a contradiction but explained by the last five.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted”

There is a reason, even an eternal reason on why they who mourn are forever recorded as blessed, it is because they shall be eternally comforted. Their lives shall have the consolation of their sorrows; just as swords will be turned into plowshares and… spears into pruninghooks (Isa 2:4), so shall our sorrow be turned into joy (Jn 16:20) and our sufferings… to… glory (Rom 8:18).

There is an eternal purpose effected in our mourning and sorrow and lamentations, with all our tears stored in his bottle and noted in his book (Ps 56:8). 

No, it is not a paradox that cannot be reconciled, it is an ever present and eternal truth for each and every person who has their life hid with Christ in God (Col 3:3). 

For not only are our souls atoned from its sin through Jesus Christ, but so too all our suffering and mournings in life, have a consolation to look forward to that none can comprehend, for “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

The scriptures alone give to us a scope of definition related to “Mourning”. There are 110 verses that contain the words “Mourn and Mourning”, and I have summarised them as best as I can in the first two outline points.

Mourning For Death And Sorrow of Heart.

Mourning For Sin With Conviction of Soul.

As to the blessed nature of those who do mourn and the future comfort that identifies them as blessed, I have sought to summarise my consideration in the last two outline points.

Blessed In Mourning With Joy For Our Part.

Blessed Eternal, This Life To Console. 

Pray

Mourning For Death And Sorrow of Heart.

Matthew 5:4

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Mourning For Death

The first mention of mourning is found in Genesis 23 and somewhat sets the initial theme that we can all identify with naturally with regard to the general definition of the word, that is, its frequent relationship to “Death”.

Genesis 23:2

2 And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

“Mourning” is related to death in the fullness of the book of Genesis. 

It is a deep sorrow that leads to often to tears;

…and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

In Genesis 50 we see that the word is also linked with a synonym that brings to us a scope of meaning, it is a word parenthesized by “mourning”, and it relates to the death of Jacob, the father of the 12 tribes of Israel;

Genesis 50:10

10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

No less than 24 verses in the Bible directly link “Mourning” with “Lamentation”, and about 45 passages in the Bible link Lamentation, Mourning and Sorrow with death.

All the occurrences of Mourning in Genesis relate to Death.

Other than the Lamentation for the loss of the Ark of God in 1 Samual, the first 11 mentions of the word “lament” or “Lamentation” is also related to death and continues into the New testament with the burial of Stephen, where they made “great lamentation over him” (Acts 8:2).

The word “sorrow” can also be applied in this way, though not as consistently as Mourning and Lamentation.

In a little over a week I will be presiding over a funeral. The death of a husband and a father, a brother, uncle and nephew. 

His story is somewhat an outline for this passage as there is both mourning and joy mingled in his passing. 

Here was a man who had no desire for God, no need of him, and the casual aspect of life was simply carrying him through day by day. 

His son shared the hope of Christ with him and, later on when she came to the Lord herself, so too did his wife. But there was little interest in the things of eternity, as we see in most people who have their entire lives ahead of them.

But mortality is swallowed up of life (2 Cor 5:4) when the prospect of death is knocking. 

 When the threat of death came, so too was the promise of life sought for, and found. Now, blessed are they that mourn.

Comfort is given often in the Bible respecting those who have mourned the loss of a loved one. 

Isaac was comforted by Rebekah after the death of his mother Sarah in Gen 24:67. 

Joseph sought to comfort his brethren after the death of Jacob their father in Gen 50 (19-21) and David was comforted after the death of his Amnon.

We find however, some who also refuse to be comforted. Some choosing rather to mourn all the more for their loss; 

Jacob refused to be comforted concerning what he believed was the death of his son Joseph in Gen 37:35, “for” said he, “I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him”.

Rachel also, “lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.” (Mt 2:18).

Death so naturally triggers the sorrow of heart that is “mourning”, a “lamentation” and such sorrow that leads just as naturally to tears and weeping; sometimes desiring to be comforted and sometimes choosing, all the more lamentation rather than comfort.

Both are seen in the scriptures as normal and neither indicate a right or wrong response. 

The greatest sorrow that I have seen and can only imagine experienced, is the mourning and lamentation over the loss of a loved one that is filled with regret;

Words that have been left unsaid.

Promises, unfulfilled.

Wrongs, unforgiven.

Forgiveness, unexpressed.

People that we know we have sinned against, loved ones most especially; fathers and mothers, children…

The mournful regret that could certainly have been mollified, certainly healed and certainly amended….as much as it depends upon you.

Romans 12:18

18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Beloved, if your own sin has played a roll in the breakdown of a relationship with a loved one, the mourning you may experience has risk of even greater sorrow and lamentation if the death removes opportunity for reconciliation.

18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Sorrow of Heart

But another form of mourning that, though similar respecting the death of those loved, has its sorrow deep in the heart for other reasons.

It is the sorrow of heart that mourns for the malady of others, the sin of others. 

It is a form of vicarious suffering that is not necessarily experienced by those who are being MOURNED for, but for those who mourn.

