Tears by the Bucketful

O Lord God of Heaven's Armies, how long will you be angry with our prayers? You have fed us with sorrow and made us drink tears by the bucketful. You have made us a scorn of neighboring nations. Our enemies treat us as a joke. Turn us again to yourself, O God of Heaven's Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine; you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land. You cleared the ground for us, and we took root and filled the land. Our shade covered the mountains; our branches covered the mighty cedars. We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea; our shoots spread east to the Euphrates River. But now, why have you broken down our walls so that all who pass by may steal our fruit? The wild boar from the forest devours it, and the wild animals feed on it. Psalm 80: 4-13 NLT

Drinking tears by the bucketful. How much would you have to cry to produce a bucketful of tears? I don't think we are meant to take this literally as much as picture how many tears have fallen. But the psalmist is not talking about producing those tears. The psalmist is saying that God has put them on a diet of sorrow and tears. Sorrow is what they have eaten. Tears are what they are drinking.

Perhaps this is God's sorrow and God's tears.

Over what we have done.

God has proven time and again to be our savior. Yet, our behavior does not show any kind of recognition of this fact. No wonder all who pass by steals our fruit!

God, do not be angry any longer over our prayers. We ask for forgiveness and mercy. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Copyright 2012 Amelia G. Sims