The sorrow of the world is the grief and mortification of disappointed worldlings, of those who know not God but whose trust is in themselves or in some arm of flesh. They have relied for prosperity from the world, and the world has sadly failed them. They have sought satisfaction from its broken cisterns, only to have their hopes dashed. The bitter springs from which their ambitions have proceeded are pride and carnal self-respect, and their motives and occasions for indulging the same are as manifold as the deceitful lusts of the flesh. But frustrated plans and defeated expectations sour and enrage, and nature’s greenness is turned into the drought of unrepentant grief. So far from leading the soul to God, it fills with wrath and enmity against Him. Its miserable subjects seek consolation from the world, endeavouring to drive away serious reflections by drowning themselves in its pleasures.

The sorrow of the world does not arise from just views of sin, nor does it proceed from any concern that God has been offended. It does not lead the soul to God in true penitence, nor turn to Him for consolation. The sorrow of the unregenerate is occasioned by temporal losses, which fill them with chagrin and dismay; by crimes which incur public disgrace for their perpetrators and their families; from the squandering of a goodly heritage which terminates in poverty and despair; from wandering from the path of chastity, and in consequence losing their good name among men: from intemperance and reckless living, which ends in ruined health and vain regrets for having played the fool. In all such cases there is no contrition of heart for having violated a righteous Law, offended a kind Creator, or been an occasion of stumbling to their fellows. It is only that they are incensed at the harvest which follows their evil sowing and fretful because lack of money or health prevents them from continuing such excesses.

There are some worldly men who experience religious convictions, and they are grieved because they cannot obtain Heaven in their own way. This is seen in the case of the rich young ruler who came to Christ, but who, when he learned that denying of self was required of him, “went away sorrowful” (Matt. 19:22). There are those who have a sense of eternity, and yet are wedded to their lusts. They desire happiness hereafter, but they will not forsake their idols now, and so they are troubled. They cannot have Christ and the world—Christ for their consciences—and the world for their affections. They are unwilling to break away from the love of this world so that they might be saved in the world to come, and therefore are they grieved that they cannot have both. A pertinent case in point is that of Balaam.

Such “sorrow” as we have referred to in the above paragraph is but a superficial and transient emotion which has no lasting and spiritual effects. Alas, of its possessors it has to be said, “your goodness is as the morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away” (Hosea 6:4). Their weeping eyes soon dry up, as we see in the cases of Esau and Ahab. Again—such sorrow is occasioned not by mourning over sin as sin, but over the retribution it brings. A solemn example of this appears in the life of Pharaoh when the Divine judgments were upon his kingdom: “Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, Entreat the LORD, that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people” (Exo. 8:8). Note well it was not, “Entreat the LORD to remove my pride, my obstinancy, my hatred of His people; but only let the plague be stayed.” Contrast the prayer of David under similar circumstances: “take away the iniquity of Thy servant” (2 Sam. 24:10)—not take away the pestilence from my land!

“The sorrow of the world worketh death” because that is the appointed and inevitable fruit of the impenitent workings of an unregenerate will. It is a great mistake to suppose that the natural tendency of trial and trouble, loss and pain, is unto good. Not so: their trend is rather to excite rebellion against God. It is only when our sufferings are Divinely sanctified to us that they are made to bring forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Just as surely as happiness is the attendant of holiness, so misery is the certain entail of sin. When the worldling’s dream of natural happiness has been dispelled by crime, by misfortune, or by the long-resisted Spirit of God, he feeds only on the sour bread of selfreproach and unblessed woe. He often willfully accelerates the desire for relief which he vainly hopes to find in death—which so far from ending his sorrow only conducts him into the blackness of darkness forever.

“The sorrow of the world worketh death”—temporal and eternal. “Death” is to be taken here in its widest latitude, including all the disastrous consequences of sin. The results of godly sorrow are salutary, the effects of worldly sorrow are abortive and evil. They produce only ill health and distress, and are attended with no consolation or compensation. The sorrow of the world debilitates the body, disturbs peace, impairs the mind, and breaks the spirit. There is no contrite seeking unto God on the part of the suffering one, but only a fretting and murmuring against Him. The more miserable a man becomes the harder his heart: “they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds” (Rev. 16:10, 11). Worldly sorrow is the certain prelude to desperation unless God prevents, as witness the horrible cases of Saul, and Ahithophel.