1 Samual 15 is the first time we see this kind of mourning.

1 Samuel 15:35

35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

The sin of King Saul had caused the loss of his Kingdom before God and the loss of favour with God, and Samuel mourned for Saul. 

Mothers experience this form of mourning more than any other group of people. They live vicariously through their children.

Proverbs 10:1

1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

Mothers experience the foolishness of their children well before the children experience the consequence of sin. Just as Samual mourned for Saul, so too we can mourn for the FUTURE CONSEQUENCE of those out of favour with God.

We know the outcome before it occurs and we mourn for them. 

Parents mourn and lament the bad decisions of their Children.

Pastors mourn and lament the backsliding of his sheep

    God mourns and laments the ungratefulness of those he has blessed.

Beloved, do not be the cause of mourning and lamentation of God. 

Trust him and draw near to him. For it is certain that, as Saul could have pleased Samuel by faithfulness to the Lord, so too will you rejoice the heart of Pastors, Parents and loved ones when you draw near to the Lord.

Mourning For Sin With Conviction of Soul.

Matthew 5:4

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

While the references to mourning in the entire book of Genesis relates to death in one form or another, there is another form of mourning that occurs in the next appearance of the word after Genesis, it is a “mourning” due to the consequence of SIN.

Yes, Mourning for Sin (or more accurately, its consequence)

After Genesis 50, the next appearance of the word is Exodus 33 and it is a telling employment of its use.

You will recall Exodus 32 gives the account of the sin of the people in making themselves gods of Gold and their worship of the golden calf, while Moses was on the mount after God had delivered the people from their bondage in Egypt.

Now, in chapter 33, God rebukes them for their sin and the people mourn for the evil news that is given them.

Exodus 33:2–6

2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: 3 Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way. 4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. 6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.

Beloved, there is a consequence to sin! 

And while we may enjoy sin for a season, it will be the consequences to sin that will govern our days once the pleasure of sin expires.

The Bible tells us that the ULTIMATE “wages of sin is death” (ROM 6:23), but there ARE natural consequences to sin in this life that will cause us to MOURN.

Some of those consequences are relatively SHORT term. They may come in the form of a serious rebuke (as we see here), or they may come in the form of a loss of privileges (Anything from a drivers licence to freedom). 

Sometimes, like what we had seen respecting King Saul, its a DEMOTION. Individuals we had placed in a position of leadership or authority, betray the roll through sin and must be returned to their former state for a time.

This occurs in Church as well as it does in employments beloved, and it is natural to mourn the consequence of our sin. 

(Though far too often we wont see OUR own sin in the matter, thereby guaranteeing the likelihood of another offence).

Now, repentance and an apology will effect two areas; 

     the first is it begins the process of restoration, 

     and the second is it potentially LIMITS the cost of consequence. In other words, it can be short term.

In Numbers 14 is the first time we see the consequence played out LONG TERM, and the people mourn. 

Numbers 14:34–39

 34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. 

35 I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. 

36 And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, 37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.

39 And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.

The sin of King David with Bathsheba, his repentance seen historically in 2 Sam 12:13, and also in the written form of Palm 51, WAS FORGIVEN;

2 Samuel 12:14

14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

The consequences still had to play themselves out. And they did so beloved. 

God told David through Nathan, that evil will arise out of his own house, and what he did secretly God will deal with PUBLICLY and this is exactly what occurred to him through the revolt of Absalom his third born son.

Beloved, it is true, you may have come to Christ and your sin has been forgiven with heaven as your hope and home, but the temporal consequences to sin are written into the fabric of creation and will play themselves out. 

Indeed, God has mercy and grace and all this can be shown even by the limitation of that consequence when there is repentance for that sin, nevertheless that which is not repented for will still have a natural consequence in this life. 

Children who dishonour their parents will see life shortened than otherwise would have been if they will not repent.

Fornication will result in broken hearts.

Theft will result in broken lives.

Deception will result in disillusionment. 

At least 20 different passages I had noted concern with mourning directly for the consequence of sin, but that respecting the final Judgment of God will be the last and most acute consequence of all.

Those who have rejected the word of God and its warning will mourn the loss of all that is good and lament the trials of a bitter day.

Amos 8:9–12

9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: 10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. 

11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

How did this come about? 

Because people did all they can to avoid this form of mourning. 

They reject any admonition, they reject any rebuke and they “heap to themselves teachers having itching ears”.

They would rather have even no pastor than one who may convict of sin.

In the end…..the WORLD WILL MOURN!

Blessed In Mourning With Joy For Our Part.

Matthew 5:4

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Before Jesus went to the father he spoke to his brethren and revealed to them a wonderful truth.

Turn to;

John 14:15–18

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 

18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

John 14:25–27

25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Even before our Saviour lifted his eyes to the Lord in his wonderful prayer of the 17th chapter, we see him here promising to provide The Spirit of God to all who have believed in his name, to comfort them.

Christians, that is, all who are truly born again, have a sate of being and life that has abiding with them and IN THEM…The Comforter, the Holy Spirit of God, to bring comfort in time of mourning and lamentation.

