Devotional "When The Tears Fall" by Tim Hughes  [song lyrics]

• originally released by CMCentral.com 05-23-2005
• author: Tim Hughes

	Newsboys' cover of the song from the album "Devotion" (2004) Read the song lyrics...

When The Tears Fall

Have you ever sung this song in Church?

"He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; indeed he has turned his hand against me again and again all day long. He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust." (Lamentations 3:2-3; 16)

Or what about this one?

"How long. O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?" Psalm 13:1-2

I'm guessing that you probably haven't. Most of the churches that I've been to sing the songs of celebration, joy, praise and adoration which is wonderful, but seem to miss the songs of lament. It's deemed as inappropriate and melancholic.

I remember hearing one worship leader say that each Sunday they only had twenty-five minutes to lead worship through song, so why would they want to waste time focusing on the negative?

In his article, The Hidden Hope in Lament , Dan Allender writes, "Christians seldom sing in the minor key. We fear the sombre; we seem to hold sorrow in low-esteem. We seem predisposed to fear lament as a quick slide into doubt and despair; failing to see that doubt and despair are the dark soil that is necessary to grow confidence and joy."

Even a quick glance through the Psalms and many other books in the Bible reveal so many songs of pain and lament. Cries of despair and suffering continually offered up to God. This begs the question, have we lost the place for worship and lament in the Church?

A while back I wrote a song called "When the Tears Fall." It was written at a time when life for me was hard. I'd taken a few knocks and suddenly my heart was filled with questions and doubt.

One evening, feeling very low, I sat down and starting pouring out my heart to God. The first line I sang out was, "I've had questions without answers. I've known sorrow I have known pain."

Immediately I looked for a response. How do you follow a line like that? Well the answer is, look to Jesus. Everyone on this earth experiences pain, suffering, bereavement, and illness. The only difference is that for those who believe that Jesus is Lord we have a Savior that we can turn and cling to.

"But there's one thing that I¹ll cling to. You are faithful Jesus You're true."

As I sang out of my pain and doubt my soul found rest. Looking through the song that was taking shape I immediately thought that this was a personal song for me.

However the more I pondered the more I realized that here was a song of worship. The sentiment of the song was just as worshipful as "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever."

There has to be a place for pain in our Church. We need a bigger picture of what worship is. Questioning God doesn't mean we are disobeying Him. Expressing doubt doesn't mean we are lacking faith. In our everyday living, the people that we are most likely to share our deepest fears and questions with are those we most love and trust. It¹s an intimate thing to be so honest and raw with someone. It¹s actually something that draws you closer to a friend.

So to express anger and pain to God is actually a beautiful intimate act. Again as Dan Allender says, "To sing a lament against God in worship reveals far, far greater trust than to sing a jingle about how happy we are and how much we trust him. That kind of song is much like the smiling salesman who meets you with a 'Hey, how are ya? You're looking good today; how can I help ya?' Lament cuts through insincerity, strips pretence, and reveals the raw nerve of trust that angrily approaches the throne of grace and then kneels in awed, robust wonder.

If we return to the songs quoted at the start, we see that they don't end where I've left them. In Lamentation the bitter cry ends with lines of hope and trust:

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

In the Psalms the feeling of abandonment and sorrow is responded to by singing:

"But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me." Psalm 13:5-6

It's easy to praise when everything is going to plan. It's more of a challenge when everything around us is falling to pieces. It takes great faith to say when life is incredibly hard, "You are good." But this is the deal. God is good and is forever worthy of our praise. It's not dependent on our feelings. Day and night, always the same, God deserves our highest praise.

I think we will find great comfort and healing in the church by allowing space to respond in this way. To be honest and real about how we really feel. To allow questions and doubts to rise, but in that place to respond to God by worshipping His holy name.

"I will praise You. I will praise You.
When the tears fall still I will sing to You.
I will praise You. Jesus praise You.
Through the suffering still I will sing."