The biblical warrior is a man of tears.

Think not? Consider:

King David, Joshua, King Josiah, Jacob, Moses, Jeremiah, Simon Peter, Paul, Timothy, Jesus Christ. All these were men of tears; all were fighters; all were worshipers; all were faithful servants of the Most Holy God — and that last One is the incarnation of Almighty God Himself.

Why does this matter? It’s because grief is a proper response of the holy person to the certainty that the vast majority of human souls will perish eternally. It is also the proper response to the awareness that our sin is a burden and a grief to our God. Tears are therefore the divine tools and weapons of repentance for ourselves, and of intercession for others.

Sometimes tears are an expression of worship and gratitude to the God who has loved His people from before the foundation of the world, and Who continues to love us even unto the ages of the ages. We weep for joy and with profound love because our words fail us. And it is right that they should fail us. Consider the Eternal and Holy One: Who has ever fully understood His mind and His heart? Who has ever known Him to the very depths of His glorious, holy and wonderful soul?

At the same time, we must never forget that God’s eternal purpose is that tears should remain for a night, with joy coming in the morning. “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory that far outweighs them all; what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

And so we are called to suffer for now, but to rejoice forever afterward. On that great and glorious Day when the sons of Light inherit the kingdom that has been promised them from the creation of the world, He will wipe away every tear. That particular gift of God, then, is for this age only; it is destined to pass away with this present world, and will not be a part of that eternal age.

Amen.