Is it even possible to cry so many tears? Is it possible to not have enough tears to cry to match the pain? Sometimes at night, I ask myself these questions.
I think of the Abrahams in this world that have wandered in desert wastelands, the Josephs that have sat in the dark prisons and in the shadows of death because fellow human flesh treated them so unfairly, the Miriams who suffered affliction because of their own foolishness, the Jonah's of the world who have nearly drowned in angry oceans. So many people through history share a common thread of hurt. Many have surely known the rush of hot tears. They have known intimately what it is like for their hearts to feel so broken, so helpless. I surely should not be surprised by my need for so many tears.
The Psalmist in 107 has seen these people. Through the Holy Spirit, he sees my heart too. He knows the wanderers, the thirsty, those in darkness, those who see death come close, those who suffer because of their own foolishness, those that suffer from the ravages of a fallen creation.
And the Psalmist gives us hope.
He shows Love in perfect form. Redeeming grace. One who satisfies. A Deliverer. A mighty arm that shatters the impenetrable iron gates of sin-born prisons. One who speaks words of healing. One who commands fierce storms that would swallow our entire being, if they weren't actually storms of grace.
In short, he has the power to turn rivers into deserts and watery springs into thirsty ground. And so for his enemies? They will thirst and be forsaken.
But for his children? For me, his daughter?
Unyielding love.
His power works for us. That same power brings pure cool water to my desert. Springs growing in my parched land. Every time I feel the heat of my broken life, he soothes my aching heart. Sometimes it's a text of Scripture, sometimes the love of my children, sometimes a text from a friend, mostly I think it's the prayers of multitudes of saints on my behalf. On those days I haven't been able to walk, you've gently carried my stretcher, earnestly pulled the roof tiles away, and graciously lowered me to the feet of Jesus.
The Psalm ends by saying the upright see it and are glad...and if they are wise, they will also consider that this love is for them.
For you.
God's people are never beyond his love-filled grasp.