When I see the world as it is and experience the sorrows of the turns of life, I now wonder how it is that people can live without the Lord in them.

THERE IS A JOY FOR OUR PART, a joy and a hope that has its PEACE, not in the world, nor the things of the world, not as the world gives it…. but in Christ through the Spirit of Christ within us the moment we were saved.

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 

The people of the world today are filled with fears and anxieties and stress in life, because they  do not have nor can have the Spirit of God in them until they turn to God and pray he saves them.

There are times however beloved, that our love for the World sees that we too sometimes find ourselves also filled with fears, anxieties and stress in life, why?

We often “sorrow …even as others which have no hope” (1 Thess 4:13)

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

It seems that too often we “let … our hearts be troubled….”.

John warned of this in his letter to the Church.

1 John 2:15–17

15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

When we choose to turn back in love for this world, we receive that which this world offers…the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

WE DO NOT RECEIVE COMFORT, we do not receive peace.

The ONLY reward for our trust in this temporal life, are the fears, the anxieties and the stresses that pertain to it. 

But when our focus is on things above, on that which is eternal, the peace Jesus leaves us is the peace we enjoy.

We are BLESSED IN MOURNING, for THERE IS JOY FOR OUR PART. 

It is true that…

7 … man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. (Job 5:7).

We find as Esther and her brethren found, that our “sorrow is turned to joy, and from mourning into a good day” (see Esther 9:22-25)

God has a way of reconciling our sorrows practically, and yet he would have us encouraged to trust him patiently, to rest in the comforter given us.

Our sorrows and mourning WILL NOT endure for ever. 

The trials and trouble to those who Know CHRIST is TEMPORARY, …weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. (Ps 30:5b)

Blessed Eternal, This Life To Console. 

Matthew 5:4

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

So we have looked at;

 1/ Mourning For Death And Sorrow of Heart.

2/ Mourning For Sin With Conviction of Soul.

3/ Blessed In Mourning With Joy For Our Part.

And for this last it is

4/ Blessed Eternal, This Life To Console. 

Beloved, mourning and lamentations are the deepest troubling of the heart, yet it has an eternal promise to console the life.

Our mourning is the most sorrowful expressions of loss and trouble that a person can endure. 

They are based on that which is REAL rather than imaginary. 

They are not anxieties or fears, they are the sorrows that compass a man or a woman due specifically to loss AND sin.

Your loss or the loss of others / Your sin or the sin of others.

But there is a time coming where there will be no more sorrow, no more mourning, no more grief and lamentation. Every tear wiped away and joy unspeakable will fill our days.

A time when “…the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Rom 8:18).

Therefore there are two final things I want to leave you with.

The first is DO NOT DESPISE THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD!

Proverbs 3:11–12

11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: 12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Yes, there are times in our life when we SORROW and MOURN our OWN Sin, do not despise this nor cover it over, for there is even then an eternal work being done with us.

Do not be as the ancient Israelites who preferred their prophets lied to them, to speak unto them “smooth things, prophesy deceits” (Isa 30:10)  than to bring out the truth of their sin.

Do not be like the Last Days Christians who wish their senses dulled, to be “passed feeling” (Eph 4:19) and thereby “heap to themselves Teachers having itching ears” who will “not endure sound doctrine” (2 Tim 4:3).

For these receive no eternal benefit, no true soothing FOR the soul. 

They prefer like the drugs of the modern pharmaceuticals, which mask ONLY the SYMPTOMS and not the malady.

Do not despise correction or the chastening of the Lord.

The sorrows and sadness you experience for sin is working an ETERNAL work in you that you ought not neglect.

Turn to Eccl 7

Ecclesiastes 7:2–3

2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

David wrote; 

Psalm 119:71

71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

Secondly; The PAIN we experience is working an ETERNAL work in us and should NEVER be masked over.  

It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. 

We would not turn to the Bible as often as we do if it were not for the afflictions of our lives. 

Our Children are growing up in a world where everything seems to come easily. 

Days when the heating and cooling is set at “COMFORT” levels, never experiencing the natural extremes of our environment.

Trigger Warnings on our entertainment, Safe Spaces in schools. The moment someone is sad, we call it a Mental issue rather than a SPIRITUAL ONE, and we work to soothe it quickly.

The minute the dog dies, we buy a puppy…God forbid that we mourn and sorrow too long.

The minute we sorrow for sin, we reach for anti-depressants… God forbid we turn to the Lord and REPENT!

Beloved, we have set a “Climate Control” on our heart and we need to unplug it.

Turn to 

1 Peter 1:6–7

6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Beloved, there is an eternal work that is being done within you. 

God has his perfect way to soothe the soul and it is through the sorrows of heart that comes through our mourning and lamentations.

Blessed Eternal, This Life To Console. 

There is coming a CONSOLATION for this life that is BEYOND OUR ABILITY TO APPRECIATE TODAY. And it comes all the more glorious through the mourning and lamentations we endure.

Whether it come upon us from the outside, or whether it be even self inflicted, do not despise it, GROW THROUGH IT and REJOICE.

James 1:2–4

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Matthew 5:4

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Amen!