Why Are We Mourning?

Psalms 137:1-2 By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it.

The psalmist records a very sad time in Zion. The Israelites were in bondage to the Babylonians who, based on the psalmist's account, were extremely cruel to them. But why were they in captivity once again? It was their own doing, for their disobedience to the Lord's command to let the land rest on the seventh year. For this reason they found themselves in captivity for seventy years. Nonetheless, it is a valuable lesson for us today, when we find ourselves in the midst of the consequences stemming from our own disobedience. Do we truly repent and mourn? James reminds us that we must humble ourselves, "Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom." (James 4:9) Jesus told us in Matthew 5:4, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Notice the contrast in times of suffering. If we suffer for Jesus' sake, for the sake of doing what is right, and as a result end up being persecuted; then we are to rejoice, and turn to Jesus to find peace and joy. However, if our suffering comes as a result of our own disobedience and choice to sin, then the Lord tells us to mourn in repentance; for only then will we find true comfort. Sadly, most of us claim to repent, but in reality we are only sorry that we got caught. We mourn, not because we sinned against God, but because we lost something we held more dear to us than the relationship we have with Jesus. Although we are to seek forgiveness from, and reconciliation with, the people we sin against; most importantly we must seek to get right with, and be reconciled to, the Lord. We must stop playing the "I'm sorry" game, and start repenting, confessing, and truly mourning our sins. When we find ourselves here, which inevitably we will, we need to ask ourselves, "Why are we mourning?" If it is anything less than mourning for sinning against God and how it hindered our relationship with Jesus...then we are mourning for the wrong reason, and there is likely no true repentance.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 7:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).