“Behold he hath been in labour with injustice; he hath conceived sorrow, and brought forth iniquity. He hath opened a pit and dug it: and he is fallen into the hole he made. His sorrow shall be turned on his own head: and his iniquity shall come down upon his crown. I will give glory to the Lord according to his justice: and will sing to the name of the Lord the most high.”
“All things are hard” (Ecclesiastes 1:8), and so the labor of those who labor for sin is labor indeed: “Cursed is the earth in thy work; with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life” (Genesis 3:17). However, this is a labor that does not endure, because it is not filled with love: “And when I turned my self to all the works which my hands had wrought, and to the labours wherein I had laboured in vain, I saw in all things vanity, and vexation of mind, and that nothing was lasting under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). To conceive sorrow is to conceive what is not beneficial for a human being, for to desire sinful things is the greatest of human miseries. It is sorrow to desire, and worse to bring forth: “Then when concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. But sin, when it is completed, begetteth death” (James 1:15). People empty themselves upon fleeting or even sinful things, spending their life and welfare upon what defiles their beauty as human beings: “Thy silver is turned into dross: thy wine is mingled with water” (Isaias 1:22). Thus the Lord exhorts His faithful ones: “Defile not yourselves with any of these things with which all the nations have been defiled, which I will cast out before you, and with which the land is defiled: the abominations of which I will visit, that it may vomit out its inhabitants” (Leviticus 18:24-25). Love is the beauty of the soul: “How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou! Thy eyes” of the mind “are doves’ eyes” (Canticle 4:1), that is, always following the promptings of the Holy Spirit to love, and knowledge of God are the gems to adorn this beauty: “Thy hair” which are thoughts, as they proceed from the head, “is as flocks of goats” which can reach difficult places by deep prayer, which is to know the love of Christ firsthand, or by heavenly doctrine, “which come up from mount Galaad” (Canticle 4:1). To desire anything else is ugliness: “Ephraim is under oppression, and broken in judgment: because he began to go after filthiness” (Osee 5:11). Thus, in bringing forth iniquity, the sinful person digs a pit for themselves, particularly if this is against the one pursuing God, for they think to dig a pit to harm the Christian, instead doing grave harm to their own souls: “These things they thought, and were deceived: for their own malice blinded them” (Wisdom 2:21). One may lose their possessions or even their life, but worse is the loss of love in one’s soul: “All iniquity is sin. And there is a sin unto death” (1 John 5:17). Thus they fall into the hole that is made, that of death, because to live without divine love is death: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, they shall have their portion in the pool burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Apocalypse 21:8). Having no will to leave sin, no will to love, brings sorrow down upon the poor sinner, for they are in a pitiable state: “The Lord saw the affliction of Israel that it was exceeding bitter, and that they were consumed even to them that were shut up in prison, and the lowest persons, and that there was no one to help Israel” (4 Kings 14:26). The guilt this brings upon the soul is grave and heavy, thus it falls upon the crown, or the mind, of the unjust, for they have not loved Love Himself and this is something the conscience cannot bear. Only reconciliation with God can alleviate this distress, thus “Thou, O Lord, art my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of my head” (Psalm 3:4) from the burden of shame and guilt and into freedom and love. The Psalmist then, free of this great burden and walking in innocence: “Judge me, O Lord, according to my justice, and according to my innocence in me” (Psalm 7:9), exults in God and His justice, for God in His justice sees the weakness of the human person and the burden that is sin upon them: “My iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see” (Psalm 39:13), and in His mercy removes it that they may walk in joy: “Praise the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever” (Psalm 135:1). The time of contrition for sin is one of sadness: “Every night I will wash my bed: I will water my couch with my tears” (Psalm 6:7), but in repentance there is a cry for to know true happiness: “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit” (Psalm 50:14), and so the Lord says: “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:5), for those that mourn for sin will know the infinite merciful love of God, and be lifted up to heavenly rejoicing: “Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O Sion” (Psalm 147:12), the heart singing out of an abundance of love and gratitude: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God and the Father” (Ephesians 5:19-20).