The Bible makes provision for godly sorrow. It is what produces repentance. When someone who has committed a sin is able to sorrow over it, that is an indication that all hope is not lost. Capacity to sorrow over wrongdoing is a proof that the conscience is still alive to God. This is a necessary step towards repentance. Those who can no longer feel any sense of remorse are at the precipice of total damnation. Anything other than godly grief is dangerous and counter-productive. In his writing to the Corinthians, Paul identified two types of sorrow. “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10 NKJV

It is high time we laid aside the spirit of heaviness and find occasion to rejoice in the Lord.

The first of the two sorrows which we already mentioned is godly sorrow. It is a sure way to salvation. The other type which Paul identified is what he calls “sorrow of the world”. The effect of that is death. One of the downsides of unwarranted grief is that it blurs vision. “My vision is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies.” Psalms 6:7 NLT. If the vision is blurred, progress is obstructed and the future uncertain. It is in the light of the heavy cost of unwarranted sorrow that Paul recommended rejoicing to the Philippians. In our text, he stressed the necessity of rejoicing, arguing that it is safe to rejoice. He brought back the same emphasis in Philippians 4:4 – “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”  Just within two chapters, Paul had stressed the need to rejoice about three times. Note that the Holy Spirit makes no vain repetition. If a subject is stressed this much, it is because of its importance. It is high time we laid aside the spirit of heaviness and find occasion to rejoice in the Lord.