Sorrow in the Christian Life
June 19, 2025
David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061
866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
The born again child of God can be very puzzled by the experience in sorrow when he thinks he should have only joy, but the Bible is very clear on this subject. There is sorrow in the genuine Christian life. Consider some examples:
- There is sorrow because of sin and our fallen condition. We live in “a body of death” (Ro. 7:24). We are subject to “the bondage of corruption” (Ro. 8:21). “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 Jo. 1:8). We have the “old man” (“that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man,” Eph. 4:22). We have “the flesh” (Ro. 13:14, “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof”). David described a severely sorrowful condition that came because of his sin. “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah” (Ps. 32:3-5). “For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (Ps. 38:4). “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice” (Ps. 51:8).
- There is sorrow because we live in a fallen world (Ro. 8:22-23, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body”).
- There is sorrow because of general affliction. The psalmist described great trials of affliction. “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?... Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me?” (Ps. 42:2, 3, 5, 11; 43:5); “my soul cleaveth unto the dust” (Ps. 119:25); “I am become like a bottle in the smoke” (Ps. 119:83); “Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within in; my heart within me is desolate” (Ps. 143:4).
- There is sorrow because of manifold trials (1 Pe. 1:3-7, “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith ...”).
- There is sorrow when God’s promises seem to fail (Ps. 77:1-9, “I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.”) (Ps. 88:14, “LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?”)
- There is sorrow because of persecution (2 Co. 7:5-6, “For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears”). (Ps. 55:3-5, “Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.”) (Ps. 109:2, 22-23: “For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. ... For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.”) Jeremiah experienced great sorrow because of persecution. “I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day. ... And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD. Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall” (La. 3:14, 17-19).
- There is sorrow because of spiritual warfare and oppression. (Mr. 14:33-34, “And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.”)
- There is sorrow because of sickness (Php. 2:27, “Epaphroditus ,,, was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow”).
- There is sorrow with those who are sorrowing (Ro. 12:15, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep”).
- There is sorrow in dealing with sin and error (2 Co. 2:3-4, ”And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears”).
- There is sorrow for the unsaved (Ro. 9:2-3, “I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh”).
- There is sorrow in chastening and discipline (Heb. 12:11, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous...”). (2 Co. 2:7, “So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.”)
All of these things are part of the normal Christian life.
God is ready to heal the broken heart (Ps. 34:18), to restore the soul (Ps. 23:3).
Christian joy is more than a feeling
- You can be sorrowful yet rejoicing (“as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing,” 2 Co. 6:10)
- Biblical rejoicing is not the same as a happy emotion. Biblically speaking, “rejoice” is a bigger, more comprehensive word than “happy.” The world thinks of rejoicing only in terms of emotional happiness, but biblical rejoicing isn’t exactly that. It is rejoicing in the sense of having confidence in Christ and resting in God’s promises and knowing that I am safe in His hands and blessed by Him regardless of what is going on in my earthly life. One’s emotional state can fluctuate even while rejoicing in the Lord. There can be sorrow in the flesh, even when there is rejoicing in the Spirit. There can be sorrow because of circumstances, even while there is rejoicing in Christ and in God’s promises.
- The joy of salvation comes by faith in the promises of God (“joy of faith,” Php. 1:25; “yet believing, ye rejoice with joy,” 1 Pe. 1:8)
Feelings cannot be controlled, but they can be dealt with properly by the knowledge of God’s Word.
- “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance” (Ps. 42:5, 11).
- Living by faith is living by God’s Word (Ro. 11:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”). Must be immersed in God’s Word. Must be a serious Bible student. Must memorize and meditate on God’s Word.
- Living by faith is living persistently. Just keep on keeping on. “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (Joh. 8:31). “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Ac. 2:42). “Continue in the faith” (Ac. 14:22). “Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day” (Ac. 26:22). “Continue in his goodness” (Ro. 11:22). “Continue in the faith grounded and settled” (Col. 1:23). “Continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety” (1 Ti. 2:15). “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of” (2 Ti. 3:14). If you fall down, get back up (Pr. 24:16, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth again...”). If you step out of the light, confess your sin and get back in the light (1 Jo. 1:5-10). If the flesh rises up, get back in the Spirit. “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Gal. 5:16-17). Never stop; never quit; refuse even to think about it. Have the faith of Peter, “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (Joh. 6:67-69).
