Today is going to be on a particular word, and one topic, and that is the word “weeping,” or the noun to weep, the verb form. You might think about weeping as an emotion that we have, but typically when you hear or see the word weep, in the Bible it has different meanings and it has different import which is why we want to study it today, a very interesting topic. And I want to look at what it means first and how we use the word, weep, and then see the Scriptural definition and application especially for our life.
So, when I say the word, weep, what does it make you think of? Yes, cry, Terry is right, that is the first thing I think of too, when I hear weep is to cry, in other words, shedding of tears. But what is the emotion that is underlying that physical act of tears? Perhaps coming out of your eyes, Allesandra? Yes, sadness, deep sorrow, and that is what our definition is in the English for the word weep or to weep, it is a deep sorrow, it is typically evidenced by crying or shedding of tears. Is that not anything unusual to us? We probably know that, but just to define it specifically so we can understand that, weeping is usually associated with that emotion and that physical act or experience.
Now, I want you each personally to think about yourself. When was the last time that you wept? When was the last time you wept? It may have been this morning, or yesterday, or it may have been a year ago, or something in between perhaps. But I want you to think about what was the instance that caused you to weep. Did a close friend or a family member die perhaps? That may have been one cause, and typically what causes people to weep. Here is another one, maybe your feelings were just hurt because of something that somebody said or did to you, or how you perceived it, and that caused you to weep. Here is another one, perhaps you were physically injured to the point where the pain was so bad and excruciating, you know that does cause your eyes to water sometimes. And another one, sometimes you are just outside in the cold weather. Have you ever seen that for somebody?
I catch that occasionally at the train station, especially last week when it was like 12° in the morning. Some people who have a hard time with cold, actually their eyes will start watering, not crying, but that is not necessarily weeping, that is simply the crying act or the tears that are actually elicited from your eyes physically because of the cold. But think about a reason why you wept. What was the cause? And how did you feel? And how did you get through that? Well, the Bible does address the issue and the topic of weeping more than we probably think, and I was impressed over the last week how much the Bible has to say about it, so I wanted to share that with you today.
Our first passage in the Scripture is going to be Ecclesiastes 3, so I want to ask you to go there. It is right after the book of Proverbs. I am going to read the first four verses of Ecclesiastes 3:
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; …
All right, so the Bible tells us that there is “a time to weep.” Now let me ask you this, what is the most frequent event where we find weeping? The most frequent, out of the examples that I gave you? You might have thought of something different that caused you to weep most lately, most recently. But what is the one most common event? Death, that is correct Harry, death. Usually at a funeral is where we see weeping, and that is definitely a time when we would expect to have weeping, deep sorrow as well as the tears typically that would fall from the eyes for a lot of people. It also could happen at a hospital where someone is near death. Have you ever been in that environment, where you are with someone and you know they may only have a few days to go, if even that. And a lot of times you would see the exact same thing because of the impending death, that is the reality right before you.
Now let me ask you the question, if death and a funeral is the most common place where we see the season the time to weep. Why do we weep in that setting? What is the root cause of the weeping? What kind of things cause you to weep at that event? Sally? Your sense of loss, because that person will no longer be there, in other words, it is permanent in death you will never have that person back again. So, the permanent nature of the loss you might weep for. But who are you weeping for? Sally? Yourself, yes, that is true, a lot of people weep because they are sorry for themselves, because they are not going to see that person again or have that person in their life anymore. So it is their own sense of loss that causes the weeping. What could be the other reason why you weep? Because someone is dead, and you feel that sense of loss, you feel bad for that person as well, do you not? Do you not often times think about how that person possibly died? Perhaps it was a tough painful death.
