“…by sadness of face the heart is made glad” (from verse 3). “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning” (from verse 4).

When I first read those verses, especially the one about a sad face making the heart glad. I dismissed them. I didn’t know what to do with them, but I went back and looked at them and asked how a sad face could make a heart glad and how it could be wise to mourn.

There is one time where this is the truth. This is what wise people do. They repent. They acknowledge their sin. They cry tears. They get on their faces and mourn how they have sinned against a holy God.

David says in Psalm 51, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” He’ll then ask for the joy of salvation to be restored to him.

There is no joy in the moment of realizing you have sinned against a holy God. There is fear and tears. You ask for mercy and forgiveness. And you receive them and He lifts your head as one restored and the joy is returned.

It is wise to confess your sins to the Lord. If the Lord opens your eyes to something that is wrong, then confess. Never justify or make excuses. Be wise and mourn.

David tried to hide his sin and not confess it. Here’s how he describes that experience.

Psalm 32:3-5 (NLT) When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

It was his sad face that made him glad.

Hopefully you are never choosing to sin. If you do, you better be so mournful about it that you never want to do that again.

All of us can ask the Lord to search our hearts and show us if there is any harmful way in us and to lead us in the right and everlasting way.