Genuine, godly grief over sin leads to repentance.   #daybydaylw   Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org!   ~~~   After having read of the horrible crimes of King David against Bathsheba, Uriah, and all of Israel in 2 Samuel 11, chapter 11 ends by saying, “But the thing that David had done displeased (troubled) the LORD.” But this is not the end of the story. Between the end of chapter 11 and the repentance shown in 12, at least 9 months have passed, and a baby boy has been born into the house of David. But something else has been going on in that 9 months. It wasn’t all bliss and baby showers. David recounts it for us in Psalm 32:3 “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” Notice what David is saying. When David was under the conviction of his sin, yet was still quiet about his sin, he was consumed, racked with the guilt of his crimes. He thought the cover-up would alleviate his soul. If he could just get away with it, then he wouldn’t have to speak of it any longer, but he forgot the convicting work of the word of the LORD. He felt the weight of his sin pushing him further and further to the depths of despair. When he refused to acknowledge the depth of his sin, his body ached and deteriorated. He had very little strength to face day after day after day. We could easily say that David was in the throes of depression. He was in mental and spiritual anguish over what he had gotten away with. He was sorrowful, soaking his bed with tears at night. But this was not complete repentance. Tears (sorrow) alone is not proof of repentance. Paul writes to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 7:8-9 “For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that the letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” We see here that Paul acknowledges that to be grieved does not automatically equal biblical repentance, but only if it is godly grief will it lead to repentance. There is a type of worldly grief, or a grief that is not a working of God upon your life, and that type of grief does not work repentance, but eats away slowly at your soul, leading to death. Think of Peter and Judas. Both denied Jesus. Both betrayed Jesus. Both suffered under the heavy hand of grief, but only one of them was suffering under godly grief that led to biblical repentance. The other died in his worldly grief. My friends, we must be able to discern within our own lives, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the difference that exists between sorrow and true repentance. Tears over sin, conviction of sin, even confession of sin does equate to biblical repentance. Those are all lead ups to repentance, but they can also be evident in those that never repent. How many people do you know who have cried over particular situation they have caused, or have been sorrowful over a circumstance brought on by his or her sin, and yet, after the tears, after the initial emotional response, after the comforting hugs, the same action prevails with no remorse? Many times the sorrow is there because a person is caught in their sin. Many times tears are there because the person knows they have disappointed a significant person in their life. Sorrow can be present for a host of reasons, but tears alone does not equal repentance. How many revivals over the last 30 years have you seen take place, with people coming forward, weeping at the altar, show up for the next couple of weeks to church, and then disappear? Do you, dear brother and sister, know the difference in your own life between tears alone and Biblical repentance?