Psalms No.8 A Safe Place for Precious Things

And he would take the even-numbered verses. The 56th Psalm. Be merciful unto me, O God, for a man would swallow me up.

He fighting daily oppresseth me. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. Every day they rest my words, all their thoughts are against me for evil.

Shall they escape by iniquity? In thine anger cast down the people, O God. When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back. This I know, for God is for me.

In God have I put my trust. I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. For thou hast delivered my soul from death.

Wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living? Amen. Now you may find it helpful to have your Bibles open at the 56th Psalm. I want to direct your attention in a moment to a phrase in the eighth verse.

As I have mentioned so frequently from this pulpit, it is remarkable how from time to time an unusual statement of scripture is brought to your attention. It sticks in your mind, you reflect and you meditate upon it. There along a burden is born that you want to share with other people.

Now that's my experience today. A dear friend of mine brought to me face to face some while ago with this particular text from God's Word. And though I must have read it, I confess that I'd never reflected upon it.

And I want to share with you some of my own thoughts and pray that with God's enabling, they shall be to you. His word for you this morning. The psalmist makes this observation in the eighth verse of the 56th Psalm.

He makes this request to put it more accurately. Put thou my tears into thy bottle. Put thou my tears into thy bottle.

I want to speak to you on a safe place for precious things. A safe place for precious things. And I think my text warrants that particular title.

Put thou my tears into thy bottle. The Christian religion is in one sense, though not exclusively, an emotional religion. What I mean by that is this.

When a person becomes a Christian, he ascends mentally to certain propositions concerning God and what God has done for him or for her through Jesus Christ. But it's not just an intellectual ascent that we give to the propositions of the gospel. It is an ascent of the whole nature, of the whole man.

The intellect and the will and the emotions are involved. And the Bible is not embarrassed to present characters who have fallen in love with God in these terms. People who have been moved intellectually and emotionally.

You cannot say on the human level, I love you purely intellectually. If you do that, then it's a logical contradiction because love cannot only be expressed by the intellect. It must find expression, adequate expression, through the emotions.

And one cannot just become a Christian intellectually, for that is a spurious conversion. One becomes a Christian from the whole fabric of one's being. There is a total commitment to God.

So I say that an essential ingredient in Christian conversion is the part that the emotions play. Not exclusively, but it's a very vital ingredient in conversion. And I have the justification to make these preliminary observations as I bring you to the main gist of what I have to say this morning.

Because so often in scripture, we're presented with men and women who emotionally love God. We're presented with ordinary people who live out their lives on the human stage. And we see them as men and women who've been earmarked by the Lord.

And we listen to them as they sing. We watch them as they love. We enter into their joy and into their sorrow.

We see them in moments of depression and in moments of exhilaration. And we realize that all their experience is controlled by a great and a sovereign God who loves them so much. And they reflect that love.

Now very often in scripture, the emotion of sorrow is referred to. And an incredible number of people are described as, on some occasions, engaging in the shedding of tears. And this is what we find the psalmist doing in this somewhat pathetic psalm.

I use that in the classic sense of the word, in this 56th psalm. He's not an old man. He's not a man who's filled with remorse because he's wasted his life.

In fact, probably David, when he wrote the psalm, was no more than 30 years of age and possibly even younger. He'd gone through a harrowing experience. He was a sort of Hebrew Robin Hood.

The only distinction being from the one that was in Sherwood Forest was that David never volunteered to be an outlaw. He was compelled, compelled to be one. He was hunted and hounded by Saul.

And on occasions he found himself in the company of the Philistines. And he realized they were treacherous people indeed. And he makes reference to the depression that he's in, to the grave circumstances that confronts him in the first and the second verse of this psalm.

He speaks about men who would swallow him up. And again he repeats the expression, the next verse, my enemies would daily swallow me up. In the fifth verse, he refers to the way that he's being libeled and slandered.

Every day they rest my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil. And as one reads this psalm, as it opens up, you see a young man who's in an abject state of spiritual depression.

He comes to God. He tells God all about it. And he weeps before the Lord.

And he's not ashamed so to do or to confess that he has wept as he writes this poem of his experiences. And he says, put thou my tears into thy bottle. Put thou my tears into thy bottle.

