Your Sorrows Keeper

If you're a parent of a younger child, there are probably lots of things you keep track of for them. You probably keep track of their doctor's and dentist's visits. You probably keep track of their meals. And you might even keep track of how much sleep they are getting. It's what a parent does. We keep track.

But there might be something you don't keep track of... their sorrows. I don't know any parent that writes down all the ways their child has been hurt or the times they've experienced pain. I've never heard of anyone pulling out a 'book of sorrows' and taking a nice stroll down memory lane. It's not exactly entertainment material, if you know what I mean!

But in Psalm 56, we hear David asking God to do just that. He says, 


"Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll — are they not in your record?”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭56:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

At this point in David's life, He is looking to God to help him, deliver him. And it seems he doesn't want God to miss it. He wants to make sure God sees it all so that He can respond. So He asks God to keep track. And keep track He does. Other versions of this verse give us this impression:


You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, 
Each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book.
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭56:8‬ ‭MSG‬‬


You keep track of all my sorrows. 
You have collected all my tears in your bottle. 
You have recorded each one in your book.
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭56:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬


Yes, indeed. God remembers. He doesn't miss a thing. But why would He do this? Why would God keep track of our sorrows?

I think there's one main reason...He keeps track because He doesn't want us to. He doesn't want us to hold onto our sorrows and pain. He doesn't want us to keep reliving the past and experiencing the traumatic scenes over and over again. He keeps the ledger and knows just what to do with it. He nails it to the Cross, where all our sorrows were carried by Jesus, Himself. 

And our tears. Oh, our tears are so precious to Him, too! They are the overflow of our pain and sorrow! So in the midst of our anguish, we hear Him gently saying, 

"My child, don't bottle up your pain. 
Let go of your tears so I can bottle them up and carry them for you.
I love you and I AM 
your Sorrows Keeper."


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