Worshiping With Good Grief

The phrase “good grief” is sometimes used to express frustration or impatience. But when you enter into a time of grief, it is anything but “good,” until you discover the good of grief.

Grief means loss. Grief is bitter loss. Bitterness is what is left over after everything has been taken away. It is the dregs of life, the bitter pain of emptiness and sorrow. The Hebrew word for “bitter grief” is maraw, and is used throughout the Old Testament to describe sorrow and the loss of everything.

In the book of Ruth this is the word that Naomi picked for her new name as she came back to Bethlehem completely destitute (Ruth 1:20). She was a picture of the whole nation of Israel at the end of the period of the judges. So, how could there be any such thing as “good grief” when this experience is the loss of everything? Hold that question for a moment.

In 1 Samuel 30, you find the story of when David and his men returned home to Ziklag only to find that it had been raided by the Amalekites. The Amalekites were the terrorists of the Old Testament. All of their wives, children, and property had been violently taken and everything had been burned to the ground.

It says that David and his men became “very maraw,” (1 Samuel 30:6) This word maraw is used many times in the OT but only here is it described as extreme. The word maraw is already extreme, but with this little adjective, it is multiplied. This could be described as the worst possible day imaginable in your life. Then, to make matters worse, if that is possible, it says that David’s men, in their bitter grief, plotted to stone him to death. They blamed David and David’s God. The bitterness of blaming others and God is sometimes the result of horrendous loss and grief.

But in that same verse, 30:6, there is another word that describes David’s response to this situation. It is used in the phrase, “But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.” The word is a powerful Hebrew word, kazak! An exclamation mark is always associated with this word in defining it! It literally means to have a death hold on someone or something. This is when you are hanging onto the end of your rope, with a big knot on the end! It is used in Judges 13 – 16 describing the strength of Samson. 

Here is the point: when David lost everything, including his reputation, and was about to lose his life, he grabbed on to God and would not let go! This is what it means to worship the Father in spirit and truth with good grief! Now you can turn loose of the question from the third paragraph. Until you get to the place where you can turn loose of the bitter questions in life and with a greater strength, not of this world, lay hold of God with everything He has in Himself for you, the bitterness of maraw will define your life.

The strength of kazak comes from worshiping God, especially when everything else seems to be gone. It is a heart that is set on the Lord as it’s life, so that when everything else in life has gone south and the wheels have fallen off, there is God holding everything together with His powerful hold on you!

Today, set your heart on the Father, through faith in Jesus Christ His Son, and by the Holy Spirit living in you, with you, through you, as you, there will be an eternal reserve of supernatural strength, kazak, the good grief. It glorified the Father in spirit and truth.