Be honest with God

CIT: Jerusalem has is now in ruins because of the Israelites sins.

CIS: Lamenting to God is glorifying to God.

SO: That the Soldiers of 55th MEB would learn how to express their suffering in a healthy way to God.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

LAMENT OVER JERUSALEM

א Aleph

1 How she sits alone,

the city once crowded with people!

She who was great among the nations

has become like a widow.

The princess among the provinces

has been put to forced labor.

ב Beth

2 She weeps bitterly during the night,

with tears on her cheeks.

There is no one to offer her comfort,

not one from all her lovers.,

All her friends have betrayed her;

they have become her enemies.

ג Gimel

3 Judah has gone into exile

following affliction and harsh slavery;

she lives among the nations

but finds no place to rest.

All her pursuers have overtaken her

in narrow places.

ד Daleth

4 The roads to Zion mourn,

for no one comes to the appointed festivals.

All her gates are deserted;

her priests groan,

her young women grieve,

and she herself is bitter.

ה He

5 Her adversaries have become her masters;

her enemies are at ease,

for the LORD has made her suffer

because of her many transgressions.

Her children have gone away

as captives before the adversary.

ו Waw

6 All the splendor has vanished

from Daughter Zion.

Her leaders are like stags

that find no pasture;

they stumble away exhausted

before the hunter.

ז Zayin

7 During the days of her affliction and homelessness

Jerusalem remembers all her precious belongings

that were hers in days of old.

When her people fell into the adversary’s hand,

she had no one to help.

The adversaries looked at her,

laughing over her downfall.

ח Cheth

8 Jerusalem has sinned grievously;

therefore, she has become an object of scorn.

All who honored her now despise her,

for they have seen her nakedness.

She herself groans and turns away.

ט Teth

9 Her uncleanness stains her skirts.

She never considered her end.

Her downfall was astonishing;

there was no one to comfort her.

LORD, look on my affliction,

for the enemy boasts.

י Yod

10 The adversary has seized

all her precious belongings.

She has even seen the nations

enter her sanctuary—

those you had forbidden

to enter your assembly.

כ Kaph

11 All her people groan

while they search for bread.

They have traded their precious belongings for food

in order to stay alive.

LORD, look and see

how I have become despised.

ל Lamed

12 Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by?

Look and see!

Is there any pain like mine,

which was dealt out to me,

which the LORD made me suffer

on the day of his burning anger?

מ Mem

13 He sent fire from on high into my bones;

he made it descend.,

He spread a net for my feet

and turned me back.

He made me desolate,

sick all day long.

נ Nun

14 My transgressions have been formed into a yoke,,,

fastened together by his hand;

they have been placed on my neck,

and the Lord has broken my strength.

He has handed me over

to those I cannot withstand.

ס Samek

15 The Lord has rejected

all the mighty men within me.

He has summoned an army against me

to crush my young warriors.

The Lord has trampled Virgin Daughter Judah

like grapes in a winepress.

ע Ayin

16 I weep because of these things;

my eyes flow with tears.

For there is no one nearby to comfort me,

no one to keep me alive.

My children are desolate

because the enemy has prevailed.

פ Pe

17 Zion stretches out her hands;

there is no one to comfort her.

The LORD has issued a decree against Jacob

that his neighbors should be his adversaries.

Jerusalem has become

something impure among them.

צ Tsade

18 The LORD is just,

for I have rebelled against his command.

Listen, all you people;

look at my pain.

My young women and young men

have gone into captivity.

ק Qoph

19 I called to my lovers,

but they betrayed me.

My priests and elders

perished in the city

while searching for food

to keep themselves alive.

ר Resh

20 LORD, see how I am in distress.

I am churning within;

my heart is broken,

for I have been very rebellious.

Outside, the sword takes the children;

inside, there is death.

שׁ Shin

21 People have heard me groaning,

but there is no one to comfort me.

All my enemies have heard of my misfortune;

they are glad that you have caused it.

Bring on the day you have announced,

so that they may become like me.

ת Taw

22 Let all their wickedness come before you,

and deal with them

as you have dealt with me

because of all my transgressions.

For my groans are many,

and I am sick at heart.

Anyone who has read through the bible or at least tried to, may be wondering why I am starting the deployment off with the book of Lamentations. Why would I start a deployment with a book of the OT that many people skip or want to skip.

The main reason is because it is a book of lament, meaning it is a book that is centered on turning to God and expressing sorrow, pain, confusion. In other words it’s a book that is a great example of what it looks like to turn to God in the midst of suffering.

I want to go through a series on lament because... well lets be honest, we will experience suffering during this deployment. Either directly or indirectly, we will encounter suffering. So this encounter is unquestionable, what is the question, is are you prepared? When a loved one dies, where will you turn? When the loved one of a fellow Soldier dies, how will you help him/her? When something happens that causes you or someone you know sorrow, pain, or confusion, who will you turn to or what advise will you give your friend?

I’ve been deployed twice. My first deployment, someone in my unit died by suicide. In my second deployment, my wife and I went through a tremendous amount of marital issues. Already this deployment, my boiler had issues and my house didn’t have heat for a whole day. Whether big suffering or little suffering, we will encounter suffering. I’m sure each of us have already encountered at least a small degree of suffering. How many suffered when their LES was late. The confusion, the anxiety of how am I going to pay my bills.