How many of you remember our dear friend Connie, a few years ago she died of cancer, and if you were at all at the hospital, the pain she went through the last couple of weeks of her life was unbelievable. In death sometimes, you weep because of the pain you know that person went through until they finally expired. And what is the other reason why you would weep at someone’s funeral especially if you are thinking about them? If it is not the pain that they went through to die, it is what? Allison? Yes, she said where they will spend eternity. So, the fact that there is now no change in that direction, it is one place or the other, they are either done or they will have eternal life in the New Heaven and the New Earth. So there is no more hope. You might be weeping for that person because you may not know if they were saved or not, and now definitely, the hope is gone. If they are not with God, there is no chance they will ever be with God. So, if you suspected that, especially your weeping possibly for them for that reason, that is not changeable:
… it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
So let us take another look at Ecclesiastes 7, and see what else the Bible says about a funeral and weeping. In Ecclesiastes 7, look at verses 2-4:
It is better to go to the house of mourning, …
And that is m-o-u-r-n-i-n-g which is the same concept of weeping. Mourning is when you are sad and you may be crying as well:
It is better to go to the house of mourning, …
Someone translate what is a “house of mourning” today? A funeral parlor typically, a funeral home:
… than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; …
In other words the funeral parlor is the place where “that is the end of all men.”
… and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
Or pleasure. So think about the difference between the two. Most people would much rather prefer to go to a wedding where there is celebration, there is happiness, or to a party, a house of mirth than they would to a funeral. Most people lament going to a funeral, they go because they feel obligated to express their support. Perhaps it was a close family member, naturally you go anyway, but if it is to support a friend or someone you go there, but maybe reluctantly. You are a little uncomfortable around it, but the Bible says here, it is better to be there, it is more salutary, it is more beneficial, it is more helpful for you to be there than it is even at a wedding ceremony. And why is that? Because there is something good in this sorrow, in this weeping, in this mourning. What would the beneficial effect be for that weeping, and that mourning? What did the Bible say in Ecclesiastes 7? Did you pick up what it said why it is better to be there? What could the living do? What is that living person going to do by mourning and weeping? Allison? They are going to lay it to their heart, that person is going to lay it to his heart. In other words, it means I am going to ponder it, I am going to think about it in my heart, I am going to meditate on that because the Bible said in those verses:
… that is the end of all men; …
So that is me too, that is my end as well. So, I might want to be interested in weeping for myself. That is good, the Bible says better:
Sorrow is better than laughter: …
In those verses. So there is something good about weeping in that environment, because the living person is going to think about themselves, what about me, and perhaps think about other people too that are still alive, that are living as well, and those close to them, perhaps their own children, their own parents, their own friends.
Well, let us take an example of someone in the Bible in the Old Testament who wept, and it was for a beneficial effect and it had a lot of spiritual meaning. We are going to go to Genesis 21, and in that chapter we are going to see a woman who wept for her son and we are going to see what happens here, and what God did because of the weeping. In Genesis 21, we will pick up in verse 12. Do you remember when Abraham and his wife Sarah they did not have a child, and she said take my bondmaid, Hagar here and have relations with her, and have a child by her, and it will be ours. So they forced the issue and did not wait on God, and Hagar got pregnant, and she had Ishmael. But what happens in verse 12? Here we see, because we are going to read a little bit of this passage to pick up the context of what happened and why. What happened to Hagar? And why did she start weeping? Verse 12 begins in Genesis 21:
And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
That is Ishmael.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, …
Pay attention to this verse because this is where a lot of spiritual meaning is that we are going to pick up in a little bit. He:
… took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. And the water was spent in the bottle, …
Which meant it was gone, it is empty now.
… and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, …
In other words she put him underneath a bush and she went a distance from him and left him, and it says here:
… a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
There is our word again, wept. So she was weeping for her child.
