Personal: Blessed Are Those Who Mourn (v4)
The blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the pure in heart, those who are pure in spirit. And lastly, v4–
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
You feel a lack. The kingdom of God has come in part, but it’s not fully here in my life, in your life, in our society, in our world. You’re spiritually hungry and thirsty for things to be right. You see people whose hearts are not pure. You recognize that your own heart is divided and impure. You sense brokenness all around.
If this is your reality, what do you do? You mourn. You mourn over personal sin. You mourn over sin in others. You mourn over sin in your church. You mourn over sin in your city, your country, sin in other nations.
Listen to what the Psalmist says in Ps 119:136 –
Ps 119:136
Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.
The Psalmist is weeping over the sins of Israel. If you see your own spiritual poverty or you see the spiritual poverty of your people, the only proper response is mourning. When Jesus began his public ministry and announced, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near,” he did not expect jubilation. He didn’t expect cheering and high fives. He expected weeping. Repent. Mourn. Weep over sin.
It’s counter-intuitive, but mourning is a sign that you are experiencing the blessing of God. Because you are seeing the world as God sees it. Is mourning a regular part of your spiritual life? Do you weep over your own sins? Do you weep over sin in others? Do you weep over the brokenness in the world as you browse CNN? Do you weep over news of cancer in the life of a loved one? Do you weep over news of a loved one’s passing? Or a family member who does not know the Lord. This is not how life as created by God was meant to be. We are broken. This world is fallen. That’s why there ought to be much weeping on this side of eternity until Jesus returns.
These are the 4 blessings that are geared to an individual as opposed to our relationships. It’s more personal and private. Blessed are the 1) poor in spirit, 2) the pure in heart, 3) those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and 4) those who mourn.
How are they blessed? 1) Theirs is the kingdom of heaven, 2) they will see God, 3) they will be filled and 4) they will be comforted.
If this is not how you conceive of the Christian life, maybe you’ve bought into the wrong gospel. A gospel where God loves me so much that He’s going to give me a bunch of stuff and meet all my desires. That’s not the gospel.
If you don’t understand your spiritual poverty, then you haven’t even entered through the front gate of the kingdom. Maybe you’re in the parking lot but you are not experiencing the full blessing that God wants to extend to you. Examine your spiritual life. Do a spiritual inventory this week. Measure your life against these verses. I pray that we can experience the blessing that God wants to give to those who are genuinely born again. If you’ve never repented of your sins and put your faith in Christ, I invite you to do so and enter the blessed life of being a disciple of Christ, a kingdom citizen, a child of God.