The funeral service is a brief and simple service designed primarily as yekara d'schichba--for the honor and dignity of the deceased. The worthy values they lived by, the good deeds they performed, and the noble aspects of their character are eulogized. The function of the eulogy is not to comfort the bereaved, although by highlighting the good and the beautiful in the life of the departed it affords an implicit consolation for the mourners.
There is also great psychological benefit from the funeral service itself although this, too, is not its primary purpose. It enables many friends and relatives to participate in the situation of bereavement and thus relieve the terrible loneliness of the mourners. In addition, since it not only praises the deceased, but also confronts all who attend with the terrible fact of their own mortality, it impels them to "consider their days," to take stock and live their lives creatively.