When the angel of the LORD had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud. – Judges 2:4

Today's Scripture Reading (March 7, 2022): Judges 2

English Philosopher Aldous Huxley, in his classic dystopian novel "Brave New World," argues that "Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment. If you have behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address yourself to the task of behaving better next time. On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean." Maybe the difference is between the surface expression of tears and the genuine remorse required for repentance. The reality is that tears can become an action in themselves rather than a response to an inner condition of the soul. Tears are weapons that can be mobilized to either change the situation in which we find ourselves or get ourselves out of trouble. And when they are used as a weapon, they reflect Aldous Huxley's "chronic remorse." The problem with chronic remorse or weaponized tears is that they do not bring lasting change. Only genuine repentance can do that.

The people of Israel are chastised for their unbelief. They had not honored their commitments to God, so God announced that he would now opt out of his contract with the nation. And the response of the people was to weep. The tears were actually a hopeful sign. Maybe this incident would provide true repentance and a lasting change in the people. But that was not reality. These tears would prove to be nothing more than chronic remorse. The tears would become an episodic ritual for Israel. But there would never be any genuine repentance. The tears would be nothing more than a surface reaction to trouble.

Charles Spurgeon would phrase it this way.

The tear is the natural drop of moisture, and soon evaporates; the better thing is the inward torrent of grief within the soul, which leaves the indelible mark within … One grain of faith is better than a gallon of tears. A drop of genuine repentance is more precious than a torrent of weeping.

It is not a tear that soon evaporates that Israel needed. What was needed was an "inward torrent of grief" that would create a lasting repentance and the possibility "of behaving better next time." But the weeping that Israel presented to God was just more rolling in the muck. And Huxley is right; "Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean." 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Judges 3