Learning to speak in tears
PSALM 56:8 written by David in the most chaotic and fearful moment in his life. Running from Saul and being captured by the Philistines. It’s a personal pandemic to David that led him to write this psalm.
It is so remarkable that we don’t just get to know the writer of this Psalm as he reveals his vulnerabilities, we come to get to know His God!
Psalm 56:3 reveals David facing his fear without being fake, Psalm 56:8 we see that our tears matter to God! God collects them and puts them into bottles and records them in His journal. Amazing God! Those drops of liquid are not only designed to lubricate the eyes and express emotions, they are an unspoken language God understands.
Someone said “when words fail, tears flow” and in many ways tears convey a load of many things more than just words. No wonder when we cry, we feel relieved almost instantaneously. Those tears are not just spontaneously released; somehow, it’s something that we need to learn? Not through a lecture or seminar, but by drawing close to the One who takes interest on it. While those precious tears are in abundance they cannot be easily manipulated to flow. I still don’t understand why we need to apologize when we “accidentally” cry in public. Perhaps in is seen as a weakness that violates social sensitivities. David knew His Shepherd well that he freely let go of those drops often.
Those tears are not really available in heaven. God will wipe all of it. I guess we need to make the most of its use here on earth, in this long journey of faith in God. Learning to speak in tears is not a tongue issue it’s a heart issue. This is not an easy language to learn. Our coach here is life itself, assisted by the raw realities that happen to us every day. I have a feeling that when we don’t or won’t freely cry before God it somehow hardens our hearts slowly, until we can’t shed any of those anymore! One more thing, tears from the heart cannot be coerce from outside. It is also not a credible standard of a person’s spirituality yet there is something empty inside us when those tears don’t flow anymore.
Let us prayerfully learn how to speak to God in tears again. Is it required to do so? Not really, but it’s really a relief to do so. It makes you human, allows you and me to deal with many things that words can’t express and only tears can. Your tears matter to God! Don’t sanitize it and don’t use it to manipulate others, just shed it to God! Learn to speak in tears and get to know the God who also wept!
“You keep track record of all my sorrows. You have collected my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book”
~ PSALM 56:8 NLT