Modern psychiatry tells us that when men or women refuse to cry, other parts of the body commence to weep. And that's nothing new. For Shakespeare says, give sorrow words.

The grief that does not speak whispers the awe-fraught heart and bids it break. There is a place sometimes for tears, perhaps not in public, but certainly in private. And if those of you who react to what I'm saying this morning do so because you think it's unmanly, and I'm going off on a sentimental track, then let me tell you the Lord Jesus was a man who was given to tears.

Read the comment that the writer of the Hebrews makes when referring to the Savior as a man who sometimes engaged in strong crying and had many tears. There were things that caused him to weep. And yet tears that are shed sincerely and are shed in a justified fashion are precious things in the sight of God.

And this is why David says, put thou my tears into thy bottle, a safe place for precious things. Let me talk to you about the shedding of tears just for a moment or so and give to you or bring to your recollection certain occasions when men did shed tears in the Bible. Job makes this confession, my eye poureth out tears unto God.

The dropping of the tear from the eye onto the cheek is an indication of grief, of a desire that is strongly felt. And in the Word of God, we find people who shed penitential tears. They're confronted with the love of God and the purity of God and the holiness of God.

And they contrast that with their own miserable condition. And they begin to hate themselves. And they know something of the exceeding sinfulness of sin.

One of the things that strikes me from my reading and church history, contrasting the modern situation, one of the things that is missing so much from 20th century evangelicalism is a sorrow over sin. The publican to whom I was making reference in the children's talk earlier beat his fists upon his breast. Why? Because he hated the very vileness that was there when he measured himself, compared himself to the holiness and the purity of God.

There is a time for tears. The conversion experience is made that much more precious when a man is broken before his God. Penitential tears, Scripture refers to, they are shed when a person realizes the greatness of God and the vileness of the human soul.

And then what about remorseful tears? Shed on this occasion, not by the sinner who is seeking salvation, but by the one who has positionally, potentially been made a saint and yet has let the Lord down. You ever shed those tears? What about Peter? Oh Lord, I'll not deny you. Three times Peter said that.

Three times he argued with the Son of God. Three times he measured himself over against his colleagues and said, I'm better than they are. I've got more stamina.

There's better quality stuff in me than the cock crew. And Peter realized he'd let his Lord down and he rushed out into the night. How was Peter psychologically on that particular occasion? He was crying, he was weeping, and the strongest emotional verb in the Greek language is used to describe Peter on that occasion, remorseful tears.

Why? Because he'd let down Jesus Christ. How often we do a Peter, so far we let Jesus down. But the tears are never shed because it's not manly to cry in the 20th century.

What about the tears of broken-hearted parents? Remember the man who came first of all to the disciples and then to Jesus because of the condition of his son? The disciples couldn't help him. Jesus had been on the Mount of Transfiguration, you remember, and the remaining number of disciples endeavored to minister to this man, but they were clearly unqualified. So the man comes to Jesus and Jesus reassures him that all things are possible.

And do you believe, do you believe that your boy can be set aright, that his mind can be healed? The man cries out, Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Yes, that's the description that Mark gives of the incident, but don't miss that little phrase that qualifies it and tells us that the man cried out with tears, vicarious tears, shed on behalf of his son. How long was it since you shed tears on behalf of your own daughter or your son because of some need that they had? What about tears of service? You engage in Christian service and you're never disappointed then you have a unique experience.

If you never come to the stage in your Christian work when you think it's all been for no use at all and it's about time you retired or you resigned and you packed the whole business up, then I say you've had a charmed existence. The Apostle Paul knew what it was to despair. He refers when he's, or rather the historian Luke refers to the experience of Paul as he's engaged in ministry, endeavouring to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the 20th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, he records the words of Paul as Paul rehearses what he's been doing at Ephesus and in other places. He says, I've served the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews. And if you don't think that justifies my comment that Paul was a man who often shed tears, then try reading the first few chapters of the second letter to the Corinthians.

Tears of service. And what about tears because a person is perplexed because they do not understand the will of God? Do you ever have that situation? And he I think has answered prayer that it was done in such a way it almost drove me to despair and the tears coursed down the cheeks. That was David's experience reiterated, re-emphasized in a previous psalm, in a psalm that comes earlier, the 42nd and the third verse.

