Dave preached a very challenging sermon on Sunday evening from Psalm 126:
“Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.” (Ps 126:5-6)
The challenge is for us to have God’s heart for the world and to reach out to those who don’t know Him with compassion and tears, rather than having what he eloquently described as ‘dry-eyed syndrome’. I know it’s a challenge to draw so close to God that we feel His heart and weep His tears.
Lament is not a popular subject. We much prefer the idea of victorious celebration and smiling happiness to the wretched uncertainty of lament, where it is not clear what God will do or how He will do it. But lament, a lost language to many of us, is definitely one to be found in the Bible: as Michael Card says, “At least 80 of the Psalms are actually Laments. It has become a lost language to our culture, yet almost every major Biblical character recorded a lament. There must be a reason for that.”
Tears are far more than the prosaic ‘liquid product which lubricates the eyes’. They reflect our hearts, with great emotion – of sadness, anger or even joy – prompting the release of tears. If we are to truly reflect God’s heart to the world around us, then we need to learn how to sow with tears.
Despite the artistry of films, crying is not usually pretty. There is reddening of the face and sobbing—cough-like, convulsive breathing, sometimes involving spasms of the whole upper body. We rarely look good while we’re crying! But unless our emotions are touched and our wills moulded to obey God, we will remain hard-hearted and ineffective.
Graham Kendrick’s song ‘Soften my heart’ is my prayer for the day:
“Soften my heart, Lord
Soften my heart
From all indifference set me apart
To feel Your compassion
To weep with Your tears
Come soften my heart, oh Lord
Soften my heart.”