Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What is Godly Grief? | Historical Books | 2 Kings 22:8-20

Episode Date: November 19, 2025

Are you sorry about your sin? Or are you sorry that you got caught? What does godly grief look like? In today's episode, Jensen shares how 2 Kings 22:8-20 encourages us to acknowledge our sin before God honestly. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Kings 22:8-20

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. Celebrity and influencer apology videos have become superfluous on the internet. I'm sure you've seen one. When a person in the spotlight is found wanting in some way, the response they often give is to create a video where they give this public apology. Oftentimes, there's crying, an explanation is given for their offense. they ask for forgiveness, they promise to be better. The videos remain pretty consistent,

and so does the pushback that they often receive. You see, these videos are often only made if the influential person is facing enough of a backlash, if it begins to affect their career, their finances, if it garners too much attention. See, the critique is often that they're only sorry they got caught, or they're upset about the backlash, not about what they did. Now, whether the influencer or celebrity on trial deserves the backlash they're getting is not my focus.

I'm interested in the notion that as humans we recognize it is in our nature to be grieved over our faults, our mistakes, our sins, not because we feel truly sorry, not because we're grieved by our actions, but because we're grieved by our actions, but because we're grieved by the pain they've produced in our lives, the loss of reputation, the loss of approval. In Matthew 5, when Jesus is preaching the sermon on the Mount, he begins with what we refer to as the B attitudes. These are a summary of what Jesus is going to teach. They're laying out the ways and the attitudes of his kingdom,

the kingdom of God. He's beginning his sermon by telling his audience about who is blessed, who is happy, who is flourishing in his kingdom. And these beatitudes get a lot of attention because they seem backwards to the way the world often thinks of blessing and flourishing. In verse four, he says, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Now, you and I hear that, and we might think, huh, when I see those who mourn in our world, they're often surrounded by disaster, death, pain, trial, hunger, disease. And people surrounded by those things don't seem very blessed, do they? But Jesus is talking about a certain kind of mourning here. It's a mourning of sin. Those who mourn over sin are blessed, for they will be comforted by God. Jesus is calling those who want to live in his kingdom by his ways to be grieved by their sin. 2 Corinthians 7, 10, and 11 helps clarify for us what exactly this kind of mourning this grief should look like.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you. Okay, so worldly grief, the grief that is concerned primarily with me, that grieves the pain of losing, status or the approval of others. It keeps the one morning trapped in a cycle, focused on self, trying to win back the people they've lost, but blind to what got them there in the first place. Godly grief? It has forward motion. It takes action. Godly grief produces real repentance. It leads people out of sin and into salvation. It produces earnestness, genuine faith, a desire to change. In today's passage from Second Kings,

we pick up the story of a good king, King Josiah, and he's currently in the middle of a renovation project restoring the temple. And as they restore the temple, they find the book of the law. That is a portion of the Old Testament, the book of Deuteronomy. This tells us that the law has been lost. It probably was forgotten around the time of King Manasseh. The people have been so far removed from God's ways that they don't even know his laws. They've never read them. Josiah has never heard the law. And so as the priests bring it before him and read it to him, I want us to pay close attention to his response. I think it has something to teach us about godly grief. When the king's King heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his robes.

In biblical times, the tearing of one's robes or clothes is often associated with deep grief. It was an outward sign of inward emotional distress, and it's often associated with true repentance. See, the first thing that King Josiah does, upon hearing the word of the law, is to be deeply grieved by his sin. The law would have revealed all that he as a king and the people would have been called to, to be set apart, to be holy, to walk with God, to remain in his favor. And so as Josiah reads the book of Deuteronomy, it would have been like shining a light on the devastation of the nation, on his own heart, on his own folly and sin. And we see from this passage that he's deeply moved by this. And that grief leads to action.

He sends out to a prophet of God, Holda, and he asks her, what is to be done? Now that they know these laws, now that they know they've sinned, what's going to happen? And this is what she says back. This is what the Lord says. I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the King of Judah has read. because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all their idols their hands have made. My anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.

So her first words, not so encouraging, right? The people have sinned. Their fate has been sealed as a nation. They have rebelled against God. Nothing can change the course of exile for God's people at this point. But then she turns and she acknowledges Josiah. And in her words concerning his reaction to the book of law, were given a beautiful picture of godly grief and true repentance. Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord. This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, concerning the words you heard. Because your heart was responsive, and you humbled yourself before the Lord

when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people. that they would become a curse and be laid waste. And because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. Therefore, I will gather you to your ancestors and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I'm going to bring on this place. The Lord acknowledges that Josiah's heart was responsive. He humbled himself. He humbled himself, before God. He tore his robes. He wept. He was grieved. And because of this, God has hurt him. Godly grief is accompanied by true repentance, which always includes action. It includes motion, change, a turning away from the sin that causes grief and towards the God who offers comfort.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Josiah is, is certainly comforted here. God hears him and tells him that he will have peace. He will not live under the exile because he has mourned. He has repented. And we'll see through his life, through his reforms to come, that his repentance is true. He seeks after God's ways. He's humbled by the law. He is truly grieved by his sin and he does not return to it. He does not ignore God's words. He transforms his life in the life of a nation. He's earnest in his zeal for the Lord. Is your life marked by godly grief or by worldly grief? When a close friend or a spouse or a mentor points out sin in your life, the ways maybe you've fallen short, how do you respond? Are you

receptive or maybe defensive? When you read the words of scripture, are you, you? You're Are you more likely to think about how they relate to other people and their sin? Or do you allow Scripture to convict you? Does it produce introspection? When you feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit, maybe either from a friend or from the Word of the Lord, do you justify, explain a way? Or do you take time to be deeply grieved by your own sin,

by the devastation it has caused for others, by the chasm it is created between you and your creator. When you look up at the cross, do you recognize your part in piercing Jesus' hands and feet? Do you mourn your sin? Does your grief move you forward into repentance, into action, into an earnest pursuit of the ways of Jesus? I ask these questions not to condemn, but to open our eyes to the ways we may have like the people in the days of Josiah, we may have forgotten our calling as the people of God. We may have lost sight of the ways of the kingdom of God. We may have become complacent to our sin,

more concerned with the ways of the world than the ways of God. Jesus tells us, blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God, would you produce in our hearts a godly grief? A grief over our sin over the ways it is marred your creation. It has kept us from building and growing your kingdom. God, may we mourn our sin with humility. Holy Spirit convict us, produce in us a grief that brings us to tears and guides us to repentance. May we be a people marked by our earnestness to serve you, to pursue you, to live. live in your ways. May we never become hardened to our sin, but ever aware of the ways that we fall short, grieved by our humanity and comforted by your loving arms as we turn back to you in repentance.

May we find our hope, our rest, our comfort in your salvation, in your kingdom, in your ways. We love you, Lord. Amen.