My tears have been my meat both day and night. Why was this David? Because I couldn't understand the bizarre happenings in my life seemed to be so alien from my belief in the sovereignty of God that I wept before him. And so we could go on mentioning the types if one can make this classification of tears that stain the pages of our Bible.

The tears of men and God in Old Testament days and in New Testament days. The shedding of tears is often referred to I say in the scripture and I reckon before revival ever comes to this country again there will have to be many tears shed. And if God would give us back our tears perhaps we'd make greater progress in the Christian life.

Says David to the Lord put thou my tears into thy bottle. Let's move on then because my text gives me permission to do so and speak about the collection of tears. There is an allusion here to a very lovely habit of the ancient world.

At a time of calamity someone would perhaps go along to a friend and collect the tears that they were shedding. This to us seems so unusual but maybe you were not as sensitive as they used to be in days of yore. Although at times we think that they were insensitive people.

There was a custom in the Roman world when a funeral was taking place for a very loved friend to come up to a mourner. A person who'd been bereaved. And they would take a little bit of cloth and they would wipe the tears from their eye.

And then they'd squeeze the cloth and they'd keep the tear. And the tear would go into a little file. A little leather file.

And it would be kept. Preserved as a memorial to that occasion. Symbolic, sacramental of a great friendship.

Of a concern to show that the tears that had been dropped were felt by the friend. Now this is the idea that surely is at the back of David's mind. Put my tears into thy bottle.

The collector of tears, wonder of all wonders, is God. What does this speak to us about then? Surely the nearness of God. Because you can't collect tears if you're remote.

If you're removed from the situation. When Timothy is distressed as Paul takes his leave from him. The tears that Timothy sheds are noted by the Apostle Paul.

And he writes a letter to Timothy later on. And he says, Timothy, I'm mindful of your tears. Is God not more mindful than Paul is of the tears of his people? Does he not collect them? Hezekiah is in distress.

He's sick and he weeps before God. And God says to Hezekiah, I've seen your tears. God is near those who cry before him.

The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their cry. God stands within reach. The God that I serve is not an impersonal God.

As I made reference in my prayer, he's not tucked away in space somewhere. He's not just a near reality. He's a very near reality in times of trouble.

That's what the psalmist says. I'm a bottle. Implied in that statement is the nearness of God.

And implied in the statement also, and I've really touched upon it, is the sensitivity of God. Have you got your doctrine of God right on this issue? That's a clinical term. And God forbid, I don't mean it like that.

But it's good to get our doctrine right. What sort of God do you serve? What sort of God are you worshiping? I don't believe that God is impersonal and dispassionate. I believe that God has emotions.

God is capable of love. God is capable of sorrow. I had the privilege of ministering to folks in the town hall yesterday.

And we were looking into the prophecy of Hosea. And there in the 11th chapter, and I'm quoting from memory, I think it's the 8th verse, references made to what I dared to call the psychological state of God's heart. As he is sorrowful over the children of Israel because of their spiritual infidelity and adultery.

And he says, how shall I give you up, Israel? How shall I give you up, Ephraim? My heart is broken within me. That's a pretty rough translation of the original there. God is near.

God is sensitive. Does not the illustration of God on this earth, Jesus Christ, underpin that observation? How does the prophet refer to Jesus? A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. You say it's unmanly at times to cry.

Then tell me, what was Jesus doing by Lazarus's tomb? What was he doing when he climbed some hill that overlooked the holy city and he realized the ultimate end of its citizens? Did he not weep? Did he not cry? When was the last time you cried for worthing? When was the last time you cried for this country? I tell you, a pre-recursive for revival will be a return of tears and the experience of God's own people. Put thou my tears into thy bottle. It speaks of the nearness of God, of the sensitivity of God.

And what is more, it speaks of the discrimination of God. God is not impressed by worthless things. David on one occasion says to God, I will not give to God that which costs me nothing.

Do you remember how in the 51st Psalm, when David is reviewing all his terrible activity in reference to Bathsheba and Uriah, he makes the observation, sacrifice an offering thou wouldst not or I would give it to. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. O God thou wilt not despise.

