“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” Psalm 56:8
I don’t know why but in seasons of prayer and fasting tears often flow from my eyes. My vocal chords are still. No volume. Silent.
But I feel that I am in exceptionally meaningful conversation with God. I sense His holy presence near. The part of my brain that talks is still and the part that communes is fully alive and active.
Jeremiah seemed to know something about tears as communication. His people were far from the God whom they claimed as theirs. They were adulters, treacherous, and wicked with their words. The prophet’s heart was moved beyond adequate words so he said,
Oh that my head were waters,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people!
His desire to weep day and night could not be only a statement of grief. His tears would flow as condemnation of sin, conviction to his people, and prayer before the Lord. Jeremiah understood that tears talk.
Today my tears are a statement that my soul finds rest in God alone. In His presence I am both satisfied and longing for more.
With David the Psalmist my tears say,
For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
Much about God I don’t understand but His Bible makes this very clear. He has a bottle and a book and in them He proves that language of tears is important to Him. Maybe in His bottle He collects the tears and in His book He records the meaning of each drop.