25. THE CHRISTIAN'S SORROW—Continued
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It is not sinful to be sad. Blessed be God for that! Jesus wept. Tears have often been the food and drink of God's people day and night. Sorrow is natural to men. It may become sinful, but it is not necessarily sinful. In fact, it is often a blessing, and does more good than gladness itself. Hear the wise man: "Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance, the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." The day of desperate sorrow seems to be reserved to the wicked (Isa. 17:11). To saints, no night is without its morning. Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Blessed is he who has the hope of salvation to cheer him along!
David sometimes complains that his sorrow is daily, and sometimes that it is continual. Grief is often great, and dries up the blood and spirits. Job says: "My eyes have grown dim from grief, and my whole body has become but a shadow." We ought never to allow our sorrow to become turbulent, leading us to behave like the bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. This seems to have been one of the errors into which the man of Uz once fell (Job 6:8-11).
Frequently sorrow is incurable. When it is felt to be so, we are in danger of sinking into sullenness, or of making our hearts like a stone—both very dangerous states of mind. A much better way, the right way, is in meekness to bear it, uttering no foolish words against God or man. "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sits alone, and keeps silence, because he has borne it upon him." Let the sorrowful commit their ways to the Lord. "All the days of my appointed time will I wait, until my change comes," was one of Job's wise sayings.
Stoicism is not a virtue. When God calls us to weeping, we ought to weep. Insensibility is never pleasing to God—hardness of heart under judgments is very vile. "The Lord, the Lord Almighty, called you on that day to weep and to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth. But see, there is joy and revelry!" (Isa. 22:12-1.3). To despise the chastening of the Lord is to despise the Lord Himself.
But sorrow may be excessive. It is right to mourn when God calls us thereto; but it is wicked to faint when we are rebuked by Him. Our moderation should be as clearly known in grief as in joy. God's people may not mourn the death of even great and godly men, as those who have no hope, or as the heathen do (Lev. 19:28; Deut. 14:1; 1 Thess. 4:13). We should pray that we may not have "overmuch sorrow," "sorrow upon sorrow," or "sorrow without hope," as the Bible uses those phrases.
Nor are we any more at liberty to let our sorrow become excessive, than we are at liberty to indulge mirth to wildness. The tendency of sorrow is to break the spirit (Prov. 15:13). But we must encourage ourselves in the Lord our God. When our sorrow is excessive, it is the sorrow of the world. Yet who can stand when God dispenses sorrow in anger? (Job 41:10).
It is only by the Gospel that sorrow and sighing are effectually made to flee away. Only by faith can men in this life enter into rest. Believers, and only they, can be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing (2 Cor. 6:10). To such God is indeed a stay and a friend. Hear Him: "I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul" (Jer. 31:25). By faith He, who was the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, becomes our solace and our stay. Oh, consider Him! (Heb. 12:3; 2 Tim. 2:11-13).
Our great resort in times of sorrow must be the throne of grace. Is any afflicted? let him pray. David found this the best way (Ps. 116:3-4).
Reader, are you tender and pitiful to the children of sorrow? You ought to be. "To him who is afflicted, pity should be showed from his friend" (Job 6:14). Oh, be tender, and avoid all harshness in dealing with the sorrowful.
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