Comforted
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4, NIV)
Wisdom is less about what we know and more about who we know. In its opening pages, the book of Proverbs tells us the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. To know the Lord is to fear Him. I’d like to explain what I mean by that and how it relates to Jesus’ second beatitude.
This well-known Bible phrase, “the fear of the Lord,” is one that I have really struggled with over the years. In my teaching, I’ve described it as reverent respect or awe. But the fact is this explanation falls flat. At least for me, it does.
So, for the last couple of weeks, I have spent a lot of time praying/thinking (yes, the two go together) about the fear of the Lord. I won’t share all of my thoughts on the matter. I am, however, considering addressing the subject in a book or maybe some future podcasts. But I do want to share with you an insight that came to me just this morning.
I write monthly devotionals for Living Life Magazine. Each month, our writing team is assigned various Bible passages as we lead our readers through different Bible books. For the second month in a row now, we’ve been working on Job. My assignments for the month included the final chapters of Job when God finally responds to Job’s questions and complaints.
Where were you? sums up God’s response to Job pretty well. The Lord recounts for Job His work in creation as He laid the foundations of the earth, as the angels sang His praises in the heavens, and even as the mountain goats and the wild ox (interestingly enough, the King James Version translates the Hebrew word as “unicorn”) run free beyond the understanding and control of human beings.
After God is finished with His cross-examination of Job, He asks him for an answer. Job responds by clapping his hand over his mouth. I like that. That’s a sign of wisdom. It reminds me of God’s question to Ezekiel about the dry bones in the valley of death - Can these bones live, son of man? Ezekiel’s answer? Lord, you know.
But now, back to the fear of the Lord and the second beatitude and how all this relates to poor Job.
Job has spent the entire book in intense mourning. He has lost everything, including his wife (who urged him to curse God and die) and his children. Through it all, he has ruthlessly pursued God, seeking an answer to his suffering. But the truth of the matter is God doesn’t answer Job’s questions.
What God does do is reveal enough of His infinite knowledge and universal might to help Job realize there are some things in this life we do not have the ability to comprehend. We are too small. As the psalmist declares, What is man that you are mindful of him?
This is the beginning of wisdom - recognizing how small and weak we are in this vast universe in which we find ourselves.
And it’s important to note that Job gained this wisdom only through the deepest suffering. It is that suffering that allows him to say in Job 42:5, My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.
The word for mourn in Matthew 5:4 refers to the deepest sorrow known to human beings. It was used to describe the mourning for the dead. And I want you to note the blessing that comes with this kind of mourning - they will be comforted. This speaks of intimate, personal heart-to-heart comfort. In The Message, Eugene Peterson translates it this way -
You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
The deep sorrows we experience in life are rarely understood or explained. They do, however, lead those who pursue God in their suffering to an intimacy and comfort beyond what any answers may bring. And this, in turn, leads to wisdom.
In Christ,
Dan
Check out my podcasts from Church on the Edge and my books on Kindle.