Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

I. In the last lesson we studied the attitude of “poor in spirit”

A. Paul Earnhart described it this way: ” Here it is applied to the sinful emptiness of an absolute spiritual bankruptcy in which a person is compelled to plead for that which he is powerless to obtain and to which he has no right, but without which he cannot live.”

B. It is an attitude of complete humility, emptying oneself of pride to become a vessel filled with God to be used to His glory, reflecting the life of Jesus in his own life.

C. Once a person has emptied himself, he is ready to begin the process of transformation reflected in the other beatitudes.

D. The next characteristic of the kingdom citizen is the comforted mourner

II. Mourning defined

A. Not the general mourning of loss or disappointment such as the loss of a loved one to death, lost job, unmet expectations that are common to all men

B. This mourning comes to one who is humble, “poor in spirit,” who realizes his sinful condition in the presence of a holy and righteous God and his powerlessness to change the situation.

1. If you review your life you will see many times when you have failed to live up to the holy life to which you were called.
   • The proud person explains it away with “everyone is a sinner” or “nobody’s perfect” and the ignorant person thinks it is unimportant to consider.
   • The “poor in spirit” will be disappointed with their choices and saddened that they didn’t obey their loving Father.
2. The “poor in spirit” also realizes that they are entirely dependent on the mercy and grace of God to remove their sin and cleanse their heart.

C. This mourning does not lead to despair or hopelessness, but comfort in the arms of God.

III. The fruit of spiritual mourning is repentance

A. Corinthian church

1. 1 Corinthians 5:1-7 – the Corinthian church knew it was wrong that one of their members had his father’s wife but they became proud and would not address the sin.
   • W. Mc Garvey notes that it was not only a sin under the Jewish law but even in the moral cesspool that was Corinth such a relationship was considered abominable.
   • Instead of sorrowing with the man over his condition, they were arrogant and allowed the sinful and immoral condition to persist, defiling their fellowship.
   • Paul told them to “deliver him to Satan,” withdraw fellowship so that he would see the severity of his sin and as an earthly representation of the fellowship with God that had been severed.
2. 2 Corinthians 2:4-11 – the result was the repentance of the Corinthian church and the man who was involved in the sin
   • When he repented, his fellowship was restored with God and Paul urged the Corinthian church to restore their fellowship with him and comfort him
   • Though the process was painful, the result of mourning was spiritual comfort
   • Godly sorrow produces repentance, 2 Corinthians 7:6-13

B. Psalm 32:1-11

1. Blessedness on the one who is forgiven expressed by David
2. When pride did not permit David to confess his sin is poisoned him inside and crushed him
   • There is often a physical and emotional anguish when we know we have sinned and are not moved to seek God’s forgiveness.
   • It can become spiritually septic and poisonous and will eventually separate us from God because we cannot bear the pain of our sinfulness and the knowledge of our refusal to humble ourselves to the throne of grace.
3. When he repented, his heart was relieved and he found comfort and rest in God’s presence
4. At the end of the Psalm he said one should not have to be forced into such a state but should willingly seek to live in God’s light and seek His mercy when he sins.

C. Psalm 51

IV. Background

• David had committed adultery with the wife of a trusted soldier then had the soldier killed along with other soldiers to cover his transgression.
• David married the widowed Bathsheba and thought the matter was hidden—how clever!
• But God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David, 2 Samuel 12:1-15

David did not kill Nathan or deny the charge, he confessed his sin

Though he was forgiven, he had great consequences for his unrighteousness.

1. In this Psalm David expressed his desire to be cleansed from sin and purified
2. Like Psalm 32, his greatest regret was that he rebelled against the God that he loved
   • I think as our love for God grows stronger the pain of our sin will as well.
   • This might be a test of whether we say we love God or we love Him in the depths of our heart: how do we feel about our sins? Are we casual because forgiveness is freely given or saddened because we violated the sacred trust of our relationship with God?

V. Steps of Spiritual Mourning

A. In humility, let God expose your sinful thoughts and actions through His word (Hebrews 4:12-13)

1. When a person’s sin is exposed, possible reactions are to ignore it, excuse oneself, explain the sin away, or accept it with sorrow and seek repentance.
2. The arrogant claims to be without sin or that his sins are not serious enough to incur God’s wrath.
3. The humble realizes his tendency to sin and will ask God to purge him from iniquity, cleanse his heart from unrighteousness, and make him like Jesus

B. Have true godly sorrow and mourn because of your sin

1. Mourning because you were caught in a sin is rooted in the prideful self. Likely you would have continued in the sin if you would not have been exposed.
2. Mourn because you sinned against God and your actions were disgraceful in His sight.
3. Romans 6:1-4; 12-14

C. Let godly sorrow lead you to repentance and comfort

1. It is popular in the religious world to remain and delight in one’s “brokenness” instead of changing.
2. God calls us to repentance so He can heal us, Acts 2:38, 3:19; 1 John 1:8-10

VI. What is your attitude towards your sin today? Mourn so you may receive comfort