|
It is good to be happy.
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." Proverb 17:22
"Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry."
Ecclesiastes 8:15
Happiness is to be avoided.
"Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the 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." Ecclesiastes 7:3-4
"Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep." Luke 6:25
__________________________________________________
Explanation:
Solomon, who wrote Ecclesiastes and Proverbs under God’s Spirit, expected that all people experience both sorrow and
joy. Taken the three verses above together, he is saying that a little bit of laughter is good for the soul, but sorrow teaches
wisdom and depth of emotions.
Laughing excessively is characteristic of fools, who do not carefully contemplate the troubles of this life, of themselves
and those around them. People who are always laughing may superficially feel better, but they lead a shallow existence at
best. It is this type of person whom our Christ Jesus was speaking of in Luke 6:25. It is possible that He was also referring
to the people who laughed at His doctrine. Again, I quote Matthew Henry’s Commentary on this verse:
“Woe to them that always have a disposition to be merry; that know no other joy than that which is carnal and sensual,
that banishes even godly sorrow from their minds, and are always entertaining themselves with the laughter of the fool. They
shall weep and mourn eternally, in a world where there is nothing but weeping and wailing, endless, remediless sorrow.”
|
