Mourning for sin and holy joy – Thomas Brooks

“As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” 2 Corinthians 6:10

Godly sorrow is the parent of holy joy; a godly man’s mourning time is his most joyful time. Tears are the breeders of spiritual joy. A holy man’s heart is usually fullest of joy when his eyes are fullest of tears. The bee gathers the best honey from the bitterest herbs. Christ made the best wine from water; the best, the purest, the strongest, and the sweetest joys are made from the purified waters of evangelical repentance.

Mourning for sin and holy joy are consistent in one and the same heart. The same eye of faith which drops tears of sorrow also drops tears of joy. A clear sight of free grace, of pardoning mercy, and of a bleeding dying Savior will fill the soul both with sorrow and joy at the same time. A Christian always joys most, and mourns most when he is most under the sense of divine love and mercy, the influences of heaven, the hopes of glory, and the precious fillings of the blessed Spirit.