Blessed are...

Tears

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4

Psalm 119 speaks of the pain caused by sin. The author writes, “streams of tears flow from my eyes, for Your law is not obeyed.”[1] He mourns for the sins of those who have abandoned God’s commandments and ignored His Covenant. He is not alone. The prophet Ezekiel tells how those who are faithful “grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done (in Jerusalem).”[2] Jeremiah, sometimes called the weeping prophet, cries, “Oh that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night…”[3] Then, remember how Jesus wept over the city.[4] “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” He cried, “you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you.”[5]

Mourning over sin is not, however, restricted to mourning over the sin of others. Romans chapter three reminds us to weep over our souls, our words, and our deeds.[6] We should certainly mourn when we consider the consequences of rebellion for others, but we should not forget our own offenses. Paul wrote, with tears, about those who live as enemies of the Cross of Christ,[7] but he also lamented his own shortcomings. “When I want to do good,” he wrote, “evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body… making me a prisoner of the law of sin… What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”[8] In the very next verse Paul answers his own question. His sorrow over sin precedes his celebration of salvation. “Thanks be to God – though Jesus Christ our Lord!”[9]

Lord Jesus,
With tears I come before the mercy seat,
acknowledging my failure and my faults.
You gently lift my face.
I see Your smile.
My tears of repentance become tears of joy.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.

[1] Psalm 119:136
[2] Ezekiel 9:4
[3] Jeremiah 9:1
[4] Luke 19:41
[5] Matthew 23:37
[6] Romans 3:10-17
[7] Philippians 3:18
[8] Romans 7:21-24
[9] Romans 7:25