The Language of Tears

John M. Buttrey II

Without uttering a sound, tears can often say more than a multitude of spoken words.

Their silent moist trails on our cheeks possess a language all their own. Tears are a universal language that all can understand. No interpreter is needed when eyes start to well up and tears begin to fall. Depending on the circumstances, tears can speak of hurt, joy, concern, love, pain, loneliness, fear, memories (good and bad), accomplishments, and a host of other experiences and emotions.

 Sadly, some view tears (especially those of a man), as a sign of weakness. However, many strong men and women have shed tears. Their tears were no sign of weakness! Tears are a natural heartfelt expression of life’s victories and defeats.

   As Christians, it is comforting to know that God is aware of all our tears. David wrote:

Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping (Ps. 6:8 Emphasis Mine).

You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book? (Ps. 56:8).

   David is not saying there is a literal bottle in heaven where God keeps our tears. He is poetically reminding us that God is very aware of our victories, and our defeats. The Almighty knows our happy moments, and our times of sadness.

   Since God is aware of all our tears, it should not surprise us to learn that the Bible has more than its share of Divinely recorded tears. God’s word reveals tears for a variety of different reasons, and from a variety of different people.

   Joseph shed tears of joy in being reunited with his brothers. The inspired text tells us he wept loudly. Later, it is recorded that he wept on Benjamin’s neck (Gen. 45:1-2, 14-15). 

   Hannah, the mother of Samuel, shed tears of distress in her desire for a son. We are told that she wept despondently (1 Sam. 1:10).

   When Nehemiah asked some of his brethren about the rebuilding effort in Jerusalem, he says of their response:

They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who remain from the captivity are in great calamity and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.” (Nehemiah 1:3). 

   Nehemiah then reports:

Now it happened that when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven (Nehemiah 1:4 Emphasis Mine)

   When Job’s friends saw his great pain and suffering,

Then they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe, and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky (Job 2:12 Emphasis Mine). 

   The prophet Jeremiah is sometimes called “the weeping prophet.” Consider this example from his pen:

Oh that my head were waters

And my eyes a fountain of tears,

That I might weep day and night

For the slain of the daughter of my people! (Jeremiah 9:1 ). 

The impetuous Peter wept at the realization he had denied the Lord three times. Luke tells us, Peter “went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62).

   Even our Savior shed tears. On the occasion when He raised Lazarus from the dead, John records, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). As Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem, ushering in the events of His final week, Luke says, 

And as He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He cried over it (Luke 19:41 ). 

   The strong and courageous apostle Paul shed tears. Reminding the elders of Ephesus of his work for the Lord in their city, Paul said he had been, 

Serving the Lord with all humility and with tears 

and with trials which came upon me through the 

plots of the Jews (Acts 20:19 Emphasis Mine). 

   As Paul finished his farewell with these elders, we read:

And they began to weep aloud and falling on Paul’s neck, they were kissing him (Acts 20:37). 

   My Bible has a note for this verse that says the Greek literally indicates, “a considerable weeping of all occurred.” 

   There are so many tears recorded in Scripture, more than this short writing can list. So many tears, that combined with our own, perhaps God’s “bottle of tears” may be close to overflowing! 

   All of these tears show us that God is indeed aware of what is happening in our life. He is aware of the good and the bad, the happy and sad. God is showing us that tears are no sign of weakness! David, Joseph, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Paul, and Peter shed tears. These were strong men! And of course, remember that Jesus also wept.

   What would your tears communicate today? Joy? Grief? Loneliness? Pain, Defeat? Love? Victory? Whatever the cause of your weeping, please know, that God is well aware of your tears (cf. Heb. 4:13). He knows the pain or joy of every wet trail upon your face. He knows, and He cares. God loves you! That thought alone can often bring the strongest to tears.

He will swallow up death for all time,

And Lord Yahweh will 

wipe tears away from all faces,

And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;

For Yahweh has spoken.

Isaiah 25:8