As far as I know, the quoted word is the very first mentioning of tears in our Bible, though of course many tears had already been shed on various occasions so far.

King Hezekiah´s tears were not hypocritical tears, though they stemmed from his own vain hope for a further, gracious respite of his earthly life  which was not a too good idea, as during those plus years he became the father of that wicked son, Manasseh.  But still the Lord saw his tears and didn´t scold him about it.  He saw his tears as He sees ours despite our many frailties.  He even sees those tears we like to cry, but for some reason there´s not enough moisture in us to have a good cry, but the heart still writhes in pain.

Do I speak from my own experience?  Of course I do.  There are tears and sorrows which only the Lord sees and which belong to the closet.  In my very young days I had many ups and downs.  One morning I went to see a local church leader on the west coast of Norway.  I was having many meetings myself, full of agonies.  When he saw me – my sad countenance -, he smilingly said to me, “Leave your grief to Lord in your closet, then wash your face and go out!”  He was right, and the Lord patiently taught me a lesson through him.

From our studies in Hebrews we learned that we have a High Priest full of sympathy with our weaknesses (Hebr. 4:15).  I need that kind of a Savior and I need Him in that blessed capacity more and more as I grow older.  I bet this is your experience too.

-jn-