Tears

How Nave’s arranged it

• General scriptures concerningPsalms 6:6Psalms 39:12Psalms 42:3
• Observed by GodPsalms 56:8Isaiah 38:3–5
• Wiped awayRevelation 7:17
• None in heavenRevelation 21:4
• FIGURATIVEPsalms 80:5

The passages, in Bible order (8)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 8 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Psalms 6:6

   I am weary from groaning; all night I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 6:62 voices

   “I am weary with my groaning - I am exhausted or worn out with it. That is, his sorrows were so deep, and his groaning was so constant, that his strength failed. He became “faint” under the weight of his sorrows. All persons in trouble have experienced this effect - the sense of weariness or exhaustion from sorrow. All the night make I my bed to swim - That is, he wept so much that his bed seemed to be immersed in tears.

   “In hell there is no amendment. No means of satisfaction can be given where no act of the will remains any longer, as David says in prophecy: "Since in death there is no one who remembers you, who will give you thanks in hell?" Let us flee harmful pleasures, dangerous joys and desires that perish right away. What fruit is there, what use is there, in wanting these things incessantly, things that we must abandon even if they do not abandon us? Let the love of ephemeral things be transferred to incorruptible ones.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 6:6→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Psalms 39:12

   Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 39:122 voices

   “Ver. 12. Hear my prayer, O Lord. Drown not my pleadings with the sound of thy strokes. Thou hast heard the clamour of my sins, Lord; hear the laments of my prayers. And give ear unto my cry. Here is an advance in intensity: a cry is more vehement, pathetic, and impassioned, than a prayer. The main thing was to have the Lord's ear and heart. Hold not thy peace at my tears. This is a yet higher degree of importunate pleading. Who can withstand tears, which are the irresistible weapons of weakness?

   What the psalmist means is: As long as I am in this body, I am unhappy. Who of us could say that? If we are octogenarians, we are afraid to die; if we are centenarians and sick besides, still we cling to life and beg for respite. Why do we do that? Because sin gnaws at our conscience. We know that if we leave our body, we are going not to Christ but to hell. On the contrary, what does the apostle say? "I desire to depart and to be with Christ."

   Everything gathered on Psalms 39:12→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Psalms 42:3

   My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?”

   ›Commentary on Psalms 42:32 voices

   “Ver. 3. My tears have been my meat day and night. Salt meats, but healthful to the soul. When a man comes to tears, constant tears, plenteous tears, tears that fill his cup and trencher, he is in earnest indeed. As the big tears stand in the stag's eyes in her distress, so did the salt drops glitter in the eyes of David. His appetite was gone, his tears not only seasoned his meat, but became his only meat, he had no mind for other diet.

   “There is a weeping that springs from contemplating eternal good and longing for future light, and tears of joy and desire cannot help but break out as the soul is athirst for the mighty living God.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 42:3→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Psalms 56:8

   You have taken account of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle— are they not in Your book?

   ›Commentary on Psalms 56:82 voices

   “Ver. 8. Thou tellest my wanderings. Every step which the fugitive had taken when pursued by his enemies, was not only observed but thought worthy of counting and recording. We perhaps are so confused after a long course of trouble, that we hardly know where we have or where we have not been; but the omniscient and considerate Father of our spirits remembers all in detail; for he has counted them over as men count their gold, for even the trial of our faith is precious in his sight. Put thou my tears into thy bottle.

   “Of all the impressions thus made upon his spirit. When he was wandering he was often weeping, and therefore prays, " Put thou my tears into thy bottle, to be preserved and looked upon; nay, I know they are in thy book, the book of thy remembrance." God has a bottle and a book for his people's tears, both those for their sins and those for their afflictions.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 56:8→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Psalms 80:5

   You fed them with the bread of tears and made them drink the full measure of their tears.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 80:52 voices

   “Ver. 5. "Thou feedest them with the bread of tears." Their meat is seasoned with brine distilled from weeping eyes. Their meals, which were once such pleasant seasons of social merriment, are now like funeral feasts to which each man contributes his bitter morsel. Thy people ate bread of wheat before, but now they receive from thine own hand no better diet than bread of tears. "And givest them tears to drink in great measure." Tears are both their food and their drink, and that without stint.

   “Thou feedest them with the bread of tears,.... With tears instead of bread, having none to eat; or their bread is mingled with their tears, "dipped" therein, as the Targum; such was their constant grief, and the occasion of it, that they could not cease from tears while they were eating their meals, and so ate them with them (n): and givest them tears to drink in great measure; or the wine of tears "three fold", as the Targum.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 80:5→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Isaiah 38:3–5

   saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 38:3–52 voices

   “(Verse 3) I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight: and Hezekiah wept with great weeping. And he said: I beseech you, Lord, remember, please, how I have walked before you in truth, and with a perfect heart, and that I have done what is good in your eyes. And knowing that he is about to die, he does not pray for a long life and many years, but instead asks what he should offer in God's judgement.

   “And said, remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee,....

   Everything gathered on Isaiah 38:3–5→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Revelation 7:17

   For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

   ›Commentary on Revelation 7:172 voices

   "Everlasting joy," says Isaiah, "shall be upon their heads." Well, there is nothing eternal until after the resurrection. "And sorrow and sighing," he continues, "shall flee away." The angel echoes the same to John: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes"; from the same eyes indeed that had formerly wept and that might weep again, if the lovingkindness of God did not dry up every fountain of tears.

   “For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne,....

   Everything gathered on Revelation 7:17→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Revelation 21:4

   ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”

   ›Commentary on Revelation 21:42 voices

   “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes,....

   “It must be understood concerning the devil that he has certainly been conquered and crucified, but for those who have been crucified with Christ, moreover for all believers and likewise for all people, the devil will also be crucified at the time when what the apostle says will be fulfilled: "As in Adam all die, so also in Christ will all be made alive." Thus there is also in this a mystery of future resurrection.

   Everything gathered on Revelation 21:4→

   Verse page →Original language →