Psalms 33:13-14 From heaven the LORD {Jesus} looks down and sees all mankind; (14) from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth

Revelation 5:8 When the lamb had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders bowed down in front of him. Each held a harp and a gold bowl full of incense, the prayers of the saints.

Revelation 8:3 Another angel came with a gold censer and stood at the altar. He was given a large quantity of incense to offer on the gold altar before the throne, along with the prayers of all the saints.

Revelation 8:4 The smoke from the incense and the prayers of the saints went up from the angel’s hand to God.

We find the Father and Lord Jesus collects the prayers of the Saints.

Ever wonder if by chance, does Jesus collects other things.  We find He does, Tears, both happiness and sadness, tears.

• Let me ask, when was the last time you had a cry.
• A hard cry or emotional breakdown of someone we loved, and they have died or was hurt badly.
• Or a cry of joy or happiness healing or marriage or new baby.
• We receive prayers about church families and friends are hurting and especially young ones that tares at our hearts.
• The tears, lamenting and weeping bitterly, have we done this in our life.
• We hear about someone is healed and the joy that it brings to the family.

I know deep in my heart, if we lose someone to death, we will see them again in the future when Jesus returns to the earth to set up His Kingdom. But it still hurts with the deep pain in ourselves for missing the love one.

In my youth, my mother said it was OK, the girls could cry and have tears.  But me, being a boy, she told me that boys or men do not cry.  Huh, Is this familiar with anyone.

Now when I crash with my bike and skinned up my knee, yes I had tears, tried not to.  Was Jesus was collecting tears from us from an early age?

When we check the New and Old Testament Scriptures there are many women and men crying with tears.  We know Jesus, was a man of sorrow, had tears, Peter and also Judas had tears.

Let’s turn to

Psalms 56:8 You have kept count of my wanderings. Put my tears in your bottle; have not you recorded them in your book?

Jesus just said that He has collected all of our tears and preserved them in a bottle.  Interesting, we will read this verse again at the end.

We know tears are very important to the Father and our Lord Jesus, because They keep them in a bottle and write them in your book, value our precious tears, whether for joy or sorrow.   

Tears indicate that a person has something within him. They show others that there is a God’s work within such a person.

What does the scriptures say about Tears and how important are they to the Father and our Lord Jesus.

• God sees our tears.
• God is touched by our tears. 
• God remembers our tears. 
• God acts to dry our tears. 

Psalms 126:5-6 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.  (6)  Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. 

Isaiah 25:8 he has swallowed up death forever! Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and he will take away the disgrace of his people from the entire earth.” for the LORD has spoken.

What about the Old Testament individuals, examples:

• Abraham wept when he buried Sarah.
• Jacob wept when he wrestled the Angel.
• David and Jonathan wept together.
• Hezekiah wept over his sickness.
• Josiah wept over the sin of his nation.
• Jeremiah was the weeping prophet.

Remember, when Zechariah wife, Elizabeth, in her old age, became pregnant with John.

Luke 1:25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Luke 1:46-49 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord (47) and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, (48) for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, (49) for the Mighty One has done great things for me; holy is his name.

When Joseph found Mary was with child,  Joseph wanted to divorce Mary on the grounds of infidelity. A divorce would be necessary because they had already made a marriage covenant, even though they had not yet known each other physically.

Luke 1:58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

Were there tears included for her joy?

What about Mary, Jesus’s mother. In Mary song of Praise to God, she said was very happy and probably had tears.

Matthew 1:19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

Joseph was heartbroken, to say the least.  An angel in a dream restores their marriage.

Matthew 1:20-21 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.  (21)  “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Do you not think there was a major apologize to Mary from Joseph and her happiness with crying and tears.

When Joseph and Mary head home from the Passover, Jesus, 12, was not there with, they were very worried.

Luke 2:48 When Jesus’ parents saw him, they were shocked. His mother asked him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been worried sick looking for you!”

When Jesus was missing for days, Mary was worried sick and I am pretty sure there was tears involved.  When our children are out of sight, we become concern. 

King Herod killed all the young children

Matthew 2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah: wailing and great mourning. Rachel was crying {or weeping} for her children. She refused to be comforted, because they no longer existed.”

These women and men were hurting deeply from the loss of their children.

Remember the woman who wiped Jesus feet with her tears and her hair.

Luke 7:37-38 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.  (38)  As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

Jesus was touched by her tears.

Remember when the Pharisees brought the women to Jesus to be killed by stoning.  Do you think this woman would have been, crying uncontrollably, knowing she would be killed by stoning. 

