Tears in a bottle and Words in a book

 

Psalm 56:8

 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

When you read this verse what picture arises in your mind?

Do you see a huge room up in heaven with wall-to-wall shelves, lined with thousands upon thousands of little glass bottles with cork stoppers, each filled with a clear liquid and neatly labelled with a name, like some kind of great apothecary in the sky?

Okay, it sounds a little farfetched. But sometimes the things we read in Scripture have a certain mystery about them and not everything makes sense. But then we read a lot of symbolism in the Bible that gives us little glimmers of understanding, and this is one of those passages.

Let me give you a little history lesson to begin with.

According to history, this idea of a tear bottle was not a mere figure of speech. Over 3000 years ago, there actually was a tradition of tear catching.

A small bottle, called a lachrymatory, petite and decorative, were said to have been bought by people especially in middle eastern societies, in which a mourner would fill with their tears, after the death of a loved one and would then place them in the burial tomb as a sign of their honour, love and devotion.

These tear bottles or tear catchers made a reappearance in the Victorian period of the 19^th century and also during the American Civil War and were used in slightly different ways.

Over the years, I have cried many tears. Tears of frustration. Tears of joy. Tears of sadness. Tears of utter despair and hopelessness. In fact, sometimes I think I’ve cried enough tears to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool!

When you read through this particular Psalm of David you see him once again in a place of desperation.

David was expressing to God his grief over his current situation. At the time of writing, David was a prisoner of war. He had been captured by the Philistines in Gath and was at their mercy. He was fearful and uncertain of his future.

Psalm 56:2, 5-6 KJV - Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. ... Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.

When we come to verse 8 and the peculiar phrase, we see that he has already ridden a wave of emotions. From fear to grief to despair to praise then back to doubt then back to praise again.

I can imagine David, on his knees, or lying prostrate on the floor, sobbing, in utter exhaustion, tears pouring down his cheeks, chest heaving, body shaking and feeling every emotion as he expressed his sorrows to the Lord.

It had been a wild ride and as he pours it all out before the Lord, we see him asking God to put his tears in his bottle.

I noticed in researching this text that other translations say God puts our tears in a bottle. But in the KJV it says that he bluntly tells or asks God to put his tears in his bottle.

“put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?”

Collect them, God and pour them in!

Do you ever treasure something so much that you hide it away in a bottle, or a box or a special place, away from prying eyes because no one else truly understands its value in the way that you do?

I’ve often wondered what it is God wants with my tears and whether he actually has a bottle and why David references this and what is the meaning of it all?

When David asks of God to put his tears in a bottle it seems to symbolize remembrance. David is referring to the fact that God remembers each and every tear we cry. He holds them as precious, counting them as special and valuable. He remembers them when no one else does. He remembers them long after they have dried up.

God remembers our griefs, our sorrows and our pain. He sees every falling tear and catches every drop in his memory.

He doesn’t see them and forget them. He remembers every single one. He is a God of great compassion and not a tear goes unnoticed. No matter how trivial, small or unimportant the situation might seem, the tears that accompany them matter to God.

Although God doesn’t have a literal bottle to keep our tears in, he is intimately concerned with every aspect of our lives and because of his overwhelming heart of compassion and love, he catches them all, sees them all and remembers them all.

David drew comfort in knowing that no matter what situation he found himself in, God was always there. He reflected on God’s faithfulness and his promises, knowing God would always come through. Times might be tough, hard things would arise, but God would still be God, and he would still care for his child.

10 times in this Psalm, David remembers and speaks aloud that God is faithful and that he can put his trust in him, and he praises him. He knows from past victories that God will walk by his side and fight for him.

His reference to a book is a question David asked for emphasis on what he had already said. It was like an underscore to the fact that God would remember, just as if he had written it down in a book.

If one day, as I wander the golden streets in Heaven, I come upon a room filled with bottles and a wall of books, I will be amazed but not surprised, as some mysteries in the Bible we will never fully grasp and maybe there is a literal book and literal tear bottles, but the main thing to take away is that God remembers, recalls, and comforts. He doesn’t disregard or forget our tears.

When the world doesn’t know how to respond to your grief and can’t enter into your pain because of lack of understanding, God does. God understands the language of tears.

Stay with me as I speak a little more on this subject of tears.

I want to emphatically state straight up that you don’t need to be ashamed of tears.

David was never ashamed of his emotional outpourings and neither should you. Emotions are God-given, and yes, they need to be carefully guarded and expressed, but feeling our emotions is normal and so are tears.

Tears are normal when our hearts are broken, or fear consumes us when our world comes crashing down. We need never be ashamed of letting them fall.

Tears are a God-given mechanism to release stress, sadness, anxiety and grief. Trying to hold back our tears just causes stress and keeps us pretending that all is well when it definitely is not! Eventually, the façade will end.

Even our Lord Jesus shed tears when his good friend Lazarus died. (John 11:35) He knew what it was like to feel pain and sadness.

Researchers have found that tears flowing from emotion contain stress hormones that are expelled from our bodies through crying. Toxins that build up during times of immense stress are released as we cry and the crying stimulates the production of endorphins, our body’s “feel good” hormones. It’s no wonder we feel so much better after a good, long cry!

Crying helps us to self-soothe, detoxifies our body, improves our mood and restores our emotional balance among other things.

God knows this. He created tear ducts not only to help protect and cleanse the eye but also to help cleanse the soul.

What I’m trying to say is, it’s okay to cry. And yes, men, it’s okay for you to cry too. In fact, it would do you good!

There is nothing weak about crying and expressing your true emotions. God will always remember and collect them. He holds the bottle and the book and won’t let them be taken away or broken.

David was at the end of his rope, once again, as you and I often are, and so he cried. He poured out his heart to God, he didn’t hide how he felt, he went to the ultimate comfort giver, drew close to the healer and let it all out.

He knew that God would remember his past, present and future tears. He knew that the God of the universe cared for him.

God longs for us to come to him and be honest and raw with him. He is able to handle our vulnerability. He understands our pain and sorrow.

When we do this, then the healing can begin. As we pour out to God, he pours into us. We each hold a special place in his heart. And there is room in his apothecary for all of our tears.

Take comfort in knowing that there is coming a day when our tears will be forever wiped away and what a glorious day that will be.

Revelation 21:4 KJV - And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Until that day, remember, your tears are normal. They are necessary. And they are noticed. They are remembered by your Heavenly Father.

Let yourself feel. Let your tears fall. Pour yourself out to God. Let him pour into you. And as the healing comes, praise him with every part of your being for the God that he is and the good that he does.

Trust in him, knowing that he is there to catch and hold each and every tear as he holds you close to his heart.

Psalm 18:6 KJV - In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

 

Often you wonder why tears come into your eyes
And burdens seem to be much more than you can stand
But God is standing near, He sees your falling tears
Tears are a language God understands

God sees the tears of a brokenhearted soul
He sees your tears and hears them when they fall
God weeps along with man and takes him by the hand
Tears are a language God understands

When grief has left you low it causes tears to flow
And things have not turned out the way that you had planned
But God won't forget you His promises are true
Tears are a language God understands

God sees the tears of a brokenhearted soul
He sees your tears and hears them when they fall
God weeps along with man and takes him by the hand
Tears are a language God understands