Worldly Versus Godly Sorrow, 1 Sam. 15:24-35

P. Dixon 09/07/08

Do we mourn over sin in our lives? Does it cause us grief and anguish until it is confessed, forgiven and repented of? When was the last time our sin against the most holy God caused us so much grief, sorrow and anguish that, like David, our bones ached and we could not sleep? Or, like Christ, who wrestled with the idea of becoming sin so much one night in prayer that he sweat drops of blood. No, I suspect that if you are like I am, we often do not mourn over sin to that extent, but simply confess it, know we are forgiven because of passages such as 1 John 1:9, and too quickly move on.

Yet, the second beatitude says, blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (Mt 5:3). This is more than just mourning over the consequences of sin, such as physical illness, death, and other disasters. It is a mourning over sin, for it is immediately preceded by the first beatitude, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It is only the poor in spirit, the truly humble ones, who see their sins as an affront to the holy God and consequently mourn and sorrow over their sins.

There are two kinds of sorrow in scripture: a worldly sorrow and a godly sorrow. The Apostle Paul puts them together in 2 Cor 7:10, For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. The two sorrows are strikingly distinct. Worldly sorrow is the sorrow the world experiences. It is a sorrow over being caught for doing wrong, and a sorrow for the losses incurred because of such wrongdoing. It is not a sorrow for violating and personally offending the sovereign and holy God whose laws have been broken. Now there may be an outward confession, admittance, and sorrow expressed for doing something wrong, but that is only because it has resulted in the unpleasant consequences incurred. Godly sorrow, on the other hand, is a sincere sorrow and grief over sinning against the sovereign, merciful, and holy God. Saul’s sorrow in 1 Sam 15 is an example of the worldly sorrow. David’s sorrow and the sorrow of the Corinthian church are examples of godly sorrow. This morning, let’s compare the sorrow of Saul with that of the godly sorrow of the saints.

A. The characteristics of worldly sorrow and godly sorrow.

In contrast to the godly sorrow, which produces repentance leading to salvation and no regret, worldly sorrow produces one thing, death. This was so with Saul. At first glance, someone might think Saul’s confession of sin in verses 24-25, and repeated in verse 30, was sincere. But, let’s remind ourselves of what has happened to this point.

1. Worldly sorrow denies sin; godly sorrow confesses sin, 13.

In verse 13 after Saul had disobeyed the Lord by not utterly destroying all the Amalekites and the animals, Saul lies and says, Blessed be the Lord. I have obeyed he commandment of the Lord. Isn’t that incredible? Had Saul truly convinced himself he had obeyed the Lord here? Sometimes people think they have obeyed God when they pick and choose what they want to obey. They think that by partially obeying they have obeyed the Lord. But, that is a serious error, for partial obedience is not obedience. This may have been Saul’s thinking. Or, he may have known he had sinned, and was just trying to cover it up. But, falsehood makes things even worse. It is amazing God did not instantly zap him the very moment he uttered such a falsehood. The first thing we see about worldly sorrow is it denies one has actually sinned. We should not be surprised at this. The world never calls sin what it is, sin itself. In the great confessional passage, 1 John 1:9, we find it sandwiched between the two pillars of denial: If we shall we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (8) … If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (10).

Godly sorrow, on the other hand, involves an awareness that the sin is one’s own, that he or she has done it, and is responsible for it. Godly sorrow issues in a confession of sin. Its cry is the prayer of David when confronted by Nathan the prophet, I have sinned against the Lord (2 Sam 12:13).

2. Worldly sorrow deflects personal blame by blaming others; godly sorrow is associated with personal blame, 15.

Saul then says in verse 15, They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God. Saul had been caught red-handed, so his first inclination is to deflect blame toward the people. I taught public high school for a number of years. Regularly I was reminded of the natural tendency to deflect blame from oneself to others . If I caught someone talking when he was supposed to be quiet, or cheating on a test, I got used to expecting the standard rebuttal: why are you picking on me? Everybody was talking, or everybody cheats.

The world has a good precedent for denying personal blame by blaming others. It all started with Adam’s attempt to cover it up by blaming the woman God had given him. Of course, even there one is on extremely slippery ground, for it indirectly blames God. The world’s tendency to blame others, whether it be our parents, society in general, one’s spouse, one’s children, the church, or leadership itself, is part of the sin nature that God’s children must be aware of. With regard to leadership and authority it works both ways. Leadership tends to blame the people, as did Saul here; and the people tend to blame leadership. George Bush is blamed for everything that is wrong in America today.