And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
So we said earlier, at a funeral you weep, and the Bible said it was good, “Sorrow is better than laughter.” And now we are seeing an example where Hagar wept because she thought her son was going to die, because the water was spent, no more bread, they are in the wilderness and there is no sustenance, so they are just going to physically emaciate and die. So she gets away from him because she is fearful of even seeing the horror of seeing her own son die. And yet, the Bible tells us an example here where God heard the voice of the child and God came through with this amazing miracle. In verse 19:
… she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
So what is the spiritual lesson in that? What did we see? I mean physically it was a beautiful thing she wept for the child, God heard the cry of the child, and God saved their lives, physically, that was great, so there is a lesson there. But spiritually speaking, what does the wilderness represent? The world, the wilderness represents the whole world here. And what about that bread and water that Abraham sent off with Hagar, what does that mean? The Gospel, the bread. In John 6:48, what did Jesus say in John 6:48? Alex? “I am the bread of life” good, good, you got it. “I am the bread of life” Jesus said, so that is the Gospel, that is Jesus Christ Himself. And when we look at John 7:38, what did Jesus say in the very next chapter of the Gospel of John? In John 7:38 we read there, Jesus said:
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
A great picture there too of the Gospel, if you believe on Christ, out of your belly or out of you will flow the Gospel, that is what you are going to be sharing. So, we see the bread and the water represent the Gospel as the child and his mother are sent out into the wilderness. Now in verse 16 of Genesis 21 that we read there, she sat down, she went away from him, she did not want to see the death of the child and she wept. What happened though? What was the result of her weeping? Anita? The Lord heard her and what happened? He saved them, yes, physically He saved them, and of course now the spiritual lesson would be that they had spiritual life, because not only were their physical lives preserved, but we see here in verse 20:
And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
So in other words He gave them the water, they filled the bottle with the water, they had the sustenance, now they had renewed their energy. It is a great picture of spiritual life, they now were saved. In other words, I should say that the spiritual picture is of salvation, for the physical salvation of their lives in this example here. What can we pick up from this? Hagar saw the child was going to die and she wept. Remember the Bible said there is a time to weep, and there is a time to laugh, there is a time to build, there is a time to pluck down that which is built. When is the time to weep? Let us go to the spiritual example that we are trying to show now. Weeping is in this case crying out for life, asking God for spiritual life. When is the time to weep? Tony? “now is the accepted time.” Go to 2 Corinthians 6:2, in the New Testament:
(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: …
Or helped thee, the old English word succoured means helped.
… behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
It is now, it is not sometime in the future. So when are we to weep? Now. The Bible says there is a time to weep, and there is a time to laugh. When is the time to weep? Gabrielle? Now, now is the time to weep. It means now is the day of salvation, now is the time to weep over that. For who? Go back to the funeral, who are we crying for? Me, because I have lost that person forever in my life and I am also crying for them, right? Because I do not know where they are spending eternity. So when is the time to weep? OK, I weep at a funeral, but it is a little too late for that person, is it not? But now is the time to weep for those around us as well.
Hagar wept for her son while he was still alive, not when he died, he did not die there, so the weeping needs to happen now. In other words, you do not have to go cry about your friend who maybe is unsaved, or does not care about the Bible, or your daughter, or your son, but you need to be crying out to God through that weeping. And what that means is that, through sorrow of the heart, you may not have the tears, maybe you will sometimes when you are really praying and crying out to God for a dear friend, a family member, or someone else that you really care about. The thing to do, is to do it now, do not wait, do not say I have two years before the end, so it is not as big of a deal yet. It will be crunch time when we get in that 12-month slot. Well, we do not know if we are going to be around then, I may die tonight in my sleep, and it is to late to weep for me, or anyone else, so that is the other key, weeping for yourself has to happen now. Lay it to your heart now, where do I stand today, because I may not have tomorrow, and that two years is going to come quickly, when it is all going to be sealed and over just like death would be if it happen to me today.
Let us show one more Old Testament example of this same weeping and when it happened. 2 Samuel 12:15. Remember the story of David? He committed adultery with Bathsheba, and she was with child, and he tried to get Uriah her husband to come back from the battle and go back to his house, so that at least he could cover up the sin that obviously Bathsheba was pregnant. Maybe now, Uriah would think it was her own husband’s child if he had relations with her a week later or something. But Uriah refused, because he was not going back to that house and leave his compatriots in the battle line, in the heat of the battle, so David had him killed. He told the general of the army, Joab, to put him in the front lines, and sure enough he got killed. So now here it is, sin is exposed, Bathsheba is going to have a child and David is the father and it was adultery. In verses 15-16:
And Nathan …
The prophet:
… departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife …
That is Bathsheba.
… bare unto David, and it was very sick. David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
Now verse 16 does not say he wept, but in a later verse we are going to see that he did weep, So I want you to realize he was weeping here, and I will prove it in a few verses:
And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?
