Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39).
A well-respected preacher once said that grief was the price one pays for having loved. Whether the loss is people or things, we have all felt heartbreak and worked our way through the debilitating processes of grief. Though we don’t use the word much in modern vernacular, to express such extreme loss is to lament. We mourn our situation. Our lesson today is from the Book of Lamentations. It is believed by many to have been written by the prophet Jeremiah (also known as the weeping prophet). What is his book about? Bad things happen that break our hearts, stun us, and cause us to question God. In this account, the destruction of Judah has come as a punishment for disobedience, and after hundreds of years of warning, God fulfilled his promise to Jerusalem. Does God love us with a ceaseless love even while allowing such extreme loss and grief? Can anything good come out of extreme sorrow and pain? Grab your tissues, consider your life experiences, and let’s dive in!
We have such a small section of the book of Lamentations as our lesson. Before we dig into the lesson, let's cover a few points that will make things a little easier to understand. Jeremiah was present in Jerusalem when the Babylonians invaded. Jews were starved, tortured, killed, or taken captive. The poor and feeble were left in their great city. Old and young suffered indescribable cruelty. Soloman’s temple was destroyed. Think about the magnitude of this loss to God’s people. Everywhere there was death, desolation, and misery. We can feel that way also. The loss of loved ones, the unfairness of life, the overpowering feeling that evil is winning. Things happen, and we don’t always like them.
All of the chapters of Lamentations are written as acrostic poems, with the exception of chapter 5. Each verse starts with each of the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. It is as if Jeremiah was using this form of poetry to illustrate that it took all of the words, and more than that, to describe the horror that he witnessed. He used the entire Hebrew alphabet to cover the tragedy from A to Z, so to speak. It is interesting that there are poems of lament in the Book of Job, Psalms, and in the writings of Isaiah that are mentioned or referenced in the Book of Lamentations. Here is a brief summary of the chapters prior to our lesson:
Chapter 1 takes the form of a woman mourning as a widow (daughter of Zion), with none to protect her and none to defend her. How does something that was once great among the nations now become enslaved? The widow cries. The city is destroyed. God has allowed it. She cannot save herself, and she cannot stop what is going on. She never thought this could happen. Maybe she was deceived into thinking God could never allow such tragedy in her life. This event is compared to death. She is no longer beautiful or envied. She sees what she really is without God: filthy, loathsome, and deceived, and her enemies are happy to see her so. The lament is that she is bitter, afflicted, destroyed, and the enemies have prevailed. Who can help her or restore her now? Do the bad always win? Why did God forget about her? He’s not supposed to do that, is He? Sound familiar?
Chapter 2 is written to remember that God had long told Israel that His judgments were coming. Jerusalem thought that because they had the temple (a special relationship with God), He would not destroy them. Prophet after Prophet for over 150 years warned of this day. God was long-suffering and slow to anger, but He is also Just. Just because it took a long time to happen did not mean He forgot or wouldn’t do what he said. He will not allow sin to go unpunished. What He says He will do, He will do. His wrath is not uncontrolled anger, it is deserved. The enemies are mocking and making fun. There is terror, death, and starvation. The lament is that they have been swallowed up and cut off by God himself. Was God now their enemy? Did He change His mind and no longer care about them?
Chapter 3 is where our lesson is taken. It is a poem of a man sharing his process of grief. He is swirling around with all the things going on. He’s trying to understand, but he can’t. The city is destroyed. There is no peace, no comfort of any kind. He prays, but his prayers can’t be heard. He is confused, bitter, and possibly a little angry with God. All three chapters point out the human condition. When bad things happen, we all act in the same manner. Our complaints/laments are not new to God. So what is the answer?
He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.
Broken my teeth - think of the tooth pain, unable to speak, not sure what even to say. Possibly starving - nothing but gravel to eat. Covered in ashes, mourning, forsaken.
And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.
His very soul is distressed, he has nothing, he has lost everything. Forget about what was, he is here now. No comfort, no peace, nothing but the reality of what has taken place in his life.
And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord:
Who can hear, help, or recover him? He says a very important word here - My strength and hope is gone from the LORD. The writer has been going through the event, going over and over the laments, the grief, the woes. But now, he remembers the LORD. We don’t all get there at the same time, do we? Some are quick to turn toward God. Some are equally quick to blame Him. Sometimes, we do both. God knows how we feel whether we say it out loud or not. Lamentations says all the things we fear in our time of grief or devastation. He already knows. Sometimes, admitting that to ourselves is the hardest part. We cannot solve our own problems except through God. This is the turning point.
Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
He considers it all. He isn’t overreacting to the mourning, embarrassment, the tears, or the loss. He is in bitterness (wormwood and gall). He turns a different mind to God. When you realize you are not able to save yourself, you are determined to search for the solid, unfailing truth. You strip away the phony and fall on the Rock. Think about the ceaseless love of God. Think about the laments of every man and woman around the world. None, as horrible as they are, can separate us from God’s love. God had said this judgment was coming. He kept his word. He also said many other things that needed remembered. He will keep his word. Will turning to God make all the woe go away? No. Will it bring back all that is lost and destroyed? No. In great loss one questions to reveal if they believe what God says or not. Everyone will have times to fall on the rock. Don’t jump back up too quickly and pretend to be fine. It is purposeful to question God in your misery. You will learn who you are as he reveals who He is.
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
We can turn to God or turn away from God The choice is always ours to make. This writer chose to remember. He chose to consider what God had done. Jerusalem had been warned. Everything the prophets had warned them about, they were guilty of doing. God did not wipe them off the face of the earth. He did not destroy every single person and start over. Even in His judgment, God showed mercy. He is faithful. Can good things come out of horrible situations? His own Son is an example. The cross of Calvary was a horrible awful, display of self-will, man’s traditions, angry mobs, lies, sin, and death. Yet Jesus willing suffered, despising that shame to fulfill a sacrifice that we could not make for ourselves. Don’t think for a moment that his affliction wasn’t great. He suffered that misery for each of us. The difference is He understood how it all would play out before he started, yet he willingly was obedient to His Father. His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
His compassions fail not and are new every morning. He never runs out. He is faithful. Always. The loss may be great but so is his faithfulness. He cannot lie or deny himself.
Extra:
It is hard to end this lesson without including some other verses in chapter three. As we struggle through our own grief and loss, remember these verses as well.
Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned. (39-42).
I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon. Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause. (55-58).
Thank you for studying with us! God bless!