Daily Bread_November 14, 2013

Title: Why do You Weep?

Text:

Psalm 137:1 (HCSB)
¹ By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion.

Observation:

There are some things that happen to us or to others that makes us cry. When reading this Psalm it got me to thinking about this topic.

In our focal verse for today the people of God were crying because their past had caught up with them; it was because their sins had caught up with them. I heard a sermon years ago on the subject, "Payday Some Day".

Numbers 32:23 (HCSB)
²³ But if you don't do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD; be sure your sin will catch up with you.

Let's look at some other instances in the Bible of why people weep.

Nehemiah 1:4 (HCSB)
⁴ When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Job 2:13 (HCSB)
¹³ Then they sat on the ground with him seven days and nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering was very intense.

Jeremiah 13:17 (HCSB)
¹⁷ But if you will not listen, my innermost being will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, for the LORD's flock has been taken captive.

It is profitable to set aside some time to take inventory of our spiritual life. There are times when crying is a sign of compassion and love. Let's look at an occasion when Jesus wept.

Luke 19:41-44 (HCSB)
⁴¹ As He approached and saw the city, He wept over it,
⁴² saying, "If you knew this day what [would bring] peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.
⁴³ For the days will come on you when your enemies will build an embankment against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side.
⁴⁴ They will crush you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."

God's heart for His people is a heart of love; Jesus expressed that love with compassion for them, and He wept because they rejected Him. There can be no higher motive for weeping.

Prayer:

Father God, Sovereign Lord, my dear Father, I pray that my reason for weeping will not be over my past. Rather, I pray that I will weep because of compassion for those hurting people that You bring into my daily circumstances.

Father God, give me a heart of compassion that imitates the heart of Jesus for people. I ask this favor in the name of the one who taught us how to pray the "Our Father" pattern of prayer; our Lord Jesus, Amen.

John 11:35 (HCSB)
³⁵ Jesus wept.

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Proverbs 30:5 (ESV)
⁵ Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Psalm 119:11 (ESV)
¹¹ I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

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