Tears, Weakness, and True Wisdom

Scripture today joins three hard lessons into one. God gives victory, yet man must not boast; God restores captivity, yet His people still sow with tears; God reveals wisdom, yet not to the proud or merely eloquent. Samson struck down the Philistines with a poor weapon in his hand, and Paul came without brilliance of speech. In both, the power was not human. But Samson also warns us that a man may be used by God and yet not walk straight before Him. As Irenaeus observed, after his uncleanness, “the holy Scripture no longer speaks of the things happily accomplished by him in connection with the formula, ‘The Spirit of the Lord came upon him.’” Gifts do not excuse sin. Strength does not make a crooked path safe.

So the Church must learn another way: the crucified way. Paul did not build the faithful by display, but by the Spirit’s power, so that their faith would stand in God and not in men. This wisdom is given to the obedient, to those who accept the shame of Christ, pray steadfastly, and put away the vanity of this age. The Psalm teaches the same rule of life: “They who sow in tears shall reap in joy,” as Tertullian says. Joy is promised, but only to those who sow. Therefore repent where you have presumed on God’s help while keeping your favorite sin. Give thanks openly when the Lord restores you, but ask also for fuller restoration. And when obedience is costly and hidden, do not grow slack: the seed cast in tears is not lost. God knows it, and He will bring the sheaves.