SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/4/2020
10:53 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “Proper
Mourning”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:4
Message of the
verses: “4
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
We spent some time looking at
improper mourning in our last SD, and so today we want to look at some things
about proper mourning today, which could be seen as sorrows as these sorrows
bring about mourning.
I have heard at different times in
my life that a person is not able to cry over perhaps the death of a loved one,
and it is said of them that they need to cry.
Why do you suppose that this is true, the need of crying? MacArthur writes “To express these sorrows
and to cry over them opens an escape valve that keeps our feelings from
festering and poisoning our emotions and our whole life. It provides the way for healing, just as
washing out a wound helps prevent infection.”
A couple of days ago I got a phone call a 1-800 phone call, something
that I rarely answer, but I did answer it then.
The phone call was from a lawyer’s site, a lawyer who is actually one of
our President’s lawyers. The lady was
looking for a donation as this lawyer is and has been working on getting Rowe V
Wade overturned and stated that there is much progress being made. All of a sudden I had a hard time talking to
her because of emotions that came up in my heart over this awful practice that
has kills millions and millions of innocent babies. I had a hard time even finishing the call,
especially after she asked me to pray over this, something that I told her I do
most every day. I have to say that after
reading about proper mourning that this was exactly what I was having then, and
something that I should continue to have.
When trouble comes we actually learn
more and mature more from times of sorrow than from times when everything is
going well as seen in a poem written by Robert Browning Hamilton:
“I walked a mile with Pleasure
She chattered all the way,
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne’er a word she said,
But, oh, the things I leaned from her
When Sorrow walked with me.”
I told a brief story of a Pastor
friend of mine and how today, three years ago that his beloved wife went to be
with the Lord. It kind of reminds me of
when Abraham’s wife Sarah died, Abraham was the “father of the faithful” as
seen in Gen. 23:2, and he did not weep from lack of faith but for the loss of
his beloved wife, and just like my friend he had every right to do so.
John MacArthur writes “Loneliness
for God, from whom he felt separated for a time, caused the psalmist to
declare, ‘As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O
God. My soul thirsts for God, for the
living God’ when shall I come and appear before God? My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been
my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’
(Psalm 42:1-3).”
Paul
wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:3-4 when defeat and discouragement was causing
Timothy to mourn “3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way
my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, 4
longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.”
We
will look at some more Scriptural examples, Lord willing, in our next SD as we
try to complete this section.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: The section from Psalm 42:1-2 has always been
a favorite of mine to read, and it gave new meaning to me as I went over it
today.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Desire to learn more about proper mourning,
to learn more about contentment, and humility along with having a joy as I
study God’s Word.
4/4/2020 11:28 AM
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