Uneasiness or grief, arising from the privation of some good we actually possessed. It is the oposite to joy. Though sorrow may be allowable under a sense of sin, and when involved in troubles, yet we must beware of an extreme. Sorrow, indeed, becomes sinful and excessive when it leads us to slight our mercies; causes us to be insensible to public evils; when it diverts us from duty; so oppresses our bodies as to endanger our lives; sours the spirit with discontent, and makes us inattentive to the precepts of God's word, and advice of our friends. In order to moderate our sorrows, we should consider that we are under the direction of a wise and merciful Being; that he permits no evil to come upon us without a gracious design; that he can make our troubles sources of spiritual advantage; that he might have afflicted us in a far greater degree; that, though he has taken some, yet he has left many other comforts; that he has given many promises of relief: thet he has supported thousands in as great troubles as ours: and, finally, that the time is coming when he will wipe away all tears, and give to them that love him a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
See RESIGNATION.