This Is Why I Cry

A Brief Meditation on Psalm 56:8

Psalm 56:8 says that God puts our tears in his bottle.

I’ve been pastoring in Iowa City just over seven years now, and I think I’ve filled more than a few bottles. For the Psalmist, they’re the tears of nighttime tossing, and I’ve for sure cried those kind of tears. Sleepless, pillow-soaking nights have punctuated just about every meaningful thing I’ve been a part of at Resurrection Assembly of God.

But I’ve also cried bottles of joy. I remember once looking at Pastor Abby Anderson right after communion had concluded. I can’t recall precisely what someone had done that was so clearly Spirit-led, but I remember saying to Abby, “I don’t want to miss a single wonderful moment in God’s kingdom.” I looked up at the ceiling to keep the wells from overflowing.

I cry when I write sermons. Yesterday my father, who is also a pastor, texted me out of the blue and without context about how wonderful it is to read and meditate on the Scriptures. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve gazed into the words of Scripture that give witness to the Word himself. I’ve cried not only at content, but also at form. How the Bible says something is so often just as beautiful as what it is saying.

Psalm 56:8 goes on to say that our tears are in God’s book. That book is my Bible. The pages are crinkled from the wetness turning dry many times over.

As I write my sermons, the Holy Spirit seemingly puts particular congregants on my heart. I can see their faces, and I feel love welling up in my heart for them. I say “seemingly” about the Holy Spirit because I am well aware that it might just be me. But whether from the Holy Spirit himself, or from a Spirit-filled life, I do love them.

The reason I cry for my congregants as I write sermons that are for them in particular is because I know them. I know their joy and their pain. I know their victories and their failures. A good shepherd, like the Good Shepherd, knows his sheep. Jesus wept, and so do I.

So, pastors, do you cry for your church? I’m not saying you have to because maybe I’m just a teary guy. But maybe you should.

Christians, do you cry for each other? Try it sometime.

Congregants, do you cry for your pastors? They wouldn’t mind if you did.

Or do you just cry generally? From sadness and despair? Or from joy and life? God rubs the lip of the bottle gently on your cheek so as not to lose a single droplet.

Our Lord can turn water-filled jars into wine.

Makes you wonder what he can do with your tears in his bottle.

selah