No hand but a divine hand – Thomas Brooks

God makes my heart soft.” Job 23:16

Sorrow for sin is one part of true repentance.

A sincere mourning is a deep mourning; it springs from serious and deep apprehensions of the great anger and deep displeasure of God, and of the woeful nature, demerit, burden, bitterness, vileness, and filthiness of sin. Oh the sighs, the groans, the sobs, the tears, which are to be found among repenting sinners.

No man is born with godly sorrow in his heart, as he is born with a tongue in his mouth. Godly sorrow is a plant of God’s own planting; it is from God, and God alone. The spirit of mourning is from above; it is from a supernatural power and principle. There is nothing that can turn a heart of stone into flesh, but the Spirit of God, Ezek. 36:25-26. Godly sorrow is a gift from God. No hand but a divine hand can make the heart soft and tender under the sight and sense of sin. Nature may easily work a man to mourn, and melt, and weep, under worldly losses, crosses, and miseries; but it must be grace, it must be a supernatural principle, which must work the heart to mourn for sin.

“God makes my heart soft.” Job 23:16

Godly sorrow is a sorrow for sin as sin. Godly sorrow is a mourning rather for sin than for the trouble which sin brings; it is not so much for loss of goods, lands, wife, child, credit, name, etc., but for that a holy God is offended, a righteous law violated, Christ dishonored, the Spirit grieved, and the gospel blemished, etc. Peter’s sorrow was godly, but Judas’ sorrow was worldly; Peter mourns over the evil of sin, but Judas mourns over the evil of punishment.