The Evil of Murmuring

We cannot perform a duty well before we first understand our lack in its performance. So it is good to be humbled in our lack of contentment that we might learn to labor to remove the repining spirit in our hearts.

Just as contentment is glorious, so the opposite of contentment, which is a murmuring heart, is full of corruption and disorder. If every bit of the cross causes us to become discontented and murmur, the condition of our spirit is indeed very vile and corrupted.

People who do not have sufficient medical understanding tend to think that a big external wound look very serious, but a doctor will know that it is internal wound like inflammation that is more serious and far harder to heal. So it is with our souls. We might think that our afflictions are grievous but our murmuring spirit is far more grievous however great our affliction is. A murmuring spirit is a very sinful heart, is the misery of miseries that we should feel more troubled about than the afflictions that befall us.

What then are the evil of murmurings?

It is contrary to the work of God.

The first work God does to bring a sinner home is to open his eyes to the evil of sin. Without that it is impossible for any soul to apply Jesus Christ to himself. How then can one murmur if God has worked in his heart and just a moment ago he saw the horror of his sin and wondered why he was not in hell? Why would sin not be my greatest burden?

The second work of God is to bring a soul to understand the excellencies of Jesus Christ. If I have known the highest glory, why would I complain of every little affliction?

The third work of God is to empower a soul to deny himself so that he can learn to die to the world and find life in Jesus Christ. Without death there is no life. Through the cross of Christ, a Christian has been crucified to the world and the world to himself. So he has died and his life is now in Christ. If God, by way of affliction, should take something of this world from me and I find myself willing to let go, it means my life is no longer glued to the world.

So what is this fretting and murmuring all about? It tells of our poor state and how far and contrary we are from the works of God.

Murmuring is also far below whatever is appropriate for a Christian. It is below a Christian in his relation to the Father, to Christ and to the Spirit of God. A Christian is a child of God, is a member of Christ's body, and the Church which is the Bride of Christ, and the temple of the Holy Spirit. The meanest Christian is a lord of heaven and earth and has all things subjected unto him because God has made Christians kings unto Himself. How unbecoming it is for a person with such high dignity to be fretting and murmuring over lack of worldly comforts!

A Christian's profession is to die to the world so that he can receive and manifest the life of Christ. A Christian has been given the faith that overcomes the world. Hence a Christian who murmurs denies his profession and faith. Furthermore, a Christian has God's promises to hold him while others do not, therefore a Christian should be able to stand up better in trials which by God's will, is the common lot of humanity. God expects a Christian not only to be patient in sufferings but also to rejoice and triumph over them. We fare far below God's expectation if we cannot even reach quiet contentment. Indeed, many saints of the past have gone through great adversities and emerged victorious. As they are also part of us and like them we are also promised the same future glory and eternal hope in Christ, it is extremely beneath us to be discontent over every little affliction.

Luther said it is the ‘rhetoric Spirit of God’ to count every mercy as great and every cross as little. Therefore when we are afflicted, we are thankful that it is not a greater affliction and when we receive God's mercy, we think of how unworthy we are to obtain such great mercy. But it is the rhetoric spirit of the devil to do otherwise. It is of the devil to amplify every affliction and to discount every mercy. So we see how evil a murmuring spirit is and in fact it will undo all our prayers and unfit us for duty.

Not only will we get nothing by discontentment, it will further take away all the present comfort we already have. It makes our condition worse than what it initially is. With a discontented spirit, we will also carry ourselves in very foolish ways before God and men. Furthermore, all the potential future enjoyment will be destroyed by our discontented spirit before we receive them, such that when we finally receive them we will not be able to enjoy the sweetness of the blessings anymore.

Also, we should not forget the fact that murmuring greatly incurs God's wrath and judgment. From God's dealing with the Israelites in the Old Testament, we are warned sufficiently that God is highly provoked by murmuring attitude. God is unchanging and eternal hence one instance is an example for all ages to take heed. There is also a great deal of curse in a murmuring spirit and so long as it prevails upon the wicked, it is part of God's judgment. Murmuring reflects the spirit of the devil, the proudest creature and unclean spirit that goes up and down without ever finding rest.

As God has subjected humanity to trials and afflictions, we would have disquiet for the rest of our lives if we continue with our murmuring spirit. If at one instance of discontentment we would not be humbled, we will necessarily find ourselves in discontentment again when we meet our next cross. But if we learn to humble ourselves under God's administration and to overcome our discontentment by our submission to Him, the days of our lives will be sweet albeit the difficulties we go through.