“Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, For that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”
Hmmm…is live so weary, dreary, and meaningless that we’re better off just being sad all the time? I don’t think so. At least it’s not that way for the Christian. So is that what this passage is talking about?
Or is it talking about the importance of expressing sorrow over the sin and vanity in the world?
Either way, here is what I get from it. The world is full of vanity and iniquity and those reasons should cause us to feel sorrow. But at the same time, life should not be characterized sadness all the time. Jesus gives us reasons for living and reasons for smiling and laughing. Jesus gives us joy despite the sorrow we bring upon ourselves.
A wise man sorrows over sin,
But foolish men don’t care.
The wise want not to sin again,
For sadness lingers there.
A wise man isn’t always sad,
For his sin is washed away.
The wise man often will be glad,
For life is real each day.
