You Yourself have recorded my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your records? Then my enemies will retreat on the day when I call. This I know: God is for me. Psalm 56:8-9
My words…
Praise
I wish I could know what was going through Your mind when You created eyes – the lamps of the body. Colorful orbs, sparkling with lightly-salted liquid that overflows during deeply emotional times. A beautifully imaginative idea! Tears: the unmistakable signal that the heart has been filled, touched, seared, pierced, broken. Tears are the visual symbol of pain and despair, contentment and joy. It’s nearly impossible to keep a lock on a tear duct. When it is prompted to open, it will open, and anyone in the vicinity will witness the warm flow of sentiment. Weeping is one act all humans do the same, infants and elderly alike. We all cry, but then we all stop crying. The pain eventually eases. The gush of joy ebbs. We move on. But the tears remain, not on our faces but in Your bottle – each tear a story chronicled in Your impeccable records.
You know the number of tears I have shed and the impetus behind each one, which I find even more thrilling than You knowing the number of hairs on my head. It all comes down to this: You care about me more than I can fathom. You watch me, cheer me, grieve for me, lift me. In short: You are for me. It moves me to tears.
Prayer for others
Lord, I have special people in my life whose tear bottles have been filled this week. They grieve the loss of those they love because of a virus – the same virus that prevents friends from offering a sympathetic hug. Thank You for being the One who comforts when no one else can.
More praise
The Psalmist’s figurative language is delightfully captivating: a bottle for my tears. Still…I won’t be a bit surprised to find You holding mine when we meet someday. In bliss, I’ll add to it!