John 8:3 But the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. After setting her before them,

John 8:11 “No one, sir,” she replied. Then Jesus said, “I don’t condemn you, either. Go home, and from now on do not sin anymore.”

Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, had a daughter who just died.

Luke 8:52-54 Now everyone was crying and wailing for her. But Jesus said, “Stop crying! She’s not dead. She’s sleeping.”  (53)  They laughed and laughed at him, because they knew she was dead.  (54)  But he took her hand and called out, “Young lady, get up!”

What about the woman who been suffering with chronic bleeding 

Luke 8:43-47 A woman was there who had been suffering from chronic bleeding for twelve years. Although she had spent all she had on doctors, no one could heal her.  (44)  She came up behind Jesus and touched the tassel of his garment, and her bleeding stopped at once.  (45)  Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” While everyone was denying it, Peter and those who were with him said, “Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing in on you.”  (46)  Still Jesus said, “Somebody touched me, because I know that power has gone out of me.”  (47)  When the woman saw that she couldn’t hide, she came forward trembling. Bowing down in front of him, she explained in the presence of all the people why she had touched Jesus and how she had been instantly healed.

Do you think she did not have tears of joy for her healing by Jesus.

John 16:20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

The joy of all who were healed, praised the Father.

Matthew 15:30-31 Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to talk, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he healed them.  (31)  As a result, the crowd was amazed to see those who were unable to talk speaking, the crippled healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. So they praised the God of Israel. 

The raising of the son of the widow of Nain

Luke 7:13-15 When the Lord saw her, he felt compassion for her. He told her, “You can stop crying.”  (14)  Then he went up and touched the bier, and the men who were carrying it stopped. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”  (15)  The man who had been dead sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

There are all types of examples we can used. 

As the soldiers led Jesus to the cross 

Luke 23:27-28 A large crowd of people followed him, including some women who kept mourning and wailing for him.  (28)  But Jesus turned to them and said, “Women of Jerusalem, stop crying for me. Instead, cry for yourselves and for your children,

How many tears was at the cross, with Jesus Mother and the other women.  The grief would have been unbearable seeing your own son on the cross.

Tears and weeping turn to joy at the tomb

John 20:11 Meanwhile, Mary stood crying outside the tomb. As she cried, she bent over and looked into the tomb.

John 20:13 They asked her, “Lady, why are you crying?” She told them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have put him.”

John 20:18  So Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” She also told them what he had told her.

Mark 16:10-11 She went and told those who had been with Jesus and who now were grieving and crying.  (11)  When they heard that he was alive and that he had been seen by her, they refused to believe Mary.

Men and women, the disciples were grieving and crying. 

Dr Luke wrote

Acts 9:39-41 So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him upstairs. All the widows gathered around Peter, crying and showing him all the shirts and coats Dorcas had made while she was still with them.  (40)  Peter made them all go outside. After kneeling down, he prayed, turned to the body, and said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.  (41)  He extended his hand and helped her get up. Then he called the saints, including the widows, and gave her back to them alive.

They were very happy then.

Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

We have this promise from Jesus to each one of us

Revelation 7:17 because the lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.“

Revelation 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won’t be death anymore. There won’t be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared.”

Jesus just told us that there will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain,

The Apostle Paul said:

Acts 20:19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents.

Acts 20:31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

2 Corinthians 2:4 I wrote to you out of great sorrow and anguish of heart; along with many tears; not to make you sad but to let you know how much love I have for you.

Jesus does put our tears in a bottle and records this information in His Book.

Psalms 56:8 You have kept count of my wanderings. Put my tears in your bottle; have not you recorded them in your book?

Did you know there are such a thing as Tear bottles or know as lachrymatory.

Lachrymatory definition means: of, relating to, or causing the shedding of tears.

Tear bottles were prevalent in ancient Roman times around the time of Jesus, when mourners filled small glass with tears and placed them in burial tombs as symbols of love and respect. Sometimes women were even paid to cry as they walked along the mourning procession.

One-way mourners would collect their tears by means of wiping their tears with cotton wool and squeezing their tears into the bottle.

Tear Bottles – These tiny glass vessels have been a part of our world’s history since before Christ’s time in ancient Rome and Egypt.

Ancient “tear bottles” have been found by Archaeologists in tombs in Israel. These vessels were used to catch and preserve the owner’s tears during times of grief or extreme pressure.

This is why a Jewish person would understand when Jesus tells us about

Putting my tears in your bottle; and recording it in your book?

Do a research in the scriptures for tears, wailing, weep, weeping

Found this subject interesting, tears, never thought about it before.

So now, when we cry, we know where our tears go and are collected by our Heavenly Father.