Many hymns and sermons have affirmed that this life is a vale of tears. While some of us don’t cry easily, hearts can be drenched with hurt. Whether because of the illness of a friend, the pain of mankind’s brutality, the tired fight against sin, or simply the accumulation of stress to a breaking point, tears—real or unwept—have streamed down every face.
What gain is there in tearful suffering? Some opine, “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But Scripture gives more wisdom than the mottoes of man. When it comes to suffering, we know the struggle against sin will continue until our last breath. We know God disciplines those He loves. We know we don’t walk alone through the fire and water. We know God works all things for the good of those who love him. We also know that the Christian’s suffering is inevitable.
Scripture depicts a world groaning as in the pains of childbirth and waiting for the final deliverance. On that day, John tells us, eyes long wet with mourning will be dried as God wipes away every tear. ‘No tears’ is a beautiful image of hope, for an accurate portrait of life on this side of the grave is the red eyes and puffy face of the mourner. Yet one day sad tears will be obsolete. Perhaps there will be only tears of joy as we rejoice in the presence of the Lamb.
David’s Prayer
On that day will we remember the vale of tears from whence we came? Will our memory of this life’s pain be wiped away? Consider David’s words in Psalm 56:8, “Put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” Intriguing to think that there is a collection somewhere of our tears. Is every heartache remembered by God, recorded for posterity? Might we page through his book one day and reread all our old laments?
In Psalm 56 David requests that God not forget his suffering and tears. The psalm’s title notes his circumstances: “When the Philistines seized him in Gath.” This points us to 1 Samuel 21:10-15, where David acts insane in the presence of Achish the Philistine ruler. Scripture says that he resorts to such tactics in great fear. David is worn out from running and scared for his life.
He cries out to God, “Put my tears in your bottle.” Literally, in the Hebrew he says: “Put my tears in your waterskin.” Such a bag for liquids was made of stitched animal skins; it was a leak-proof leather pouch with a small opening to allow for pouring. Think of the Gibeonites’ cracked and mended waterskins in Joshua 9 when they pretended to be travelers from afar. Into such a bag David asks that his tears of sorrow be collected and kept by God.
Why does David make this odd request? It seems that he has despaired of God’s answer to his prayers. Long days on the run have gone by without a response from heaven. Here is David, tears streaming down his face, a list of laments as long as his spear, enemies pressing, and where is God? So he pleads, “O Lord, take notice of my sorrows! Put my tears in your bottle and let them prompt you to action.” It’s a prayer that God would see the depths of David’s suffering—its every detail and sigh—and finally respond in mercy and power.
God’s Promise of Comfort
There is urgency in Psalm 56, plus confidence: David is sure that God will not forget. David’s tears won’t disappear into Philistine soil, but God will see and respond. The Lord collects David’s tears as precious and He records his lament, for the time is certainly coming when God will answer his prayer.
What David knew, and what we know, is that God isn’t far from those who cry to Him. He who numbers the hairs of our heads will not overlook the tears on our faces. He sees what we suffer and He assures us that it’s all in preparation for something greater. This is the gospel truth of 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” (vv. 5-6).
Psalm 56 speaks firstly of tears wept when believers (like David) are persecuted by their enemies—these tears, like the blood of the martyrs, cry out against the wicked before God who will vindicate his children. But God sees all our tears, even our daily laments because of loneliness, guilt, fatigue, anxiety. These tears too, are seen by our God and never drip unheeded.
In compassion, the Father puts all our tears in his bottle. He does it for Jesus’s sake, who came as a man of sorrows into this groaning world. While He was here, Jesus wept. He mourned death, brokenness, and sin, then conquered them all by his cross. Now in Jesus’s name, God hears our laments and helps us in every worthy struggle.
And Christ promises that one day soon all tears will be but a memory: our faces forever wiped dry, God’s wineskin forever cracked and empty.
