Lamentations 3 Grief Sermon

Lamentations 3:21-24

“Trusting God When Life is Tough”

Lamentations 3:21-24, “This I recall to mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, says my soul, Therefore I hope in Him.”

A mother was told that her son was killed in an automobile accident. In that moment, tears and sorrow flooded her life. In another family, a sudden heart attack took the life of a husband, leaving a wife to face the challenges of life alone. We truly live in a grief-stricken world.

What is grief? The Student Bible Dictionary defines grief as, “An emotion of sorrow; the experience of emotional distress. To express what a person feels in periods of intense sadness, as in the time of death.” The Holman Bible Dictionary defines grief as, “Practices and emotions associated with the experience of the death of a loved one or another catastrophe or tragedy.” Grief is simply the result of losing someone or something we love. In fact, the only way to not grieve is to not love. David Kessler, one of the world’s foremost experts on grief states, “You don’t have to experience grief, but you can only avoid it by avoiding love. Love and grief are inextricably intertwined…If you love, you will one day know sorrow.” Elisabeth Eliott, a devoted follower of Jesus, remarks, “Let’s never forget that if we don’t ever want to suffer, we must be very careful never to love anything or anybody.”

What we see in the book of Lamentations is the expression of a man who loved deeply. The book of Lamentations is written by the Prophet Jeremiah, a man rightly labeled as the weeping prophet. Lamentations has been called the saddest book in the Bible because it is a collection of funeral dirges. A dirge is simply a lament for the dead. The word lament means to cry aloud, and all five chapters of this book is a lament by the Prophet Jeremiah.

If you live long enough, you will realize life is full of losses, and according to this book of the Bible, Jeremiah is dealing with great losses in his life. Jeremiah had preached to the people of Judah for 40 years, proclaiming the Word of God and the need for his people to repent. Because the people continually ignored the Prophet and his message, God allowed King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Army to be His hand of judgment against the people. Now, Jeremiah sits, possibly in a cave, overlooking looking Jerusalem, but as he looks, he weeps! He grieves! He grieves as he sees the rubble of the once glorious city of God. He grieves over the stench of decaying bodies left by the Babylonian Army. He grieves over his countrymen and loved ones who have been taken into a pagan, gentile land to never be seen by him again. His family and friends, gone, and the beautiful city of Jerusalem left in ashes.

In chapter one, Jeremiah describes the city of Jerusalem as looking like a funeral scene. In verse 1 he states, “How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow is she, who was great among the nations. The princess among the provinces has become a slave.” In chapter two, he describes the cities destruction and states in verse 13, “How shall I console you? To what shall I liken you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is spread wide as the sea; Who can heal you?” In chapter 3, Jeremiah reveals his own state and anguish. He states, “He walks in darkness, his skin has aged, and he is surrounded by bitterness and woe. He feels like he has been torn to pieces, and feels like his teeth have been broken by being beaten upon the rocks.” Because of this loss and grief his states, “His soul is far from peace.” If there was ever a picture of grief being expressed through great mourning in the Bible, it is seen in the life of the Weeping Prophet. Some would even say that Jeremiah has gone into depression.

Yet, in the midst of this great grief and agony, we see something amazing in the middle of chapter three. As his soul continues to sink, an amazing thought came to his mind, “God is still there!” Something inside of him, even in the midst of great anguish, reminded him of this and gave him great hope! And I pray, for us who are believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, what brought Jeremiah peace in the middle of his great grief will comfort and bless those who are walking or yet to walk in the valley of grief today. Jeremiah was still experiencing great sorrow, but peace began to flood his soul at the same time. His situation had not changed, but he also remembered, God had not changed nor abandoned him. And friend, God has not abandoned you!

Jeremiah gives us three reasons this morning why we can still have hope and trust in God when life gets tough.

1. Even When Life is Tough, God is Still Good (vs. 22-23a)

Right here in verse 22, Jeremiah gives us great aspects of God’s goodness during the season of loss and grief. First, he reminds us of God’s amazing love. He states, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed.” The word that Jeremiah mentions here for mercy is the word hesed. This word is used around 250 times in the Old Testament, and in each situation it is used to remind the people of God of God’s covenant keeping love. What does this mean? God has promised to love Jeremiah. In the middle of his sorrow, in the middle of his great mourning, Jeremiah remembers that God still loves him! The good news for us this morning is that this reminds us that God still loves us. In the midst of our despair, in the midst of our grief, in the middle of us feeling like we have hit rock bottom because of our loss, in the midst of all of that, heaven is crying out and reminding us today that God still loves us! And if God has promised to love each of us, He will continue to love each of us no matter what.

There has never been a time God has not loved you, nor will there ever be a time that God ceases to love you. In the middle of Jeremiah’s intense grief, he remembered this amazing promise. Church, there are many of us in here today that have experience great losses in life. There are some that can truly identify with what Jeremiah is feeling. When your loved one passed away, you felt crushed, you felt despair, you felt numb, but you are still here. The reason you have made it this far and you have not been totally consumed by your loss is because of the great mercies and love of God.

