The Value of Brokenness

One of the many reasons that I love the book of Lamentations is because of what the book does NOT do. 

It does not resolve the pain of God’s actions quickly or neatly. 

It does not answer all of our questions. 

It does not communicate things in a way that is tidy or even comfortable. 

It does not downplay the significance of the struggle or the pain.

Grief is not perfectly linear.

Men, often think linear. It is why I take multiple trips to Home Depot when working on a project.

Lament mourns what has happened, it anchors us in what we believe, and it looks expectantly to the day when God will make all things right but it does not demand a timeline.

Review Chapter One

Poetic and graphic description of the fall of the city of Jerusalem. 

We learned about the devastating consequences of sin, and we ended the service by confessing our sins. 

Lam 1:1-3 “1 How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! 2 She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. 3 Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.”

Review Chapter Two

we saw the bigness of God’s righteousness and how He can feel like an adversary when He turns against sin. 

Very heavy.

Lam 2:17-18 “17 The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries. 18 Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.”

Review Chapter Three

We climbed to the summit of Lamentations

We saw the hope of new mercies every morning and the confidence in God’s faithfulness.

Lam 3:21-26 “21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. 25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. 26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.”

Hope springs when the truth about God is rehearsed.

Jeremiah is lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem AND clinging to what he knows to be true about God.

God’s mercy never ends

God does not waste our waiting

The story is not over

God is always good

Preview to Chapter Four & Five

Both contain glimmers of hope – more so that chapters one and two – but they are still dark. 

The promise of who God is and the pain of life exist together.  They are not necessarily reconciled.

Chapter four, in particular, shows us God’s mercy that comes after brokenness.  The hope of chapter three is still true, but Jeremiah reflects on how broken the people really are. 

God has deconstructed His people such that their only hope is Him. 

He has broken them so that he can rebuild them. 

He has taken away the things that they used as crutches so that they will look to him.

Do you know that the Bible commends this kind of brokenness? 

Brokenness can create a God-ordained path to mercy

Brokenness : When God removes the objects of our trust such that we are driven to hope in Him. 

Sometimes brokenness can come because of our own sin. 

Sometimes it can come because of someone else’s sin.  

It can also come because of the general brokenness in the world. 

“David was caught in a very uncomfortable position; however, he seemed to grasp a deep understanding of the unfolding drama in which he had been caught. He seemed to understand something that few of even the wisest men of his day understood. Something that in our day, when men are wiser still, even fewer understand. And what was that? God did not have - but wanted very much to have - men and women who would live in pain. God wanted a broken vessel.” ― Gene Edwards, A Tale of Three Kings

Psalm 51:16-17 “16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

Psalm 34:18-19 “18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.”

Matthew 11:28-30 “28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

1 Peter 5:6-7 “6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

Brokenness awakens us to our need for God’s mercy.

“What does this world need: gifted men and women, outwardly empowered? Or individuals who are broken, inwardly transformed?” ― Gene Edwards, A Tale of three Kings: A Study in Brokenness

Can you think of a time when God removed some “crutches” in your life? 

A Broken People

After identifying the faithfulness of God in chapter three, Jeremiah quickly returns to the destruction around him. 

Chapter four starts with the word “How,” which serves as the thematic title of the book. Lam 4:1 “1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.”

We have a 22 verse acrostic.

There is no longer any hope in their culture, their leaders, or in another nation who might come and rescue them. 

Degraded Culture

Lamentations 4:1–11 KJV

1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. 2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. 4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. 5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. 6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her. 7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: 8 Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. 9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. 10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. 11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.

Israel was proud of her status as God’s chosen people. 

There was something special about the nation, the temple, and their place in the world.  But now the glory of Israel has completely faded. 

The “glory-years” of the past were long-gone. 

If you have captured a picture of the nation during the reigns of David, Solomon, Hezekiah, or Josiah and then compared it to this scene, it would be utterly shocking. 

Lam 4:1 “1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.”

Two possible meanings. 

Since the beauty of the temple was its gold, it could have been a general statement about the city’s destruction.

The gold and the reference to holy stones in verse one could be a figure of speech for the people of Israel.  The people once considered themselves to be “gold” and “precious” and the other nations to be of lesser value.  Lam 4:2 “2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!”

Not in Kansas anymore

The people of Israel treated each other very cruelly. v.3-4 

Worse than how a jackal would treat its young. 

Like an ostrich who is notorious for leaving her eggs unprotected (see Job 39:13-18). 

children dying of thirst and begging for food, with no one willing to share or help.