3. Worldly sorrow attempts to justify sinful behavior by appealing to good motives; godly sorrow does not because it views its actions as against God himself, 15-20.

Saul now claims that the oxen and sheep were spared in order to have something to sacrifice to the Lord. Do you think Saul really thought Samuel would not see through this one? What is so bad about this ploy is it always is saying we know better than God. It won’t be of any value to anybody if we destroy everything, so let’s take most for ourselves, then give some to God. That makes good sense. But, it is flagrant disobedience to the word of the Lord, and it shows a lack of faith.

Godly sorrow does not seek to justify sinful behavior by appealing to good motives, because it views the sin ultimately as a personal attack against God himself. Yet, the children of God are tempted to do the same every time they hear the word of the Lord and choose to reject it, if even for a season. We are to be doers of the word and not hearers only.

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4. Worldly sorrow is driven by a fear of the people: godly sorrow is driven by a fear of God, 24f.

So, when we get to verses 24-25 this is the backdrop. The facts of undeniable disobedience have been presented to Saul. Even though he initially denied it, then blames the people, then appeals to false good motives, Samuel’s confrontation and finally the words of verses 22-23 force Saul’s confession. He can no longer deny it. Furthermore, he is fearful and realizes he is about to suffer for his sin. He is sorry he got caught, not sorry he sinned against the Lord. How do we know this? Consider his subsequent requests.

First, he confesses wrongdoing in disobeying the Lord and Samuel, but then seeks to soften the sin by appealing to his fear of the people, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. To modern day politicians this sounds pretty good. In fact, it sounds like the motto of both political parties: serving and obeying the voice of the people. But, this was a desperate ploy of Saul. A leader’s first responsibility is not to serve and obey the voice of the people, but to serve and obey the word of the Lord. And, that is ours.

In contrast to Saul’s fear of the people, David’s sorrow and confession are driven by his fear of God. The last part of Psa 51:4 says, that you may be justified when you speak, and blameless when You judge. God is holy and just. Because of this, his judgments are holy and just. We must never think anything less of God. He does not sin. We are the ones who sin. It is the godly, those justified by faith alone and imputed with the righteousness of Christ by faith alone, these and these alone who never impugn God’s judgments, who never try to excuse themselves by blaming others, by denying sin, or by comparing themselves with others, who are driven by a holy fear of the just and holy God. They know his hand of discipline. Whom the Lord loves he chastens and disciplines.

Furthermore, this fear of the people drives Saul to request that though he be rejected by God as king of Israel, that he nevertheless be honored by the people. In verse 30 he says, I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders and before Israel, and return with me that I may worship the Lord. He is not sorry he sinned against God. He is sorry he got caught and suffered the consequences of being in dishonor before the elders and people. Perhaps if he could return and worship the Lord with Samuel, then he could regain honor and standing. As the Reformed Study Bible notes say, “Saul is less concerned with being reconciled to the Lord than with finding honor before the elders” and people.

Saul requests two things: please pardon my sin and return with me that I may worship the Lord, 25. Two requests that sound good, yet Saul turns him down, saying, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel, 26.

It is interesting Saul did not say he would forgive him. Did he? If not, should he have? Was it his place to forgive Saul? First of all, it is important to remember here that God had told Samuel he had rejected Saul from being king - because Saul had rejected the word of the Lord. There is no evidence God forgave Saul, nor that he ever would. Saul had rejected the word of the Lord. That is quite an indictment coming from the Lord himself.

B. The Consequences of worldly sorrow versus godly sorrow: death versus salvation (forgiveness, repentance, joy and peace).

1. Saul was rejected by God and died in his sins.

In verse 23 Samuel says to Saul, Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king. Then after Saul requests that Samuel forgive him and return with him to worship the Lord, Samuel says, I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.

When did God reject Saul from being king? When he sinned? When he tried to cover it up? In eternity past? Certainly, according to God’s sovereign decree. But, the reason given here is not the decree. It is the rejection of the word of the Lord by Saul. Does this refer only to the time or times when he disobeyed the commandments of the Lord, or to his attempted cover-up, or to the whole thing?

