Homilist Ecclesiastes 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. I. SORROW SERVES TO PROMOTE INDIVIDUALISM OF SOUL. 1. A deep practical sense of self-responsibility is essential to the virtue, the power, and progress of the soul. 2. Social influences, especially in this age of combinations, tend to destroy this and absorb the individual in the mass. 3. Sorrow is one of the most individualizing of forces. Sorrow detaches man from all, isolates him, makes him feel his loneliness. II. SORROW SERVES TO HUMANIZE OUR AFFECTIONS. It helps us go feel for others; to "weep with those who weep," etc. III. SORROW SERVES TO SPIRITUALIZE OUR NATURE. There are tremendous forces ever at work to materialize. Sorrow takes us away into the spiritual; makes us feel alone with God, and view the world as but a passing show. IV. SORROW SERVES TO PREPARE US TO APPRECIATE CHRISTIANITY. The Gospel is a system to "heal broken hearts." Who appreciates pardon, but the sorrowing penitent? Who values the doctrine of a parental providence, but the tried? Who the doctrine of the resurrection, but the bereaved and the dying? (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.WEB: Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the face the heart is made good. |
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