The second beatitude is, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” For weeks I struggled to understand what Jesus meant by mourning. Finally, though there are many great examples of godly mourning in the Bible, it was Psalm 51 that made it most clear to me.

David wrote this psalm after Nathan called out his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah, events recorded in 2 Samuel 11-12. The psalm is David’s beautiful repentance for his adultery and murder, sins we can all relate to.

Yes, that is a true statement. All of us should be able to relate to David’s sin! It was no accident that Jesus mentions adultery (Matt 5:27-28) and murder (Matt 5:21-22) in his sermon on the mount as being sins we commit in thought and word, and not just deed. Lust and anger are equivalent to adultery and murder in the eyes of our perfect and flawlessly righteous Heavenly Father.

If only we felt the sting of adultery with our lustful thoughts, realizing that we are cheating on our spouse (or future spouse) when we flirt with or consider someone else lustfully! If we could see ourselves stabbing a knife in someone’s chest when we get angry and then say, or even think, insulting things about them, would we be so inclined to allow these thoughts and words?

These sins are wickedness that separate us from God because he cannot be in the presence of sin (Isa 59:1-2). David recognized this, and it caused him to mourn his sin.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. (Psalm 51:8, NIV)

What are we mourning, though? If we avoided sin and pursued righteousness as acts of obedience to a harsh Master who decides whether we go to paradise or hell, the only love in our obedience would be love for ourselves, since we would be seeking our own good.

That is not why David obeyed. The object of his love and his strongest desire was not for himself.

One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. (Psa 27:4, NIV)

David adored God! He had a deep love for who God is, so full of righteousness and love and mercy and power, and he found more beauty in God than anything else. When David sinned, he recognized it as separating himself from the one he most loved and desired.

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. (Psa 51:4, NIV)

Do we feel this way about our sin? Do we feel this way about Jesus?!

With this in mind, the way we pursue godly mourning is not by looking at our sin, but looking at Jesus, seeing how lovely he is, and falling deeply in love with him. We must adore Jesus. To do this, read his word and see his beauty, meditate on his truths and understand his purity, obey his word and experience his righteousness.

Then, we will mourn when we recognize our sin, because we feel it separating us from what we most adore, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

What follows mourning is comfort, as Jesus says, which David also understood. Our sin separates, but repentance restores. David knew that God would forgive his sin completely.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. (Psa 51:7, NIV)

David knew the way to God’s forgiveness was repentance, a contrite heart that was broken and mournful over the sin, a heart that desired to be right with God.

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. (Psa 51:17, NIV)

First, we fall in love with Jesus, then we recognize the separation our sin causes and mourn this experience, and finally we experience the comfort of God’s restoration resulting from our broken and contrite heart. This cycle continues throughout our life because we can always love Jesus more, and we will never cease to sin and need to mourn that sin.

David’s wickedness with Bathsheba and Uriah occurred when he was about 50 years old, twenty years after he first became king of Judah, when he should have been well established in godly disciplines. That is why godly mourning is foundational to our faith, and something critical for every Christian to understand.

Blessings! – Shamar Covenant