When Men Let Their Guard DownSýnishorn

Day Two – Real Men Need to Weep

As the full weight of what happened fell upon them, the men began to weep. Some dropped their weapons, slipped from their saddles, and fell to their knees, wailing. Others beat their chests and yelled, the deep agonizing cries of fury echoing throughout the valley. They wept for their wives, for their sons, for their daughters (1 Sam. 30:4).

One of the misconceptions about masculinity is that real men don’t cry. Not true. Not biblical. These guys who wept were about as masculine as you could get. Let’s just say that there was no shortage of testosterone in the group. These men were not some overly emotional group of emasculated males.

They were courageous, tough, and battle tested. Robust and wild at heart, they were men’s men who had banded together with David to rise up against the oppression and wickedness of King Saul. They wanted their culture back, and they wanted Israel to serve God again.

With all their power and skill and character, they still wept. Sometimes real men need to weep. We need to weep for our past, for our families, for what has happened to our nation, for what we’ve allowed to happen. We need to cry out to God for our wives and children, our brothers and sisters. We need to be broken and mourn over our own sin. If we take care of personal stuff, it influences the church and the nation.

Like David and his band of men, weeping and grief over what we have lost and repentance should be our first response too. Whether we shed actual tears isn’t the point. There must be authentic repentance in our hearts that leads to lasting change. Change begins in the heart. It’s a gut-level, core initiative.