The Grieving Of The Lord

The Grieving of the Lord

Consequences to Breaking God’s Heart

The world view of God is a somewhere out there Deity, Whom has no feelings toward our lifestyles down here. There is a One true God, there is no other. (Deuteronomy 4:35) He cannot be over thrown, He cannot be bribed, He cannot be deceived, He can be praised by His children, and He can be hurt by those He has created.

In the Bible there is a truth which should awaken our hearts, “it grieved Him to His heart.” (Genesis 6:6) This truth is found in another passage of Scripture which tells us God has emotions which are affected by the actions of mankind. In Psalm 78:40 we read “How often they rebelled against Him…and grieved Him.” To grieve (????? ?a?a?) the Lord means to hurt Him or to cause Him pain. (Baker, W., & Carpenter, E. E. (2003). The complete word study dictionary: Old Testament (p. 858). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.) Willful disregard of God’s will, purpose and directions pierces the Lord’s heart with mortal anguish. (Keil, C. F., & Delitzsch, F. (1996). Commentary on the Old Testament (Vol. 1, p. 88). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.)

Parents who have sacrificed time, strength, and finances to protect, provided and enable their children to achieve their goals in this life – know this grief when their children are unappreciated of what has been done for them. Just as a husband is grieved to the heart when he sees his wife in the act of adultery, the Lord is grieved when mankind adulterates their lives with a world view which is lied to by the Devil, who entices the flesh. Just as a mother is grieved by a wayward child, the Lord is grieved by a backslidden Christian and an adulterated church.

The Lord is Grieved (????? ?a?a?) When

John Piper wrote, “…it is not for lack of compassion that men perish, but for lack of heart that delights in the God of compassion because of hard and rebellious hearts.” Mankind is compassionate to fulfill their dreams, to live what they believe and to express their view point. Sinful mankind has no regard for what the Lord wants and no desire to seek out His will. It is this type of heart which grieves the Lord who made “everything in it and gives mankind life.” (Acts 17:24-25)

The Lord is grieved over a stubborn hard heart. We see this in Mark 3:1-6 when the religious leaders were looking to see if Jesus would heel on the Sabbath so they may attack and tear down His character. Many people today are like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, grieving the Lord as they are looking for reasons to not except Him, reject His love, guidance and despise His authority over them.

The Lord is grieved when a nation sheds the blood of the innocent and is governed by lies and deceits’. The Bible says, “There are six things the Lord hates, even seven things that are an abomination to Him.” (Proverbs 6:16) Two of them are: “…a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.” (Proverbs 6:17)

The Lord is grieved when mankind turns a blind eye to sin. The Bible says, “…they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God…” (Romans 1:28) “…although they know God’s righteous degrees, [they continue to sin] and approve of those who practice [sin].” (Romans 1:32) Just as God sent the Apostle Paul to address sin in the Corinthian church, Christians with the New Testament appointment of apostles and prophets (Ephesians 4:11-12) need to rise up and confront the sins of today.

The Lord is grieved when His ministry is compromised: The author of the Book of Jude “warns Christians to guard against compromise. …He challenges us to keep ourselves faithful in the love of God. For he knows what is healthy for our souls and life.” (Barry, J. D., Mailhot, J., Bomar, D., Ritzema, E., & Sinclair-Wolcott, C. (Eds.). (2014). DIY Bible Study. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press)

In the book of Jude, under the preoccupy, “The Sin of the Ungodly” we read, “I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men …have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” (Jude 1:3-4) “…they follow their own desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.” (Jude 1:18) The cancers of denominationalism, legalism, traditionalism, faddism and self-indulgence are killing spiritual growth placing spiritual leaders under the warning found in Malachi, “‘If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor My name,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings.’ ‘…For the lips of the priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.’” (Malachi 2:2; 7)