WEEPING

 

Thursday, June 16, 2022

 

WEEPING

 

Ps 30:2-5

2 O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

 

          The word weeping can be found in our Bible about 44 times and 10 of those times you will find it in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah. Strangely, I think, we do not find that word in his book of Lamentations. Weeping is perhaps better known by the fifth verse of our text above. We remember it because we see it as a promise and a hope.

 

          Darwin thought monkeys and elephants wept. But modern scientists believe the only animal to really break down in tears is us. So why do we do it, and why do we change the way we cry as we grow older?

 

          Ah, older! It does seem that we become melancholy as we age. Perhaps it is because we have experienced so much loss. Not just the loss of substance and the loss of important battles, but the loss of dear friends. The more we age the more singular we become. We sit quietly and depart the present and re-enter the past to visit a while with those friends. When friends interrupt our revelry to ask us what is on our minds, we often answer with my mother-in-law’s favorite response “oh, first one thing and then another.” Our memories are treasures, and we share them reluctantly.

 

          Faces and places are often left behind in our nomadic wanderings. When we finally settle, we have left behind scattered relationships that are difficult to maintain. They become static, frozen in our minds, and timeless. When we do reconnect, we are surprised to learn that they have been changed by time just as we have been. We are amused first then shocked and finally saddened. We must change the picture of them in our beloved memory.

 

          When Paul came to Troas, he expected to find his friend Titus, but he wasn’t there. He wrote that he “had no rest in his spirit.” Empty arms instead of an embrace welcomed the lonely traveler. I wonder if there were tears.

 

          The best thing about the tears of the believer is that they cannot last. Our Psalm says that “joy comes in the morning.” Revelation promises that Jesus shall wipe every tear from our eyes.

 

Tears will never stain the streets of that city

No wreaths of death on my mansion door

Teardrops aren't welcome beyond the gates of glory

For the heart will never break anymore

Dottie Rambo

 

Dear Lord, as we march through loss on our way to gain, let us keep our tear-stained eyes on you. AMEN