God also reminded Jeremiah in the middle of his grief of His great compassion. Jeremiah states, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.” The word compassions is a word related to the womb, it describes the tender, caring love of a mother. This word can also be translated mercy. Jeremiah realized that even though life was tough, the compassion/mercy of God would never leave him. In fact, Jeremiah goes on to state in the beginning of verse 23, “They are new every morning.” God’s love and mercy is not something that we can just look back on and remember, God’s love and compassion are something we can expect each and every day of our lives. Just because life gets tough, and life can throw the unexpected at us, does not mean God has failed to care for His own! God’s amazing love and mercy are new every morning! God’s love and mercy are as sure as the sun rising today. In the first two chapters, Jeremiah felt abandoned, he felt alone. He seems to feel like he is experiencing this sorrow and sadness on his own, but then comes chapter three! In chapter three he is reminded even though he is going through the toughest moments of his life, God still loves and cares for him!

Church, you may be in chapter one this morning in your grief. You may feel like your life has been turned upside down. You may be in chapter two this morning. Your eyes may be filled with tears because of your loss. Your heart still may be trouble, but hold on! Do not despair! God has not forgotten. He is still good and He loves you! God’s love and mercies have not ended in your time of loss! He is still good, even when we are going through the grieving process.

2. Even When Life is Tough, God is Still Faithful (vs. 23 b)

Jeremiah boldly states in the latter part of verse 23, “Great is Your Faithfulness.” Right here Jeremiah goes from talking about God to talking to God. And in talking to God, Jeremiah declares the faithfulness of God. This word simply means that you and I can always count on God! There are a lot of uncertainties in life. We looked at last week how uncertain life is. Life is uncertain, life has many uncertainties, but there is one guarantee in life, and that is God will always be faithful.

The great hymn writer Thomas Chisholm states this important truth, “Great is Thy Faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not, as thou hast been, thou forever will be.” Church, there something very important that we do not need to miss right here! Jeremiah did to say this when life was smooth sailing. He did not sing this when life was going his way. Jeremiah declared “Great is Your Faithfulness” in the middle of the storm. He declared this as he watched his beloved city burn. He declared this as many of his loved ones were deported. He sang this as many of his countrymen died at the hands of the Babylonian army. Jeremiah declared this during the darkest days of his grief.

What about us? In the midst of your grief and my grief, can we sing “Great is Thy Faithfulness?” In this midst of our tears, can we declare, “Great is Thy Faithfulness?” In this midst of our hearts being broken, can we state, “Great is Thy Faithfulness?” Again church, the reason we are still here and the reason we are making it day by day is because of the faithfulness of the Lord! He is faithful during the good times, and praise His name He is faithful during the tough times.

I had the privilege of interviewing twelve members of our congregation who have lost very close loved ones. I thank them for sharing with me about such a sensitive topic. But over and over in every interview this came up, “If it wasn’t for the Lord!” What do I believe every one of them was stating? “If it wasn’t for the faithfulness of God, I do not know where I would be!” I can say the same for myself this morning. If it wasn’t for the goodness and faithfulness of God, I do not know how I could handle the losses I have experienced in my life. I have had several people over the last couple of years say, “I don’t know how you were able to preach your own mother’s funeral.”And all I can simply say is, “God is good and faithful!” I don’t know where you are at in your grief this morning. You may still be in shock; you may feel anger, or depression. I have learned that is ok. Jeremiah felt all of that and more, but right in the middle of his darkest hour he remembered God is faithful. And friend, I pray you remember that God is faithful to minister to you in the middle of your loss and grief.

3. Even When Life is Tough, God is Sufficient (vs. 24)

Jeremiah states in verse 24, “The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore I hope in Him.” The word portion is a real estate term. It speaks of an inheritance or a possession. And when Jeremiah states, “The Lord is my portion,” he is simply stating that God is sufficient for His need. Jeremiah knew that if God was his portion he would have everything he needed during this time of loss and grief. Our greatest possession, our greatest need during the tough times of life is to lean on the Lord! I cannot speak for you, but I can speak for myself today. God is sufficient! He was more than enough to see me through the loss of my mother. And whether you realize it or not today, He is more than sufficient to see you through your time of loss as well.

Jeremiah began this section with the word “hope” and he closes this section with the word “hope.” Jeremiah’s hope in the middle of his great holocaust, and our hope and help in the middle of our grief is found in Christ alone! “In Christ alone, my hope is found, he is my life, my strength, my song.” Your greatest need during seasons of loss is to lean on the everlasting arms of Jesus. He is your portion, He is your light in the middle of the darkness.

Before the advancement in modern technology, photographs, the film had to first be taken into a darkroom. Only after being in a darkroom could the film then be exposed to the light. When we lose someone we love, we go into a darkroom just like Jeremiah did, but do not despair. Hope in the Light of the World. Remember this, life’s darkest trials and life’s hardest losses can’t fully dim the light of Jesus. You may be a in a darkroom this morning, but you are not alone. Jesus is there! And remember, Jesus is Good, Jesus if Faithful, and Jesus if Sufficient, even when life is tough!