September 15 -- "Holy Tears"

 Today’s Reading: Judges 20

"Holy Tears"

The people of Israel were rightly offended by the atrocities of rape and murder that had occurred within their borders.  Brutal acts performed by their own countrymen from the tribe of Benjamin.  They weren’t going to stand for it any longer. They knew something had to be done. So, they gathered together and considered the situation, took counsel with one another, and sought the LORD.  They confronted the tribe of Benjamin and demanded an explanation for the great evil that had taken place. They insisted that the men guilty of this crime be brought forward and punished.  But the people of Benjamin refused. Instead they mustered their armies and gathered to battle their fellow tribes.

That’s when the people of Israel went up and wept before the LORD. They fell on their faces and sobbed about sin and evil and the terrible predicament they now faced. Their prayer meeting lasted all day and into the evening. 

There are many times in Scripture that we find people weeping before God in an act of intense prayer and questioning. Weeping – the shedding of tears – is a uniquely human method of expressing emotions such as pain, despair, remorse, and disappointment.  In this case, the people are weeping for three reasons: (1) because of the moral degeneracy of the men of Gibeah; (2) because of the division that has occurred between their fellow countrymen; and, (3) because they are acutely aware that more blood is about to be shed.  They don’t take this situation lightly or enter into it impetuously.  They fall on their faces before the Lord and inquire of Him. They wanted to make sure that going up against their fellow countrymen was the correct action to take.

These were holy tears. Tears of remorse. Tears of repentance. Tears of heartfelt dependence upon God. The God of all comfort keeps watch over your weeping. He gathers up all your tears and “puts them in his bottle” (Psalm 56:8).  God marks every cry of discomfort and pain. No matter how much of your anguish has gone unnoticed by others, not one moment has escaped the attention of the God who neither slumbers nor sleeps. In 2 Kings 20:25, God says to Hezekiah, “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears.”

Many of us feel ashamed of our tears, especially if others see them. In a culture that prizes strength and grows uncomfortable with prolonged grieving, many of us respond to our own tears with a hasty wipe of the sleeve and a quick, “Get over it.”  Not so with God, whose fatherly compassion compels him to draw near to the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds (Psalm 147:3). The God who said, “Blessed are you who weep now” (Luke 6:21) will not reproach you for the tears you shed as you walk through the ruins of our broken world.