Where Do My Tears Go?
Neal Pollard

"Where do my tears go?" Such sounds like the inquisitive, impulsive question of a child. Physically, tears are either wiped away or they eventually evaporate on the cheek, if they do not fall to the ground. Spiritually, something wonderful happens to the tears shed by the child of God. David said so in Psalm 56:8-9.

My Tears Go Into God's Collection. David pleads, "Put my tears into Your bottle." Do you remember being a child and getting a jar to collect your favorite samples from nature? Perfume was put into bottles from the earliest times. David implies how precious our tears are to God, that he would collect them. The perfect Father does not relish the thought of His children's hurts, but He longs for the opportunity to comfort us when we do.

My Tears Go Into God's Compilation. David asks, "Are they (my tears) not in your book?" This seems more like an entry into a ledger or record book. David is talking about the mistreatment he is receiving from the hands of his Philistine enemies. David knows God is for him, so he relishes the idea that God, in recording his tears in His book, will pull refer back to those tears as evidence to support His decision to punish them. When sinners do evil to us, God will remember and settle the matter His way (94:1ff).

My Tears Go Into God's Cache. By faith, David saw the effectiveness of his tears and crying. He says, "When I cry out to You, then my enemies will turn back" . My agony is used in His arsenal, my weeping is His weaponry. If I go to Him when I am hurting, He will defend me.
Throughout this Psalm, David says he knows what to do when afraid or oppressed. He expresses his abiding trust in the Lord. Even if he sheds tears, he knows that God knows what to do with them! What a wonderful Father we have, who takes our tears. Someday, He will take them away from us forever (Rev. 7:17)!



What happened to the apostles?
(Foxes Book of Martyrs: Based upon Oral and Written Tradition)
Matthew - suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.
Mark - died in Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.
Luke - was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.
John - faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos. The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.
Peter - was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross, according to church tradition because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
James the Just - the leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.
James the Greater - a son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.

Bartholomew, also known as Nathanael - was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed to our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia when he was flayed to death by a whip.
Andrew - was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: "I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it." He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.
Thomas - was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent.
Jude, the brother of Jesus, - was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
Matthias - the apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.
Barnabas - one of the group of seventy disciples, wrote the Epistle of Barnabas. He preached throughout Italy and Cyprus. Barnabas was stoned to death at Salonica.
Paul - was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.
How can anyone place so much trust in something or someone unless they have personally experienced and truly believed that it's the truth or it's real? Perhaps that is also a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles/ disciples during their times for the sake of the Faith.