August 14 – Those Who Mourn (Psalm 38)

“I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.”(Psalm 38:6)

IN WORD:
We would not normally consider those whose eyes are rubbed raw with grief to be blessed. But there is a despair that is honored by God. It is despair over the human condition, despair over our sin, despair over the ravages that this planet has seen since the Fall. God gives us a word of hope: There will be comfort in the end.
David grieved over his sin with Bathsheba (Psalm 51). But that is not the only psalm that begins with despair; many of them do, and they almost always end in joy. Those who cry to God in their distress will eventually find their crying utterly worthwhile. It’s a promise: He turns our mourning into dancing (Psalm 30:11). Those who sow in tears will reap in joy (Psalm 126:5). It’s a repeated story throughout Scripture: Dread, despair, hopelessness, tears, and pain will end in victory, promise, hope, comfort, and peace when God is involved. He always brings life.

IN DEED:
What do you do with your pain? Do you allow it to discourage you and destroy your faith? Do you lose hope in the midst of a trial? Don’t. God does not mean for you to become so pre-occupied with trouble that you lose sight of Him. He especially does not want us to become so pre-occupied with our sin that we lose sight of His forgiveness. There is no comfort in that. And God is a God of comfort.
The sorrowful soul is blessed indeed if the sorrow is one of repentance and truth. Our lament over the ways of this world and the ways of our own heart is entirely appropriate, and God wants all of us to spend some time there. But He does not want us to stay there. In the midst of our pain, God speaks promises. In the depths of our sin, He speaks redemption. In the far reaches of our grief, He reaches even farther. He promises comfort to those who know the grief of this world. He offers Himself in comfort.

“In every pang that rends the heart, the Man of Sorrows has a part.” -Michael Bruce-