James 4:9

"Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom."Be miserable" -Notice the word 'be'. This must be. voluntary mourning. True repentance, in the end can't be forced. "Miserable"-"be wretched" (Arndt p. 803); "mental wretchedness brought about by the realization of their sinful condition" (Roberts p. 168)"and mourn" -to mourn over their own selfishness and unfaithfulness (Matthew 5:4; 1 Corinthians 5:2; 2 Corinthians 12:21)."and weep" -Such repentance must be more than just mental or theoretical. "It describes the sense of wretchedness and misery that sinning should produce in the lives of those who have been redeemed….It is obvious that James is calling for genuine repentance, not some casual apology or mild expression of regret" (Kent pp. 150-151). How many of us have truly grieved over our sins? (Matthew 26:75 "he went out, and wept bitterly"; " Luke 7:38). Why is it that we can grieve over the loss of. job, promotion, lost love and so many other things, but we can't grieve over our own selfishness?"let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom"

Points To Note:

1. James isn't arguing for. gloomy view of life, but there are times when laughter is inappropriate (Ecclesiastes 2:3; Ecclesiastes 2:3). We can be tempted to make light of our sins. 2. God wants us to be filled with joy (1 Thessalonians 5:16), but how can we be joyful, how can we laugh when there is sin in our lives? How can we make merry as long as we are being. friend of the world? How can we be happy as long as our hearts are not pure?