The Lord Jesus had a way of turning things around. In the Beatitudes, in the Sermon on the Mount, He said first: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The poor get a kingdom.

He turned things around in the second beatitude as well. He said: “Blessed are those who mourn.” We could paraphrase it: “Happy are the unhappy.”

Whoever heard of that? Whoever heard of unhappy people being the happy ones? It doesn’t even seem to make sense. Who are these people who mourn? Who are these people who are sad, who cry and lament? Will all sad people be happy? Will all those who mourn be comforted? No. Not all who mourn are blessed.

In 2 Corinthians 7:10, the apostle Paul spoke of two kinds of grief. He called them “godly grief” and “worldly grief.” By godly grief Paul meant grief over sin. Godly grief, said Paul, produces a repentance that leads to salvation. Grief over your sin is the first step towards repenting of your sin. And it is repentance that leads to salvation. And so repentance leads to true happiness, comfort and blessedness.

But there is also a worldly grief. Worldly grief is being sad, even angry, about certain unfortunate situations – say, a bad business deal. It does not produce repentance. It does not lead to salvation and comfort.

The Lord Jesus was speaking about godly grief. He will bless and comfort those who mourn in a godly way.

We can think of the apostle Paul’s experience as he himself described it in Romans 7. He compared his life to the law of God. What did he find? He found sin. When he examined his life he discovered that he was a sinner. This made him cry out: “Wretched man that I am!” It made him mourn. He bemoaned his sinfulness.

The Word of God convicts each of us. When we hear the Word of God, then we discover that we are sinners. It accuses us. It convinces us that we are wretched sinners. We deserve the wrath and curse of God. God’s anger against sin was so great that He could not leave it unpunished. He had to punish it. In fact, He has punished sin in Jesus Christ by His bitter and shameful death on the cross.

Do you understand that? Do you understand the depths, the horror, the wretchedness of your sins? Of your own personal, sinful, wretchedness?

In James 4:9 the apostle James urged us to be wretched, to mourn and to weep. He said: “Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord.” That’s what James calls all sinners to do. To be wretched. To cry. To be dejected and humble.

Well, how is it with you? Do you mourn because of your sin? Does the knowledge of your sin make you humble before the Lord? Does it make you weep and moan? Do you cry out with the apostle Paul: Wretched man, wretched woman that I am? As you consider your sins, does your laughter turn to mourning? Does your joy turn to dejection? Do you humble yourself before the Lord?

I am not saying this to make you get a bad case of low self-esteem. We are to bemoan our sins, to humble ourselves before God on account of our sinfulness, so that God will esteem us highly. For the promise is that the Lord will exalt us if we humble ourselves before Him. James said more in the fourth chapter of his letter. Not only did he tell us to be wretched, to mourn and to weep. He also wrote, in James 4:10, “Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you.” God will embarrass the proud and self-righteous, but He will exalt the one who falls before Him in humility, ashamed of his sin.

It is the one who, with Paul, cries out, “Sinful wretch that I am!” whom God comforts by the Gospel of free grace. It is the one who asks, “Who will deliver me?” who can say, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Only such a person can say, “There is no condemnation for me, because I belong to Christ Jesus. That’s my comfort.”

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted, said our Lord Jesus.

Do your sins make you sad? Do they make you feel wretched? Do not fear. Knowledge of your sins and misery is the first step towards redemption. For godly grief produces repentance which leads to the wonderful comfort of salvation.

The Bible teaches a very deep doctrine of sin. We may not gloss over sin. Sin offends God. We understand that. And it makes us weep. But the Bible also teaches a very high doctrine of joy. God reaches down into the depths of our sadness. He sets us on our feet and wipes away our tears. He does it for the sake of His Son Jesus Christ.

And so we know true comfort. We have the comfort of knowing that Jesus Christ has fully paid for all our sins with His precious blood, that things are well between us and God.

Blessed! Happy! Happy and comforted in Christ.