Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be
comforted. (Matthew 5:4 KJV) |
When we are mourning, we seek comfort.
It is a blessing to know that we can find comfort in God. King David
knew this, for he wrote "Yea, though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:
for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
(Psalm 23:4 KJV). God gives comfort to
those who know Him, but many people do not know how to find comfort in
God. David again provides an answer: "Increase
my honor, And comfort me again." (Psalm 71:21 WEB).
He knows that he only has to ask God for comfort in order to receive
it. David shows us another way to find comfort in God. "I will delight myself in your commandments,
Because I love them. I reach out my hands for your commandments, which
I love. I will meditate on your statutes. Remember your word to your
servant, Because you gave me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction,
For your word has revived me. "
(Psalm 119:47-50 WEB). When we love God
and His commandments, we find comfort in His holy Word.
The written word is not the only place to find comfort in God. Isaiah
prophesied that the Messiah would bring comfort: "The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me;
because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble; he
has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to
proclaim the year of Yahweh's favor, and the day of vengeance of our
God; to comfort all who mourn".
(Isaiah 61:1-2 WEB). John later explained
to us that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, was the living Word: "The Word became flesh, and lived among us.
We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth." (John 1:14 WEB).
It was Jesus Christ that told us of this blessing in Matthew 5:4. He
went on to say that He would send another comforter after His
resurrection: "And I will pray the
Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with
you for ever." (John 14:16 ASV).
Jesus described this Comforter, who is also called a Counselor: "But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things,
and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you." (John
14:26 ASV). Now, we know that if we are believers, we
have the Holy Spirit: "... God's love
has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was
given to us." (Romans 5:5 WEB).
As believers, we are entitled to the comfort that the Holy Spirit
brings to us, just as He brought comfort to the early church: "So the assemblies throughout all Judea and
Galilee and Samaria had
peace, and were built up. They were multiplied, walking in the fear of
the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit." (Acts
9:31 WEB).
God has also empowered us to bring this comfort to each other. As
believers, the Holy Spirit dwells inside of each of us: "Or don't you know that your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God? You
are not your own." (1 Corinthians 6:19 WEB).
It is through God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit - the blessed
Trinity working in perfect harmony - that we are able to share our
comfort with others: "Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God
of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be
able to
comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which
we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ
abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ." (2
Corinthians 1:3-5 WEB).
Blessed are they that mourn: for they
shall be comforted. (Matthew 5:4 KJV).
Although we may not understand this concept at first glance, mourning
is an opportunity to get closer to the Lord. After all, we are children
of the Living God, and we can cry out to Him as our loving Father: "And because you are children, God sent out
the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, 'Abba, Father!'"
(Galatians 4:6 WEB). He will hear us and
He will comfort us and He will help us to comfort each other.