Do you weep over your sin? There must be some things in life that bring you to tears, but is your sin one of them? We would all do well to consider these powerful words from Thomas Watson’s The Godly Man’s Picture for he warns “how far are they from being godly who scarce ever shed a tear for sin” and goes on to explain the beauty and necessity of repentance.
How far are they from being godly who scarce ever shed a tear for sin; if they lose a near relation, they weep, but though they are in danger of losing God and their souls, they weep not. How few know what it is to be in an agony for sin, or what a broken heart means; their eyes are not like the fish-pools of Heshbon, full of water; but rather like the mountains of Gilboa, which had no dew upon them. It was a greater plague for Pharaoh to have his heart turned into stone than to have his rivers turned into blood. Others, if they do sometimes shed a tear, yet they are never the better, they go on in wickedness and do not drown their sins in their tears.
Let us labour for this divine character, be weepers. This is a repentance not to be repented of. It is reported of Mr. Bradford the martyr, that he was of so melting a spirit, that he seldom sat down to his meat but some tears trickled down his cheeks.
There are two lavers to wash away sin, blood and tears; the blood of Christ washeth away the guilt of sin, tears wash away the filth; repenting tears are precious, God puts them in his bottle. They are beautifying; a tear in the eye doth more adorn than a ring on the finger; oil makes the face to shine, tears make the heart to shine; tears are comforting; a sinner’s mirth turns to melancholy, a saint’s mourning turns to music. Repentance may be compared to myrrh, which though it be bitter to the taste, it is comforting to the spirits; repentance may be bitter to the fleshly part, but it is most refreshing to the spiritual. Wax that melts is fit for the seal: a melting soul is fit to take the stamp of all heavenly blessings; let us give Christ the water of our tears, and he will give us the wine of his blood.
