Tears of the World

When I was about 10 or 11 years old, I discovered a specific musical artist whose lyrics I found intriguing and thought provoking. My dad had all of Christian singer/songwriter Michael Card's albums up to that particular year (1993 or '94), but like most children, I did not pay attention to the lyrics of music unless it was something I found catchy or was popular with my age group. My dad had his album 'The Life' playing on our stereo when a particular song for whatever reason struck a chord (no pun intended) in me and made me listen to the words. It was the song 'Come to the Table', about the Last Supper.

'Come to the table, and taste of the glory, savor the sorrow. He's dying tomorrow. The Hand that is breaking the bread, soon will be broken...' The song is upbeat, but the words are sobering. I remember stopping whatever I was doing and sitting on the couch to hear, really hear, the rest of the song. The song after that one chronicled Jesus' time in the Garden of Gethsemane. Never before had I wanted to pick up my Bible willingly, look up these passages of Scripture and read them and try to understand. Thus my thirst for knowledge began. If I recall correctly, that day I listened to all of that album plus many more all while thumbing through my Bible.

Recently I discovered a song on Michael Card's album 'The Hidden Face of God' called Tears of the World that moved me to tears myself as I listened. The other day I played it over and over again to where now my 4 year old knows many of the words! This song is one of my new favorites as it very much describes my feelings and prayers about the recent news and everything happening in the world.


Tears of the World

In any split second of a moment of time,
In the blink that is one single day,
The sum of the sorrow that wraps round the world
Would catch every soul up and sweep them away.

As vast as the ocean, as deep as the sea,
Swept up in one toxic tide.
By warm salty waves the world weeps its woe
So how can it be that my own tears are dry?

So open my eyes and open my heart
And grant me the gift of Your grieving
And awaken in me the compassion to weep
Just one of the tears of the world.

When God walked among us in the fullness of time
He wept tears as old as the world
Acquainted with sorrow, He took up the cup
And drank every drop of the poison that heals.

And so comes the call of this sorrowful Man
To set our small sadness aside
To come now and follow no matter the cost
To follow Him boldly and wade in the tide.

So open my eyes and open my heart
And grant me the gift of Your grieving.
And awaken in me the compassion to weep
Just one of the tears of the world.

-Michael Card