Be Assured that God Hears Your Tears

Psalm 6:6

I am wearied with my moaning;
I cause to swim all night my bed;
with my tears my couch I cause to dissolve.

Scientists tell us that humans are the only species that produce tears when provoked by certain emotions. While we see tears as a sign of weakness, God sees them as a powerful prayer.

In Ps 6:6, the psalmist laments with tears, and the first thing that God hears in v. 8 is the sound of his weeping. After calling for help for ten lines in vv. 1 to 5, the psalmist has no words left to pray and cries not buckets, but a salty pool in which his bed “swims” and “dissolves”. This is what v. 6 says literally in Hebrew rather than the bland translation of “I flood my bed” and “I drench my couch”.

But no tear is wasted, for God hears. Verses 8-9 say, “The Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication.” This double emphasis on God having heard is followed by a double emphasis on the shaming of enemies in the final v.10. Tears are the turning point that brings God’s action.

Ad Vingehoets, Why Only Humans Weep: Unravelling the Mysteries of Tears (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), says that tears are a social signal for help, especially during childhood when humans are at their most vulnerable. Crying needs a social context. He found that people report feeling better after crying at a movie with a friend, but when they watch a similar movie and cry on their own, they usually report no improvement in their mood.

This psalmist had no one to cry to in the desolate darkness of his bedroom, except for one person, the only one who counts anyway—the one who hears and is moved by our every tear.

What or who are you frustrated with? The psalmist speaks of his enemies in vv8-10. Is there someone who hurt you, especially someone whom you trusted? Worse when it’s one whom you thought should know better: a Christian, a colleague, a family member. Bring your tears of fear, anguish, or sorrow to God. Jesus wept, too, at Gethsemane. He understands; he hears.

Rev. Dr Maggie Low