| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 14 |
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“Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.” Weeping is not usually considered a blessed condition. We do not think of those having sorrow as fortunate. We pity them, and think their condition most unenviable. Here, however, is a special beatitude for mourners. Probably Jesus meant particularly those who are sorrowing on account of their sins. In all this world there is nothing so precious before God as tears of contrition; no diamonds or pearls shine with such brilliance in His sight. It was Jesus Himself who said that there is joy in the presence of god over one sinner that repents on their earth. Truly blessed, therefore, are those who grieve over their sins; a holy light shines from heaven upon all such mourners. They are comforted with God’s pardon and peace. But the beatitude refers also to those who are in sorrow. Blessing is never nearer to us than when we are in affliction. Someday we shall see that we have received our best things from heaven not in the days of our joy and gladness, but in the time of trial and affliction. Tears are lenses through which our dim eyes see more deeply into heaven and look more fully upon God’s face than in any other way. Sorrows cleanse our heart of earthliness and fertilize our life. The days of pain really do far more for us than the days of rejoicing. We grow best when clouds hang over us, because clouds bear rain, and rain refreshes.
“Blessed are ye, when man shall hate you.” We do not like to be hated. Nor can everybody who is hated take shelter under this beatitude. Many people deserve to be hated. It is only those who are hated for being and doing good who can claim this blessing. If any of us are suffering in this way, here is comfort for us. There have been times in the history of the Church and in the history of almost every great reform when those who would be loyal and true could be so only at the cost of losing their friends, often at the cost of property and reputation, even of personal liberty — sometimes of life itself. We must read down to the end of the verse before we begin to congratulate ourselves that the hatred we find in our neighbors toward us is a mark of God’s favor. “For the Son of man’s sake,” the verse reads.
“Woe unto you that are rich! For ye have received your consolation.” Evidently it is not very safe to be rich. It is not easy to be rich and to be a good Christian. Jesus said a great many words about the rich and about riches which show that they who have wealth are in a perilous position. People would not think of a prosperous man, a man growing rich, as especially needing the prayers of a congregation. Yet perhaps this is the very man in all the community who most needs to be remembered with prayer. Those who are rich or getting rich would better look well to their spiritual state.
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