Streams of Tears

Christians rightfully say that "We live in a fallen world." I find myself saying, or thinking, that thought frequently, particularly as I hear about some of the troubles in the world and as I hear of tragedies here on the reservation. Over and over, every day, we are confronted with evidence that the world created by God in the opening verses of Genesis 1 has been corrupted by the sin that reared its ugly head in Genesis 3. I was reminded of this as I was reading Psalm 119, where verse 136 says:

"My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law."

The author of the psalm knew that same truth we do, that the world is full of brokenness and things that just aren't right, so much so in his case that he is frequently moved to tears. He also knew the underlying reason, and in doing so he points us towards the right path. The tears come as a direct consequence of people knowing God's law, and choosing to live with disregard for it.

We might ask "What is God's law?" and the companion question "Is God's law still valid today?"

The first question has two answers, the first being the moral law recorded in the Ten Commandments and the second answer being the words Jesus spoke in Mark 12:30-31:

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Both of those pieces of scripture do the same thing. They speak to how we should live in relationship towards God, and they speak to how we should live with each other.

And to the question of the validity of the law today I'll be brief and say "Oh yeah." Jesus tells us this himself in Matthew 24:35 and Luke 21:33, and even if he hadn't we can see that the things he talks about in the verses from Mark just make sense. Kind of like some wisdom your mother may have spoken to you years ago, something that sticks in your head and has always been right.

Now that we understand the problem, what are we to do? It’s a big problem and when it comes to keeping God's law the psalmist was speaking to God's people, a small and distinct group, and in our day the streams of tears include the fact that throughout the world people fail to keep his law, that is if they even know it in the first place. And in addition to that we know, often too well, the impossible nature of perfectly keeping God's law. What are we to do?

As a pastor I'm going to say that we look to the Lord and seek for him to guide our steps. Each time that we are tempted to take a side path we can turn to him for the strength to stay on course. And in those times we do wander, we should seek his forgiveness when we turn back to him for guidance. And don't try to do it all on your own but seek out another Christian who will be by your side for prayer and encouragement.

It's a fallen world but we can live and pray in such ways that one day, through God's grace, streams of tears will be turned into dry creek beds.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.