When Paul was taking leave of the Ephesian elders, you remember how these men wept? They cried because Paul left them. Do you not think that Paul evaluated their tears as being some indication of the love that he had for them? And there are times, my dear friends, when the shedding of a tear is far more acceptable in the sight of God than in the donating of a five-pound note or a ten-pound note to his cause. The collection of tears on the part of God indicates that he discriminates in the things that he is prepared to accept.

Put thou my tears into thy bottle. It speaks, I say, of the nearness of God, of the sensitivity of God, of the discrimination of God. But what about the end product of these tears that God collects in his bottle? Here is the metaphor once again put to us from Scripture, brought to us by David.

Put thou my tears into thy bottle. What does God do with these tears? Listen to Matthew Henry's comment. Those that sow a tear reap a pearl.

Those that sow a tear reap a pearl. One of the end product of the shedding of tears could well be soul salvation. Says the psalmist when he's making reference to those who are concerned for the salvation of others.

He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. A tear transmuted into the salvation of a soul. I wonder God's concerned about the collection of tears, if tears can be changed into such wonderful things as that.

What about the health of the Saints? Hannah prayed for Samuel, for the child to be born in the first instance. Did she not continue to pray for Samuel during the early years of his life and during his public ministry? She prayed for the birth of the child and there were tears in her eyes and Eli noticed this. Did she not continue to shed her tears that Samuel may be used by God after he'd been born and particularly when he'd been presented to the Lord at the sanctuary of Shiloh? And is not the end product of tears to be seen in the strengthening of the Saints? A tear is something that will last throughout eternity in the bottle of God.

Oh that's not a sentimental comment. Remember the woman who came to Jesus, her alabaster box of ointment, she broke the box and she broke her heart as well. And the tears that coursed down her cheeks and dropped onto the feet of the Savior moved him.

Moved him to say what? Well moved him to speak back to the disciples who were criticizing the woman's activity and he says, you know something? This very thing that she has done, the shedding of her tears, this display of affection, it will last throughout time. It will be a memorial for her. The end product of tears offered as a sacrifice to God is that something throughout eternity is created and will indeed be preserved.

Do you know a rainbow is made up of droplets of water? What does a rainbow do? A rainbow harnesses, it captures all the colors of the spectrum. Look at a rainbow and you're moved, at least if you're like me you are. Particularly when a rainbow commences its course somewhere out at sea and it finishes it somewhere over the land and you trace the bow itself and one is mesmerized by the by the color and the beauty and the loveliness of this miracle of creation, all from droplets of water.

Take this thought. Those of you who are sometimes depressed and despondent and tearful, one day your tears will meet you as a rainbow, preserved in God's hand, transmuted into something that is lovely and something that is beautiful. All this David realizes as he addresses the Lord and thus he says, put thou my tears into thy bottle.

That's a safe place for precious things. But let me close down my meditation this morning on this thought, that one day there'll be no more shedding of tears. One day the end of all that causes sorrow and distress will come.

Revelation chapter 7 and verse 17 repeated in chapter 21 and verse 4 tells us this, that the day shall dawn when God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. In the heavenly dimension there won't be the sorrow, there won't be the distress that there is on this earth. No man will feel himself to be as David was, an outlaw, an outcast.

No one will be grief-stricken because of the behavior of a daughter or a son or a father or a mother. Every cause of sorrow will be erased. Everything that provoked depression and despondency, that will be done away with.

In the eternal dimension there will be no such things as tears. But throughout eternity God will have that bottle of tears that he collected from the eyes of men and women who during time on this earth shed them on behalf of other people and for the extension of the kingdom of God. Put thou my tears into thy bottle.

I repeat, revival will come to this country when the church regains its ministry of tears. To cry, at least privately, to break one's heart before God because of the sinful condition of this world is not an unmanly thing to do. It is an indication of spiritual maturity.

David broke himself before the Lord not only on his own behalf but on behalf of the nation of Israel. God recognized those tears. They were collected and put in a bottle and David was used in the fulfillment of God's purposes for Israel.

Hand your tears to the one who will collect them and preserve them, for God is the one who is a safe place for precious things. Put thou my tears into thy bottle. Amen.