SPEAKING TEARS
"My friends scorn me: but mine eye pours out tears unto God” (Job 16:20)
Tears are words, virtual words, that the heart can't express, they speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues(Quote by Washington Irving). Tears are powerful orators. God reads our heart in those lines which tears draw on our faces.
God is above, and yet our tears fall into His bosom. The tears have much weight in them, and are pressing upon God.
There are many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them are without signification (1 Corinthians 14:10). The voice of tears is very significant, yet only God knows the special signification of it. Generally, tears result from excessive sorrow, when too much psychological pressure is applied to our being. In other words, when sorrow and depression within us become unbearable and the heart becomes overburdened and uncontrollable, tears flow out. Yet the amazing thing is that when our tears flow out, all the heavy burdens within suddenly become light. Originally everything was tense, but now things become relaxed. It seems that something has come out of us through the tears. Originally there were many things within; now there are fewer things within. Therefore, tears are very meaningful. They discharge whatever is in the heart. In other words, tears are the outlet of the heart.
Tears are a sign of sadness. Sadness touches others’ feeling, whereas laughter cannot touch others very deeply. Laughter is something on the surface, whereas grief comes from within. Since grief comes from a person’s inner being, it must also enter into the inner being of others. The shedding of tears is a sign of a broken heart. Therefore, before tears can flow from the eyes, they must first flow from the heart. It is meaningless to shed tears when the heart is not pained.
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When all your ways are blocked, when you are opposed in every place, when everyone says you are wrong, and when the environment vexes you, drop a few tears before God. " This is your only way out. Only this will enable you to solve the problem. These are unavoidable experiences, and every believer must pass through them. If you want to serve God faithfully and live in a godly way, things of this kind will surely happen to you, and tears will surely flow. There has never been a faithful one (David, Hezekiah, Hannah etc) who has not shed tears. If you have ever brought your problems or joys to God, I advise you to bring your tears to Him as well.
Tears are shed when a person hears unpleasant words from others, when he encounters suffering and oppression that produce sorrow and anger, and when this sorrow and anger continue to press upon him until he can withstand them no more. As such times, the tears flow out. "So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter” (Ecclesiastes 4:1).
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"Bitterly she weeps in the night, And her tears are on her cheeks. There is no one to comfort her, among all her lovers; All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.” (Lamentations 1:2). This was the situation when the children of Israel were carried away into captivity; they wept because they were dealt with treacherously.
When the Israelites were carried away to a heathen land, the people ridiculed them, saying, "What do you have left? The temple of your God is ruined, and your nation has vanished. Where is your God? What has happened to you?" Under this kind of situation, the sons of Korah wrote the psalm: "My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, where is your God?" (Psalm 42:3). At that time, it was very painful for them. People were pricking them with sharp words that were hard to bear. They could not help but shed their tears unto God. Men like to prick those whom they hate. It is their joy to afflict them and cause them to suffer. In the same way, the enemy of the children of Israel came to prick them, scorn them, ridicule them, and cause them pain. They could only shed tears in such situation.
There are 10 Categories of tears in the scripture, and every one speaks:
1. TEARS OF WORLDLY SORROW.
Esau had enough of them, he found stores of tears when he lost the blessing. He sold his birthright for a morsel of meat, but could not purchase it again, with floods of sorrow, “for he found no place of repentance”; that is , he could not prevail with his father Isaac to change his mind, ”though he sought it carefully with tears”(Hebrew 12:17). Esau tears spoke his hunger after that which he had sold to buy off hunger, or to pay a debt to nature.
An example of this is the prophet Samuel's weeping over king Saul. The Bible says, "Samuel mourned for Saul" (1 Samuel 15:35), "Then the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him?" (1 Samuel 16:1).
Perhaps we might also remember David's weeping over Absalom?! Truly he was sorrowful over his son who had died, but there is a sensitive point which is, at death he perished. He died being a betrayer of his father, rebelling and fighting against him and committing fornication with his women.
David did not weep over his son whom the wife of Uriah gave birth to and he said, "Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me" (2 Samuel 12:23), but he wept over Absalom. At death he perished and his father did not go to him, but was separated from him forever.
2. TEARS OF REPENTANCE AND GODLY SORROW.
Mary wept and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head (Luke 7:37-38). She had been a sinner, such sinner that bore away the name from all sinners in the city. The Lord Jesus Christ said about her that, "she has washed My feet with her tears", she loved much and was forgiven much. The Lord preferred her rather than the Pharisee who sensed his righteousness.
She did not have any words to say, or dare to say, so
she spoke with her tears. Mary’s tears spoke her tender respect to Christ, who saved sinners, and her abhorrence of herself for sin
The person who is conscious and regrets his sins, is ashamed to talk. The feelings of regret and grief in his heart, press upon the fountains of tears in his eyes and so he weeps.
