Bible Verses for Mourning to Help You Process Grief

When you lose a loved one, it can feel like a singular and lonely experience. Our lived experiences are diverse, and we don’t view even similar experiences in the same way, contributing to the impression that we’re alone in what we’re going through. Bible verses for mourning can help.

Proverbs 14:10, NIV says, “Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.” Losing a loved one is bitter in ways we aren’t always capable of expressing, and it’s often just as hard to share our joyful memories of them with others.

The Bible reminds us frequently that God knows us intimately, far better than we know ourselves. The Psalms reflect on this reality, in words such as these:

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely – Psalms 139:1-4, NIV

Many people only think of the Bible as one book, and while that’s true, it’s also true that the Bible is a collection of books – sixty-six in all – that span thousands of years of history, explore many different situations and experiences, and were written by people from all stations of life. God speaks to us in and through His words, convicting, challenging, encouraging, comforting, and walking alongside us.

When we face dark and challenging times, the Spirit will often bring to mind Bible verses or even snippets of songs and conversation that remind us of precious truths we hold dear. In times of mourning, we can turn to Bible verses for mourning for succor and trust that God meets us there to comfort and strengthen us.

Bible Verses for Mourning

It’s okay to mourn. There’s nothing godly or spiritual about maintaining a stiff upper lip in the face of loss. Jesus permits us to mourn, seeing that He mourned the death of His friend Lazarus even though He knew that He would raise him from death (John 11: 1-44).

We also encounter people such as David who mourned his children and his friends. Part of grieving is allowing ourselves to feel the pain of loss. The following Bible verses for mourning provide us with examples and also supply us with the words with which to mourn when we have none of our own.

Christians are called to be empathetic and stand alongside others in their distress. When a friend or another loved one experiences loss, Paul reminds us, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15, NIV). And when we are in distress, we can allow others to come alongside us to comfort us, just as we try to comfort them with the comfort God gives us.

In this vein, the apostle Paul also wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1: 3-4, ESV).

In other words, our times of loss aren’t supposed to be endured alone; we need the comfort of others, just as they need ours. The Lord can grant us the wisdom we need to comfort those who are mourning in ways they will understand and appreciate.

Similarly, the Lord can grant wisdom and compassion to those people that come alongside you in your own time of mourning, so that they can minister to you effectively. In our mourning, we need strength to be vulnerable and allow others to meet our needs.

When believers mourn for other believers, they are to mourn with hope. Paul wrote this to Christians in the city of Thessalonica:

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words – 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18, NIV

These believers were concerned not only about what happened to those who died before Jesus’ triumphant return, but also what would happen to them too. To help them understand the situation, Paul first encourages them by reminding them of the resurrection of Jesus, and how that set a pattern for all those who believe in Him.

Though a believer may die, that’s not the end of the story, because there is a future resurrection of the dead, and a reunion between the believers that have “fallen asleep” and those that are still alive whenever Jesus returns. Christian grief over fellow Christians who have died is different from the rest of mankind because there is hope for new life in Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus means that death has been defeated and is no longer an object of fear (1 Corinthians 15).

We mourn the death of a loved one because death disrupts our relationship, depriving us of their presence. Grieving helps us to come to terms with the new reality of their absence and to adjust to life without them. When you begin grieving, it may not seem as though you’ll ever adjust to life without your loved one. You may battle feelings of anger toward God, your loved one, or yourself.

You may feel despondent, as David did when he mourned the death of his estranged son Absalom with these words, “The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: ‘O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you – O Absalom, my son, my son!’” (2 Samuel‬

The grieving process never ends in this life. Though we may grow in our ability to cope with the loss, we continue to feel it in various ways. The supposed five stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance – even if accurate, aren’t a linear progression, though they may help us become aware that grief isn’t a static and unchanging experience.

It’s possible to feel angry when you first learn of a loved one’s passing, then to move past that over time, only to find yourself feeling inexplicably angry on the anniversary of their death or another significant milestone. The comfort that believers have is that yes, there will come a point when their grief shall turn to joy, as these verses help believers to anticipate:

Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.

They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” – Revelation‬

Finding Help to Address Grief

Grieving a loss can be a lonely, long, and complicated process, but it’s not one you have to go through by yourself. ‬If you’re looking for additional support beyond these Bible verses for mourning, you can turn to your friends or loved ones for support, and you can also seek help from a counselor who focuses on grief therapy.

You can choose to meet individually with a grief counselor, and they will help you to process the loss of your loved one while providing you with more bible verses for mourning and tools to cope with the loss and begin living your life again.

In group therapy, you and a few others who are on a similar grief journey will meet with an experienced counselor that will walk alongside you on your journey toward healing and wholeness. Mourning loss with hope is possible, and whether your loss is a recent one, or you’ve been dealing with grief for a while now, don’t hesitate to reach out to a counselor and make an appointment to begin your journey.