Their princes (v. 7) have lost their elevated status and superior lifestyle. 

No one recognizes them, and they are also ravaged by hunger and thirst (v. 8).

It would have been better to have been killed in battle (v. 9) than to have to endure the suffering of the city. 

Mothers turned to cannibalizing their own children. 

And why did this all happen? 

God was disciplining His own children for their rebellion.  Lam 4:11 “11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.”

The glory days are not just gone; they are dead and buried.  Israel, as a people, a nation, and a culture, is lost.  They are a broken people.

Discredited Leadership

Lamentations 4:12–16 KJV

12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. 13 For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, 14 They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. 15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there. 16 The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.

When people are in crisis, they look to leaders to deliver them, to give them hope, and to lead them to better days. 

The people have no confidence in those who used to lead them.

The overthrow of Jerusalem was a shocking turn of events.

Jeremiah reminds the reader that a very important reason for this destruction was the failure of spiritual leaders.  Lam 4:13 “13 For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,”

The false prophets had not listened to Jeremiah, and they gave the people of Israel a false confidence that they were not in grave danger. 

The people were not taught the law, and they were not rebuked when they fell into sin. / Testimony from marriage retreat

The spiritual leaders did not warn the people or call them to repent. 

The people were so repulsed by their leaders that they kicked them out of the city! Lam 4:15 “15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there.”

And who is behind all of this? 

Lam 4:16 “16 The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.”

Contrast to Numbers 6:25-26 “25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”

God’s face of judgment has changed what the people saw in the face of their priests.

Transitional Statement: The culture was degraded.  Their leaders were discredited.  There is nothing left inside Israel to hope in.  Perhaps there was another nation that could help them.

Disappointing Neighbors

Part of Israel’s pattern in the past was her quick reliance on neighboring nations to bail her out of her troubles. 

Time after time the people of God are warned not to put their trust in these nations, but instead to trust in the Lord.

During the siege of Jerusalem, the people hoped that Egypt would come to their defense and end the Babylonian occupation. 

At one point, the Egyptian army marched close enough to draw some Babylonian. Jer 37:5-8

Story of people being out on the ocean and a plan flies over but does not see them.

Everything they tried failed.

Lam 4:18-19 “18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come. 19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.”

Even the king was captured.  Lam 4:20 “20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.” Story of Zedekiah

No one was willing to help them. They are even mocked. Lam 4:21 “21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.”

Transitional Statement: Do you see how broken the people of God are in chapter four?  God has removed every single crutch that they could rely upon.  He has left them with only one hope.

A Faithful God

Not many words of hope, but enough.

Lam 4:22 “22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.”

The nation is at the mercy of God. 

That is not a bad place to be even when life is hard, disappointing, or painful.

God will bring His people back to the promised land. 

I don’t know where God finds you today. 

Perhaps you can relate to the picture that we have seen here of the people of God being utterly broken.  

You could have thoughts like these:

I wasn’t supposed to still be single at this point.

My marriage was not supposed to end this way or to be like this.

My marriage and family were supposed to be more fulfilling.

I was supposed to have a real career or have figured out what I wanted to do.

My kids were supposed to turn out differently. I raised them the right way.

I thought by this point I’d not still be dealing with the same sins or struggles or issues.

My ministry was supposed to have helped more people.

I feel like I missed God’s will for my life.

This is not where I thought I would be in life at this age.

Job’s suffering led him to see God differently. Job 42:5-6 “5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. 6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

God bless the broken road that led me straight to you

Conclusion

Brokenness that leads to see God is not wasted. 

Pain that leads you to trust in God alone is not pointless. 

The key, however, is whether or not we can embrace the brokenness that God brings because it brings us something better:  God Himself.

God broke Israel because her trust was not in Him. 

He could not allow her to continue the path of rebellion against Him. 

He loved her too much to allow her to go her own way. 

This kind of perspective on brokenness changes everything.

It actually makes you thankful that God has leveled you because of what it brought you to.  Brokenness leads to mercy, because brokenness leads you to God.  And for the believer, that is the greatest treasure of all.

Though I do not always or even often ask you to come to the altar, I am going to ask you to do so tonight. Some of you are being broken. What it will do to you is yet to be determined. God will not waste it in your life if you will submit to Him.

References:

I leaned heavily upon the book Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy to help provide clear, biblical wording when describing Lament and to help provide divisions for the series.

Additionally, The Tale of Three Kings provides an incredible picture into brokenness.