What is referred to by the phrase “walking as in mourning”?

The word translated mourning is derived from a word that denotes darkness. Associated words refer to the apparel worn by those who mourn (Jeremiah 8:21), perhaps darkened by the dirt (Joshua 7:6, 2 Samuel 1:2) and ashes (Esther 4:1) which mourners threw upon their heads as a display of their sorrow.

It is possible that the reference to mourning should be taken literally, and that the people of Israel actually wore mourning apparel. That is, they wore sackcloth and put ashes and dirt upon their heads, wept, and fasted. They may have done this as a display of their grief, hoping that the Lord would notice their mourning and take pity upon them, and answer their prayers for deliverance from their misery caused by sin. Such displays of mourning were appropriate if the outward displays were accompanied by the inward realities (Daniel 9:3; Matthew 11:21), that is, hearts truly broken and contrite, and true repentance of their sins. But if the Israelites were literally walking about as mourners, then the inward reality was lacking. And if the inward is lacking, and the heart is unbroken in genuine repentance and sorrow, the Lord will not take any notice of the outward.

However, it is possible that the reference to walking as mourners is figurative. (The word used is literally an adjective and could be translated like mourners. If that is the case, then the word describes the morose attitude with which they regarded the service of God. Worshipping in the temple may have been regarded as a very austere, sombre event, and as much fun as going to a funeral. It may describe the way that the Israelites felt when they obeyed God’s commandments. Putting on the garments of righteousness and holiness may have been to them as irritating as the course sackcloth worn by mourners. Singing psalms in which sins were confessed was as joyful as the weeping of those burying loved ones. The prohibitions imposed by God’s commandments may have seemed to them like the deprivations of those fasted in grief, denying the body’s most basic craving. If the reference to walking as in mourning is figurative, it displays the same superficiality as described earlier. In their estimation, they served the Lord, but God could see that whatever service they rendered was done grudgingly, not with a joyful and thankful heart.