The point is this. When people steadfastly refuse to submit to the word of the Lord and disobey it, they give evidence they are not of God. They have been rejected by the Lord because they have rejected his word. God judges us on the basis of our works of obedience or disobedience. Scripture tells us in the day of judgment every man will be judged according to his works. But, it is not our works that make us right with God. That is done by faith alone. Rather, our works will show us to be right with God. That is the essence of judgment according to works, and it is the meaning here with respect to the judgment of Saul. His rejection of the word of the Lord is not what determined his eternal destiny; rather, it showed his true nature as not being right with God by faith alone. The end result is death, that spiritual separation from God for eternity which accompanies all those who reject the word of the Lord. The faithful do not reject the word of the Lord. They are characterized by obedience to the commands of God. This is why John could say, by this we know we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

2. The godly sorrow that produces repentance, 2 Cor 7:10-11.

The godly sorrow of the Corinthian church produced a repentance that led to salvation without regret, as 2 Cor 7:10 says. Here is how it worked out. Paul had been shocked by what he heard had happened in the church there. A man in the church had been living in sexual immorality with his father’s wife, 1 Cor 5:1. The sin of the church was that it had not mourned over it, 5:2.

Paul though absent had already pronounced judgment upon the man (5:3) and strongly exhorted them to deliver the man up to Satan so his flesh could be destroyed, so that he could be saved in the day of the Lord (5:4-5).

He then rebukes them again for the pride and boasting (5:6) and warns them that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough, meaning such evil will affect the whole church, if it is not dealt with (5:7). He concludes by reminding them of his teaching regarding not associating with a so-called brother, if he is living in such sin (5:9-12) and to purge him from their midst (5:13).

How did the Corinthian church take this rebuke from Paul? Some time has elapsed and Paul receives good news from Titus. We pick up in 2 Cor 7:8, For even if made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it - though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, only for a little while. When they received those sharp words from Paul he felt badly about it afterwards, but he did right in sending it, for it caused them to grieve properly had he hoped. In fact, he goes on to say, he rejoiced, not because they were grieved, but because they were grieved into repenting, 9. He adds, for you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

Their response had caused them sorrow and grief, but grief that led to their repentance. Grief and sorrow always precedes repentance. It is a sorrow that comes from God, so Paul explains, For godly sorrow produces a salvation without regret. That is, once it happens any regret is not lasting, but only temporary, for it results in repentance and salvation which is the cause of great joy!

That salvation is not their initial salvation, a justification by faith alone, for they already had that. No, the salvation here is broader and points to their sanctification, their growth in the Lord. It is elaborated on in verse 11, For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also 1] what eagerness to clear yourselves, that is, this godly sorrow led to a sincere desire to clear themselves of this indictment of arrogance, pride and boasting. The child of God realizes the sin of pride for what it is and the grief caused by a confrontation of such leads him to a sincere desire to change, to clear himself of this charge. Also, Paul adds, the godly sorrow led to an 2] indignation, a genuine anger of such sin. Paul says we should be angry over sin. In Eph 4 he says, Be angry, yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down upon your wrath and so give place to the devil. But the child of God should particularly be angry over sin in his own life. Such anger is necessary for repentance. Thirdly, Paul says the godly grief leads to 3] fear. It is a holy fear of God’s wrath and displeasure. It is the fear of a child in disobedience to his father, a fear of the child of God to his heavenly Father who disciplines whom he loves.

Furthermore, godly sorrow produces 4] a longing, referring to the longing desire to restore to fellowship with the one sinned against, with God and with the offended individual. It is because of the Spirit of God working in us that we desire such longing for restoration and fellowship. It leads also to a 5] zeal, referring to a love so much for someone or something that one hates anyone or anything that harms the object of the love. Finally, such godly sorrow leads to or produces a 6] punishment, or vindication, an avenging of wrong, a desire to see justice done.

Godly grief or sorrow, then, is essential to the sanctification process, to our growth in holiness and Christlikeness. It is found only in the elect and stands in stark contrast to worldly sorrow or grief which leads only to death. As we come to the Lord’s Supper this morning we are reminded of the Lord’s grief and sorrow over sin which he was becoming. The night before his crucifixion he looked into the cup of God’s wrath which he was about to partake of, and prayed, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. His grieved so much over becoming sin for us that he sweat drops of blood. May his grief and sorrow so move us to a godly sorrow for sin in our own lives. Amen.