His weeping is then the most sincere expression, better than any
words.
3. TEARS OF CRAFT AND WICKED DISSIMULATION
Ishmael goes forth to meet the men that came towards Jerusalem, weeping all along as he went: he shed tears that he might shed blood, and weep himself into an opportunity of doing mischief unsuspected. Ishmael’s tears spoke treachery, but because those plain- hearted men could not interpret them, they perished. (Jeremiah 41:16)
4. TEARS OF UNFEIGNED LOVE AND STRONG AFFECTION.
David and Jonathan kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded (1 Samuel 20:41). When Jesus Christ wept at the sepulcher of Lazarus, the Jews said, “Behold how he loved him” (John 11:35-36). they saw His heart at His eyes: These tears spoke mutual and real endearments.
5. TEARS OF HOLY PRAYERS AND FERVENT DESIRES.
It is the result of love, feeling and the depth of prayer that originates from the heart, with feelings of longing and
compassion towards God, or depth in requests.
“Jacob wept and made supplications (Hosea 12:4). He cried and prayed: The voice of his tears was louder than the voice of his supplication; and his prayers were (in this sense) even drowned in tears. Jacobs tears spoke the fervency of his spirit, and his faith in prayer: The Angel understood this, and Jacob prevailed.
Another example is the tears of David, who said to the Lord in his Psalms, “listen to my tears” (Psalm 119: 169).
Do you remember the tears of Hannah, the wife of Elkanah? It is mentioned about her prayer that she, "...prayed
to the Lord and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow." (1 Samuel 1:10-11).
6. TEARS OF COMPASSION FOR THE MISERIES OF OTHERS.
” Weep with them that weep” is the Apostles rule (Romans 12:15). When Nehemiah heard of the report of Jerusalem’s ruin and of the sad condition of his brethren there, “He sat down and wept (Nehemiah 1 :4), his tears spoke pity to his countrymen, and zeal for God.
7. TEARS OF PASSION (in reference to our own afflictions).
Such tears speak humane frailty, or the common infirmity of the flesh. The tears which job poured forth were tears of passion, or sorrow, caused by the afflicting hand of God, but especially by the unkindness of his friends; “My friends scorn me, but mine eye poured out tears unto God” (Job 16:20). Job knew that as God had a book for his prayers, so a bottle for his tears; yes, he knew tears should be heard as well as prayers.
8. TEARS OF DAMNATION
Hypocrites and their associates in Hell are described, “Weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth for evermore” (Matthew 13:42). Their tears speak despair, or misery without hope of remedy.
9. TEARS OF SEPARATION
It is not easy for hearts that have been joined with love to be separated, especially if the separation is without return, at least on this earth.
The weeping of the people after the death of Moses: The Bible says, "And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So, the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended" (Deuteronomy 34:8).
Likewise, it was said about Mary, the sister of Lazarus, after his death:
"She is going to the tomb to weep there". (John 11:31).
Mary Magdalene also wept at the tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ: "But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping" (John 20:11). The two angels said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping.
10. TEARS OF JOY
An example of this is the weeping of the people at the rebuilding of the temple after the captivity in the days of Zerubbabel. The book of `Ezra' the priest says: "But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers'
houses, who were old men, who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes; yet many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people." (Ezra 3:12, 13)
DAVID’S TEARS
Who is so courageous as David? Who didn’t fear any lion nor a bear, who wouldn’t not be afraid, though an host of men encamped against him, and though he walked in the valley of the shadow of death; yet how often do we read him weeping and crying to God? “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.” (Psalm 39:12). David couldn’t hold his peace from crying to God, and he was persuaded that God would not hold His peace at his cry, he expected to have his tears answered. David did not weep for fear of men, but in faith to God.
"I cause my bed to swim all night long; With my tears I dissolve my couch."(Psalm 6:6). At that time David was in the midst of adversity. Furthermore, his body was not strong. Therefore, he wept every night; his couch was wet, and his bed was made to swim. Whoever can only laugh but cannot weep, is a very shallow person. Whoever laughs all day long shows that within him he does not have much depth. Those who have never wept have never passed through God’s digging hands. Tears indicate that a person has something within him. They show others that there is God’s work within such a person. However, God does not treasure our tears that are shed in public, tears that others can see. He treasures the tears shed in secret, tears that are shed for Him. Proper and precious tears are tears "unto God," tears shed at night. We know that David was a person who knew how to cry very well. Psalms tells us that he wept many times. Whenever he sinned or encountered adversity, he would shed his tears before God. But Saul could not weep, he could only become angry and vexed.
