Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Grieving
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Psalm 139:21-22
This psalm's superscription attributes it to David. It is a part of God's Word, and therefore it was written under the inspiration of God. We have to conclude that God, under certain circumstances, permits a flawed human the right to hate. If it is all right for a flawed human to hate under certain circumstances, then it is certainly all right for the perfect Creator God to do so. As "hate" is used here, we should not conclude that God is speaking of a virulent and malignant passion that desires to destroy the life of another. The words "loathe" or "grieved," as modern translations use, defines and limits the hatred to deep sorrow for or strong disapproval of the conduct of those under discussion. David did not desire to be associated with them; he wished to avoid their company and find his friendships among those of beliefs and conduct like his. Conclusion? God does not love everybody equally, nor does He expect us to. Psalm 5:5 concurs: "The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity."
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Sovereignty of God: Part Three
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Matthew 5:4
This mourning is a meaningful, persistent grief over wrong, over something that is not right or good. But that wrong, whatever it is, is not defined here. Jesus does not tell us what we are to grieve over. He just says, "Blessed are those who mourn," who possess this deep, personal grief. Commentators are of three minds about the wrong Jesus desires us to grieve or mourn over. The first is the result of personal, bitter experience, say, our reaction when a close loved one dies. It could be an extreme experience along the lines of what Job went through: his sorrow over the loss of his children, all his wealth, and his status. That is a terrible thing to happen to an individual all at once. His whole world just disappeared, and all he had left was a wife who nagged him and told him to curse God and die. Not a pleasant situation for him at all. The calamity made Job say things he really did not mean. It made him question God. This wrong is the grief of loss and many powerful, negative shocks to the system. It is the grief of one's world falling apart. We could call it "common grief." It is the kind of deep mourning that everyone experiences at least once in his or her life because of someone very close dying. A biblical example is the grief of Mary and Martha over the death of their brother, Lazarus (John 11:17-19, 28-31).
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Mourn
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Matthew 5:4
Commentators often suppose that Jesus refers to the sorrow that comes from realizing all the suffering, destruction, and death in the world. This sorrow is a step beyond considering it the result of a personal, emotional wound upon the death of a loved one. This new perspective contemplates all the evils that cause suffering and death on earth. Those who grieve for the terrible wrongs occurring all over the globe have a soft heart for people, even people they do not know. They are often called humanitarians: They see trials and suffering, and they want to give aid if they can. While they care for others, they are heavily weighed down by the sheer amount of woe humanity experiences worldwide. Lamentations 5:1-15 contains a prayer that describes all that has occurred to Judah and Jerusalem due to its overthrow by Babylon. The author of Lamentations is actually reminding God about what had happened, setting the scene for what he writes toward the end of the chapter. It takes the form of a dirge, a sad song telling us how much death and destruction had befallen God's people. Everything is bad! In the aftermath, life is hard, and there is no hope in sight. Their lives are terrible. All they see ahead of them is drudgery and famine and disease and death. They cannot envision any rescue in their future. Similarly, Ezekiel 9:3-5 illustrates a more intense and spiritual mourning for the abominations, perversions, cruelties, and sins that cause suffering, destruction, and death in society. We can commiserate with what is written in the passage, seeing the perversity happening in the world, all the things God hates and condemns, calling them abominations. In Ezekiel 9, God says He will spare those who grieve over the depth of sin in the world and the havoc it causes. These grieving people show empathy for those who suffer from it, but their expectation is that only God can cure society's ills. They express sadness, mourning for the rotten state to which the world has fallen. Yet, they know that the only answer to the problem is for people to repent. They also know human nature and that people cannot repent unless God grants it to them (Romans 2:4). These realizations mean that these evils will go on to affect more people, part of a terrible cycle of horrible things that will continue replaying in this world until God intervenes.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Mourn
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Romans 7:13-25
Paul realized to the marrow in his bones that he was sinful. But he wanted to do what is good. He had a will of steel that kept him from committing a great many sins, but he still sinned, and he hated it every time he did. So, he was grieved deeply that he could not perform what God required of him because of that deep-set sin within human nature. Because we are so selfish, we allow human nature to lead us around by our noses and indulge ourselves when we should be sacrificing ourselves. This sorrow is what Jesus is advocating when He says, "Blessed are those who mourn" (Matthew 5:4). He wants the kind of sorrow that is grieved to our innermost being that we are not like Him, that we are full of sin, that we cannot ever seem to move beyond our carnality. We see it cropping up so often, and we hate ourselves for it. We grieve because of our weakness. This sorrow is always appropriate and applicable in our walk with God. It is a deep conviction that we are unworthy, and we are upset about it. We grieve that we cannot match the perfection of Jesus Christ. We always have miles to go, but Jesus also promises comfort at the end of that hard road.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Mourn
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