Scripture

Gratefully, God and the writers of Scripture don't shy away from the difficult subject of death and mourning.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Job 9:12 (NLT)
If he [God] snatches someone in death, who can stop him? Who dares to ask, "What are you doing?"


Job 17:7
My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.


Psalm 10:1, 14
Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? ... But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.


Psalm 31:9
Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.



Psalm 34:18 (NLT)

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who spirits are crushed.


Psalm 56:8 (NLT)
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.


Psalm 88:9
my eyes are dim with grief.    I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.


Psalm 90:10 (NLT)
Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away. 


Psalm 147:3 (NLT)
He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.


Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.


Ecclesiastes 7:3 (NLT)
Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us.


Ecclesiastes 11:8
However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many.


Lamentations 3:20-33 (NLT)
I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.

Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.

So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord. And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline:

Let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord’s demands. Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last. Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies.

For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.


Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.


John 11:35
Jesus wept.


Romans 12:15
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.


2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NLT)
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.


Revelation 21:1, 3-4
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared.
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”



---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All passages are from the NIV (1984) unless otherwise noted.