So they said, in other words he was in such a frenzy of sorrow when the child was on his deathbed. Can you imagine if we tell him the child is dead, that he might kill himself, so to speak. Well, here is what happens in verses 19-20:
But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.
Now, remember when he was fasting he was not eating, when he was crying for the child, when the child was on his sickbed. Now the child is dead and immediately he is going to go eat. It seems to be an anomaly of emotion here:
Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, …
Now there is our word, “weep,” and it proves that David was weeping while he was fasting for the child. He said, you wept for the child while he was alive, but now when the child is dead you rise and you eat bread. So when is the time to weep? When is the time to weep? Now, when we are still alive, when your friend is still alive and your family members are still alive, when you are still alive, because verse 22 says:
And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?
What is the spiritual meaning of fasting anyway? Does someone want to tell me? Tony? Sharing the Gospel, the word “fasting” in the Old Testament, in Isaiah especially proves that fasting is a spiritual picture of sharing the Gospel. The time to do it is when he is alive, that is what David said when he was alive, that was when I shared the Gospel and wept and prayed. In other words, for him or myself too, and put myself in the environment of the Gospel through reading the Word of God. Now here is salvation again:
… Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?
Again, can we dictate salvation? No, that is why he said, “Who can tell,” if I am praying and sharing the Gospel, “Who can tell” if God is going to save someone in my family, or my friends, or even myself, I cannot dictate it myself. But, “Who can tell” maybe God will do that, that is why I do that while there is still hope, while I am alive. Verse 23:
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
So, it is too late when you are dead, it makes no sense to pray for the dead. Right? And we know that, but here is another proof, a spiritual picture, here is another proof of the weeping, and the time to do so is now. Weeping is that great sorrow, that emotion that you enter into, not only for yourself if you do not know if you are saved or not, and you cry out to God for His mercy. But you are exposing yourself to the Word of God, because “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” and, that is how you get saved, it is by God doing it through the Word. And do that for your friends and continue to share the Gospel now, do not wait, the time is now, live today, live tomorrow, if you are alive tomorrow as if it is your last day.
It is a great way to live, because you will find amazing fulfillment in putting all that emotion out every single day, not holding anything back, because at the end you are going to be the one who regret it. If you have reserved all this energy, and here you are at the end and like”Ugh, how ashamed I am that I had all this to do, I had these ten talents that God gave me, and I stuffed them under the ground.” And He said, that wicked servant, take the ten from him and give them to him that has more, and this one has nothing now, he is left with nothing.
So let us look at one final thing about weeping before we close this study. There is another example or opportunity to weep that happens frequently in life. And in the Bible, it happened a few different times to different people, we are going to look at one example though. And it is the act of weeping after someone has committed an egregious sin. We are going to look at Peter in particular in Luke 22. So go to Luke 22 with me if you would, and let us see what happens with him. Luke 22:31-34:
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Jesus said:
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Here is a big key, verse 33, And Peter:
… said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
Pretty bold statement right? Jesus said:
And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
I am translating the King James there, the “thrice,” that is three times. So Jesus is telling him, Oh, yea, you really love me that much, do you think you do? Do you think you are that devoted and committed to me? Peter said, yes, of course I am, I love you and I will do anything for you, I would even die for you. Have you ever said that to someone, have you ever said that to a spouse? “I would die for you,” do you really mean it? Well, Jesus is telling him do not speak so fast because remember what happened, verse 54, remember Jesus was taken in and they took Him in and led Him, and brought Him into the High Priest’s house, and Peter followed a far off, and they kindled a fire in the hall and Peter sat among them in verse 56:
But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him.
Verse 57, what did Peter say?
And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not.
So here is his first denial. And then he went a little while, and another said unto him Peter, and Peter said man, I am not, I am not with Him, verses 59-62:
And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean. And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned, …
Here is the key, look at this:
… and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.
