Tears of exile
You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? Psalm 56:8
The word wandering also means exile; David wrote Psalm 56 as he fled s Saul and was captured by Philistines. A simple definition of exile is someone who has to leave home and live in a foreign country, due to political reasons or wars etc.
Although most of us are not in exile as defined above, we can probably relate to the feelings of exile that prompt us to ask existential questions like, “Where are we? ” It seems like we belong to a different world and we don't belong here. Like a famous quote by C.S Lewis “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” As the quote suggests, We live in this broken world, away from God's home.
Indeed, Paul affirms that our earthly home is a tent, we have an eternal home in heaven. (2 Cor. 5:1). A broken home on earth causes us distress and opposition, just as David cried out to God, knowing that even in the midst of fear, God cares and comforts him intimately as He puts David’s tears in His bottle.
In spite of all these wanderings, David knows that God is for him, not against him. In verse 9, David writes “When I cry out to you, then my enemies will turn back; this I know, because God is for me.”
David cries out for God's rescue, and cry out means proclaim. In these two verses, we have seen a big contrast from fear to great faith; it shows how we are still able to trust God even when we are afraid, by receiving great comfort from Him and expressing our deep faith in God.
Don't bottle up your tears, let them out so that God can collect them in His bottle. One day He will wipe every tear from our eyes, there will be no more crying and exile as we are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens of the household of God. (Ephesians 2:19)
Blessing prayer: God, thank you for giving us an eternal home. It is you who will comfort us on earth and turn our distress into unshakable faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen
