The Song of Solomon : and the Lamentations of Jeremiah

iii. 43-54-] GRIEVING BEFORE GOD 249
But surely there are holy tears, and tears which it is
an honour for any one to be capable of shedding. If
mere callousness is the explanation of dry eyes in view
of sorrow, there can be no credit for such a condition.
This is not the restraint of tears. Nothing is easier
than for the unfeeling not to weep. Nor can it be
maintained that it is always necessary to restrain the
outward expression of sympathy in accordance with
its most natural impulses. Our Lord was strong ; yet
we could never wish that the evangelist had not had
occasion to write the ever memorable sentence, " Jesus
wept." Sufferers lose much, not only from lack of
sympathy, but also from a shy concealment of the
fellow-feeling that is truly experienced. There are
seasons of keenest agony, when to weep with those
who weep is the only possible expression of brotherly
kindness ; and this may be a very real act of love,
appreciably alleviating suffering. A little courage on
the part of Englishmen in daring to weep would knit
the ties of brotherhood more closely. At present a
chill reserve rather than any actual coldness of heart
separates people who might be much more helpful to
one another if they could but bring themselves to
break down this barrier.
But while the poet is thus expressing his large
patriotic grief he cannot forget his own private sorrows.
They are all parts of one common woe. So he returns
to his personal experience, and adds some graphic
details that enable us to picture him in the midst of his
misery.^ Though he had never provoked the enemy,
he was chased like a bird, flung into a dungeon,
where a stone was hurled down upon him, and where
' iii. 52 ff.