Have you ever wept over failing a friend? Or a spouse? Or a family member in a commitment you made to them? A promise you made to them? Or hurting them, you hurt their feelings so bad, maybe not intentionally. Peter by no means, and in this case he wanted to die with Christ, he was so stalwart about that. But what happened was through temptation, and peer pressure, he denied Him. Then all of a sudden, three times he denied Him. All of a sudden he saw Christ look at him and it hit him, look what I just did to the One I love more than anyone else in this world. And he “went out, and wept bitterly,” bitterly.
You see that is good, it is good to weep over our sin, is it not? Because when we do not weep over our sin we are callous, we are stoned, our heart is stony and it is impenetrable, to use the right word, through the Gospel, through the repentance, through the softness that we need to receive, the engrafted Word of God to change our heart. Now, Peter he knew he was a miserable sinner and that is why he wept, and he said in Luke 5:8, remember he said to the Lord after the Lord did that amazing miracle? They had been fishing all night, not one fish they caught, and Jesus said let down the net on that side and they did, and they got this huge school of fish and the net broke it was so much. And what did Peter say to the Lord,? Did he just rejoice and say, “You are amazing?” He did not, he said, “Lord,” what did He say, who can finish that for me? “Lord” yes, good Terry, “Lord”
… Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, …
He knew he was in the presence of God Himself, I am so sinful depart from me, I cannot even be in Your presence, I am not worthy to be here in other words. Weeping is good because you realize weeping over sin that you are a sinner, and that is the first step of repentance is it not? To recognize that I am a sinner.
We have a great lesson where we can take a summary of all this in Psalm 30. Let us go to Psalm 30, and look at just a couple of verses, and summarize what we have been talking about so far today. Psalm 30:1-3:
I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
Remember Hagar and Ishmael? He kept them alive, and spiritually this is talking about spiritual life. Verses 4-5:
Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, …
And remember Peter that night “wept bitterly.”
… but joy cometh in the morning.
Remember that the next time you weep over your sin, you will be very sorrowful, obviously, but remember “in the morning” His compassions they fail not, they are new every morning. So do not give up hope, keep weeping when you sin, cry out to God for His mercy, but remember:
… but joy cometh in the morning.
It is there, it is available, seek it with all your heart. There is still hope while you are alive, that is why the living will lay it to his heart, there is still hope while you are living that you can have eternal life from that great day of judgment. And you can be raptured and be with the Lord and be available to spend the eternity that is ahead in the New Heaven and the New Earth. Because what will be the weeping on May 21, 2011? That day there will be weeping. Is that going to be good weeping or bad weeping? Bad weeping, it is going to be sorrowful weeping that has no hope, that has no salutary effect. In other words, there is no benefit that will come out of that because we see, look at Luke 23, just to read a verse there, that tells us what is going to happen that day. In Luke 23:27-28 Jesus said:
And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, …
Remember, He was being crucified and they were weeping. He said:
… weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
And that is that period of Great Tribulation, and that last day, May 21, when men will be crying for the rocks to fall on them, and to hide them, from the great wrath of the Lamb. And what will they be doing? The Bible says, Gabrielle? You are right, “weeping.” And what else are they going to do? There is one more thing, they will be “weeping” and, Marlena? No not quite mourning, you are close though, that is more like weeping. Alex? “and gnashing of teeth” very good, “weeping and gnashing of teeth” will be happening on that day and that is not going to have any beneficial effect. That is going to be pain, sorrow, and lament because you know what is coming, which is that great eternal, I should say, inferno on October 21, that is going to burn everything up in one day.
We are going to close with this one verse in Isaiah 65, because now here is the lesson in a nut shell, now is the time to weep, we have already proven that, we have shown that, we have exhorted that. The time to weep for someone else and yourself is now. It can have great benefit if you pray to God and share the Gospel and expose yourself to where the Gospel can come through the Word of God that you can become saved. But Isaiah 65 says, now is when you want to weep, because if you start weeping on May 21, it is too late. Here is what it says in verses 17-19:
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice …
It sounds now like it is the time for laughter, does it not?
But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
You see, you weep now so that you do not have to ever weep again later in the New Heaven and the New Earth. There is nothing but joy and gladness, well worth weeping for today for yourself and for others that you love so dearly. May God give each one of us a sorrowful heart for ourselves when we sin, and for others that they might be saved while it is still the day of salvation. Amen.