We all know that suffering affects our peace. The morning that my boiler went, I woke up in a good mood, did some good PT, got my coffee, then my wife calls to inform me that the boiler is making an awful noise. Well crap! Almost immediately I’m stressing out because of the house not having heat, she’s stressing out, and I’m stressing out because she’s stressing out. It was a great time! Why? Because it was ruining my peace.

the fact is Peace is fluid. It ebbs and flows depending on our circumstances. Many people search their whole lives for peace and it is understandable. Peace is a good thing but it’s so circumstantial. Shalom however, oooohhh, shalom is something different. Shalom is not the absence of suffering, it is a calm, state of content, a stability, in the face of suffering. That is what we all really want and what we truly need is shalom. God offers us a path to him to this shalom through lament.

Sermon Notes:

What is lament?

Lament is the expression of any negative emotions or experiences to God.

Looking at lamentations 1, Jeremiah is weeping over the destruction of Jerusalem. And he is very honest with God. Depicting Jerusalem:

Like a widow (Verse 1)

a slave (verse 1, 2, 3 )

Like someone who has been betrayed (verse 2 and 19)

an exile, homeless, robed, shamed, naked… on an on, words that are very visual and descriptive and given the fact that Ancient near east was a shame honor society, these were very pain filled expressions about a once great city. They were pain filled and they were honest. Sometimes when we come to God, we are afraid to speak honestly. Or even if we do, we might polish it up a bit. There are Soldiers who I counsel who aren’t afraid to swear in front of me, but are very afraid to swear in front of God. And I get it, God is almighty, righteous, king of kings, and lord of lords. But he is also your dad. Let me tell you something, if a swear word is the only way to honestly express yourself in a moment of suffering, let me encourage you to do it before God. I’m not saying to make it a habit, but if telling God that your mad isn’t quite fitting for the state that your in and the only adverb that comes to mind in that moment is a four letter word that starts with “F” it’s ok. God can take it. And God desires that expression because he doesn’t want just the positive emotions from you, he wants all of you. Because when we lament to God we give glory to God. Let me say that again, when we lament to God, we give glory to God. Because when we lament, we are making a declaration proclaiming to those around us where does my help come from. My help comes from the lord! (Psalm 121:1-2)

Why should a Christian lament?

And that’s why we, as christians, should lament because when we offer all of ourselves to God, we not only give glory to God but we get to experience God in those moments. Even, if those moments are full of suffering, because you are experiencing God, you will have shalom. See many people view lament as the opposite of praise, but in reality, it is the pathway to praise. Many of us know that we are meant to worship God all day every day but we have this idea that only praise is worship. But in reality, any expression towards God is worship. Let me say that again, any expression towards God is worship. Not just the positive stuff, any. There are 150 chapters in the Book of Psalms and 59 of them are laments. I listed all the lament Psalms in the back of your program. Take some time to look the them, highlight or underline the honest language (again, in light of the shame honor society) Because honesty with God is good. An example of this is our friends. The close friends in our lives are close because of the things that have experienced together. When you keep friends out of aspects of your life, you are keeping them at a distance. When you share those times with them, they become closer. We experience God in times of suffering ,when we lament, because we are sharing those difficult times with him. Let me be clear, God is in those moments any way. God is sovereign (meaning he has authority over all things) and he is omnipresent (meaning he is everywhere at all times). He’s there, the question is will you acknowledge him? Will you continue to hold on to the things that are causing you to despair? Or will you turn to God, with opens hands of faith, letting go of those things, and lament? Because Lamenting to God gives glory to God.

You might be asking how do I lament? I’m glad you asked...

What are the aspects of lament?

The aspects of lament are turn, name, ask, and trust.

1)Turn

You may be reading Lamentations 1 and are wondering where is the address to God. If you have read some of the lament Psalms, many of them start off with calling on one of the attributes of God. Like Psalm 88, “Lord, God of my salvation” or many of them simply start of with LORD. You have to remember that Lamentations is a poetic book to for God’s people to recite and repeat to God. Jeremiah wouldn’t have penned this book if it were to just a friend. When Jeremiah sat down to pen this book, he was turning to God. The second step is to name your suffering.

2) Name

All over this book, you see Jeremiah naming and describing his pain and suffering. How he despairs in seeing his beloved city being shamed, mocked, mistreated, and destroyed. Pain and suffering will only grow if you leave it unnamed:

Henri Nowen Quote p 5

3) Ask

We will see later how Jeremiah asks God to act. Calling on the promises of God. We ask God to intervene because he is a good god and a good father who wants to give us good things:

matt 7:11 “11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.”

I’m not saying that God will give you whatever you want. God’s not a vending machine. But I can promise you, whatever he has for you is the best for you. It may not be what you thought it would be, but it will be good.

4) Trust

Finally, we trust. Because God is a God who cannot lie (1 sam 15:23 and Heb 6:18). One who will always fulfill his promises to his people, and because of that we can trust. This trust is what gives us rest. This rest can also be described as shalom. peace no matter what the circumstances

My encouragement to you this weak is to be aware of your sufferings. Big or small, God wants you to bring them to him. So be aware of them, turn to God with them, Name them to God, ask for God to act (bonus points if you can name his promise that pertains to it from scripture) and trust that all his promises are yes and amen and fulfilled in Jesus Christ our savior.

Please pray with me

Phil 4:6-7 “6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

benediction:

num 6:24-26 “24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’”