- There is sorrow because of sin and our fallen condition. We live in “a body of death” (Ro. 7:24). We are subject to “the bondage of corruption” (Ro. 8:21). “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 Jo. 1:8). We have the “old man” (“that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man,” Eph. 4:22). We have “the flesh” (Ro. 13:14, “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof”). David described a severely sorrowful condition that came because of his sin. “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah” (Ps. 32:3-5). “For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (Ps. 38:4). “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice” (Ps. 51:8).
- There is sorrow because we live in a fallen world (Ro. 8:22-23, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body”).
- There is sorrow because of general affliction. The psalmist described great trials of affliction. “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?... Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me?” (Ps. 42:2, 3, 5, 11; 43:5); “my soul cleaveth unto the dust” (Ps. 119:25); “I am become like a bottle in the smoke” (Ps. 119:83); “Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within in; my heart within me is desolate” (Ps. 143:4).
- There is sorrow because of manifold trials (1 Pe. 1:3-7, “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith ...”).
- There is sorrow when God’s promises seem to fail (Ps. 77:1-9, “I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.”) (Ps. 88:14, “LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?”)
- There is sorrow because of persecution (2 Co. 7:5-6, “For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears”). (Ps. 55:3-5, “Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.”) (Ps. 109:2, 22-23: “For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. ... For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.”) Jeremiah experienced great sorrow because of persecution. “I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day. ... And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD. Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall” (La. 3:14, 17-19).
- There is sorrow because of spiritual warfare and oppression. (Mr. 14:33-34, “And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.”)
- There is sorrow because of sickness (Php. 2:27, “Epaphroditus ,,, was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow”).
- There is sorrow with those who are sorrowing (Ro. 12:15, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep”).
- There is sorrow in dealing with sin and error (2 Co. 2:3-4, ”And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears”).
- There is sorrow for the unsaved (Ro. 9:2-3, “I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh”).
- There is sorrow in chastening and discipline (Heb. 12:11, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous...”). (2 Co. 2:7, “So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.”)
All of these things are part of the normal Christian life.
God is ready to heal the broken heart (Ps. 34:18), to restore the soul (Ps. 23:3).
Christian joy is more than a feeling
- You can be sorrowful yet rejoicing (“as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing,” 2 Co. 6:10)
- Biblical rejoicing is not the same as a happy emotion. Biblically speaking, “rejoice” is a bigger, more comprehensive word than “happy.” The world thinks of rejoicing only in terms of emotional happiness, but biblical rejoicing isn’t exactly that. It is rejoicing in the sense of having confidence in Christ and resting in God’s promises and knowing that I am safe in His hands and blessed by Him regardless of what is going on in my earthly life. One’s emotional state can fluctuate even while rejoicing in the Lord. There can be sorrow in the flesh, even when there is rejoicing in the Spirit. There can be sorrow because of circumstances, even while there is rejoicing in Christ and in God’s promises.
- The joy of salvation comes by faith in the promises of God (“joy of faith,” Php. 1:25; “yet believing, ye rejoice with joy,” 1 Pe. 1:8)
Feelings cannot be controlled, but they can be dealt with properly by the knowledge of God’s Word.
- “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance” (Ps. 42:5, 11).
- Living by faith is living by God’s Word (Ro. 11:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”). Must be immersed in God’s Word. Must be a serious Bible student. Must memorize and meditate on God’s Word.
- Living by faith is living persistently. Just keep on keeping on. “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (Joh. 8:31). “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Ac. 2:42). “Continue in the faith” (Ac. 14:22). “Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day” (Ac. 26:22). “Continue in his goodness” (Ro. 11:22). “Continue in the faith grounded and settled” (Col. 1:23). “Continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety” (1 Ti. 2:15). “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of” (2 Ti. 3:14). If you fall down, get back up (Pr. 24:16, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth again...”). If you step out of the light, confess your sin and get back in the light (1 Jo. 1:5-10). If the flesh rises up, get back in the Spirit. “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Gal. 5:16-17). Never stop; never quit; refuse even to think about it. Have the faith of Peter, “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (Joh. 6:67-69).
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