There are three places in your Bible where you read that somebody refused to be comforted.  We are going to study these people and their circumstances in which they refused to be comforted.  We won’t go too deeply into the doctrinal material in these passages, so we can glean the spiritual truth they contain. 

Jacob refused to be comforted concerning the “death” of Joseph – Gen 37:35 – Jacob saw Joseph’s bloodied coat and assumed that a beast had killed him.  That’s what Joseph’s brothers wanted their father to believe.  And so Jacob mourned what he thought was the death of his beloved son.  However, he had forgotten the prophecy that God gave him in Gen 35:9-12.  And he didn’t believe the prophecy of Joseph’s dreams in Gen 37:5-10.  Those scriptural prophecies and their fulfillment guaranteed that Joseph was still alive.  Though Jacob didn’t know what was going on in Egypt, he could have known that his son had to be alive. 

Asaph refused to be comforted concerning his trouble and sore – Ps 77:2 Asaph’s day of trouble matches the time of Jacob’s trouble in Jer 30:7 and his running sore matches Israel’s incurable wound in Jer 30:12-13, 15.  Asaph’s sore was like Job’s sores and Job was healed and restored.  Job is a perfect type of a tribulation saint suffering.  Asaph remembered, in this Psalm, that the Lord had led Israel to escape from Egypt.  But he thought that the Lord had cast him off for ever.  When you study what he wrote about the Exodus, though, you find distinct references to the second coming of Jesus.  These words didn’t comfort Asaph but Ps 77 will provide comfort to Israel in the tribulation just before the 2nd Advent.  These scriptural prophecies will be fulfilled.  In Jer 30:17 we read that Israel will be healed of her wounds.

Rahel refused to be comforted concerning the children Herod killed – Matt 2:18 – these are the children that were two years old and under who were slaughtered by Herod when he tried to kill Jesus.  No doubt the city was weeping and refused to be comforted over their deaths.  However, when you read the prophecy in Jer 31:15-18, that was partly fulfilled by Herod, you find that these children are going to live again and come again into their own border.  Therefore, the Lord said, “Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears.”  They could have found comfort in the scriptural prophecies that will be fulfilled.   

Conclusion: So, here’s the point.  When we find ourselves in the kinds of trials, troubles, temptations, and situations where we refuse to be comforted, we often cry out to the Lord to change our circumstances.  He may, but he doesn’t have to.  We have a Comforter who is the Holy Ghost.  The Comforter, who is the Spirit of truth, brings you comfort by “guiding you into all truth” and “bringing all things to your remembrance” that Jesus said to you in the scriptures.  Look at the references in Jn 14:16-17, Jn 14:26 and Jn 16:7, 13.  When the Holy Spirit directs you to the verses of scripture that deal directly with your situation, if you will believe them, you will have the comfort you desire.  The comfort comes not from undoing what’s been done but from believing what the Holy Spirit shows you that God has said.