Sorrow

“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” (2Corinthians 7:10)

Paul distinguishes between godly sorrow and sorrow of the world. They are both the same feeling in man but have different results. Sorrow of the world is caused by loss of worldly things such as loss of fortune, fame or friends. Without God, they have no hope, so their loss is hopeless. This can cause them to repent or to desperately end things permanently. Godly sorrow turns man’s heart to repentance and toward God.

The first example of hopeless sorrow in the Bible is with Cain. He murders his brother and is cursed. Cain feels the hopelessness of his situation. “And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.” (Genesis 4:13) This is the feeling of the world, when they have loss. It’s more than they can bear. So, they seek to end it permanently. Rachel had a similar feeling when she couldn’t bear children. “And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.” (Genesis 30:1) I don’t think Rachel would have taken her own life, but the feeling was so desperate, she felt that she would die. There is the example of Ahithophel who counsels Absolom. But Absolom decides to go with the counsel of Hushai instead. Ahithophel is so distraught, he takes his own life. “And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.” (2Samuel 17:23) We also have Judas who was so overwrought with what happened to Jesus because of his betrayal, he also took his own life. “Then Judas, which had betrayed Him, when he saw that He was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.” (Matthew 27:3-5) This is ungodly sorrow. It doesn’t lead to godly repentance, but death, physical death and spiritual death.

We all will go through times that are so difficult, it can cause us to give up. With God this sorrow is short lived for the believer who trusts the Lord. But both for the believer and unbeliever it can lead us to the Lord. It can be so distressful that in that sorrow, there is a realization that only the Lord can help. This is godly sorrow. It leads to the understanding that we are helpless and unable to change our circumstances. It leads to the recognition that God is willing and able to change the situation according to His Will and purposes. It leads to obedience and submission to God’s Will and purposes.

The ungodly do not turn to the Lord, but curse God and blaspheme His Name in their suffering. “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” (1Corinthians 12:3) The ungodly are enraged that there is a God Who is in control of everything. “And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores and repented not of their deeds.” (Revelation 16:10-11) And there is the crux of the thing. There are some who don’t want to submit. They are lovers of themselves and want to have the control.

David wrote: “Our soul waiteth for the LORD: He is our help and our shield.” (Psalms 33:20) The word that is missing is the word “only.” We may turn here and there in the world, but it’s “only” the Lord Who is our help and shield. In our agony, we come to the determination that only the Lord can help. We yield control to the only One Who is in control of everything. Whenever there is a tragedy in the world and we pray for those who are suffering, we should pray for God’s laborers to go forth to comfort, to help and to lead them to the only one Who is able and willing to help them. When we see our friends and neighbors suffering, whether they are believers or not, we should pray for a repentance and drawing near to the Lord. He is the hope in any situation for both the believer and the unbeliever.