The reason David was led by God to such deep and full experiences was that he shed tears. The tears that he shed reveal the sufferings and adversities that he bore. As Romans says, "Tribulation produces endurance" (Romans 5:3). Let us remember that David became David because of his tears. If there had been no tears to cultivate him, he could not have been any deeper than others were.
TEARS ARE THE REAL MEANING OF HUMAN LIFE
They show that a person still bears his human nature and still has the sense of sin. Wherever sin is, tears must also be present. Heart-breaking experiences, sorrowful events, and recollections of the past can all cause us to shed tears. The reason many people cannot shed tears is that they have forgotten their past history, they have left paradise and do not know where they are today. The same applies to man’s experience of God’s redemption; without the shedding of tears, man cannot return to the beginning. Anyone who has forgotten what he has passed through cannot shed tears. The shedding of tears is an indication that a person feels pain concerning his past.
Tears are shed through others’ oppression, treachery, ridicule, and other adverse situations (Watchman Nee). Therefore, the shedding of tears is an indication of pressure and pain. All these things must have happened to our Lord. “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35). Otherwise, why did He weep and shed tears? His shedding of tears tells us that He also suffered all these things. The shedding of tears is not something negative; rather, it is holy.
GOD REMEMBERS AND COUNTS OUR TEARS.
God has not forgotten one drop of our tears. "You have counted my wanderings. Put my tears into your bottle, are they not in your book?" (Psalm 56:8)
Psalm 80:5 says, "You have fed them with the bread of tears and have made them drink tears in large measure." Psalm 116:8 says, "For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling." These two verses show us that God seems to give us tears as our food and drink, that we should eat and drink of them.
Oh, we should live our days on earth in tears, and we should have tears as our companions. This world is a place of tears. Almost every patch of earth has been soaked with tears; hardly one place is dry. Here everything gives us heartaches, and every circumstance causes pain to our hearts. There is no peace on this earth. In spite of this, He will deliver our eyes from tears, and our feet from falling. That day will come. We will not be in this tearful world forever.
"God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:17). God will wipe away every tear from the eyes of all the believers on earth. This is the Lord’s promise during the great tribulation and before the millennium.
After the millennium, the Lord promises another group of people, saying, "And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death will be no more, nor will there be sorrow or crying or pain anymore; for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4). This group of people are those who will be the citizens in the millennium. This means that all the saved ones, whether they are the church, the Jews, or the Gentiles, will have the Lord’s promise: "God will wipe away every tear."
There will be no tears in the New Jerusalem(Revelation 21:4). When we die, we are not going into sorrow, but resting. When a person is tired from walking, he goes away to sleep for a while. Everyone is waiting for that day to come. We are not waiting to die. Some have rested today. If the Lord delays His coming, some will rest for thirty years or fifty years. Some, like Paul, will have to rest for two thousand years before that day will come. Thank the Lord, we can cease from our tears when that day comes and the world passes away.
The Lord bore our sufferings so that we would not have to suffer anymore. Thank the Lord that there will be no more sorrow and no more sin there. Trouble, suffering, and tears come from sin. Because there will be no more sin there, there will be no more tears forever. Thank God that the days of sorrow and the things of sorrow will not last. The New Jerusalem is coming soon, and the tearful world will soon pass away. When we arrive there, all the sufferings will be gone because when sin is removed, sufferings will be removed also.
In that day the Lord will give us a resurrected body. However, in the transformed body, one thing will be missing—tears in the eyes. Tears belong to the night, and there will be no need of them any longer.
Thank God that we are blessed, for the earthen vessel will not be working and praying here all the time. But while we are still here on earth, we are satisfied in God. Yet this will not be long either. Oh, that day will come. I hope that day will come quickly.
"In that place, there will be no more tears."
God sees our tears, he is moved by our tears, but much more than this , He promised us that he will wipe away all tears from off our faces. ‘And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it’ (Isaiah 25:7-8).
Therefore, don’t be ashamed to let out those tears in your eyes, but do have faith in your heart that God will wipe away all your tears! What is it that is making you cry? God’s visitation will turn your sorrow to laughter. God visited Sarah and she laughed, He will visit and make you laugh and everyone that is around you will laugh with you (Genesis 21:1-8), in Jesus Name, Amen!
"And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death will be no more, nor will there be sorrow or crying or pain anymore; for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4).
James Dina
james@mountzionblog.org
5th September 2020
https://mountzionblog.org/speaking-tears/
References
1. "An Exposition on the book of Job" by JOSEPH CARYL.
2. "The Meaning of Tears" by Watchman Nee.
3. " THE PRAYERS OF DAVID: WHEN TEARS ARE PRAYERS" by PAB.
