Between the Rock and a Hard Place: Lament and the Discipline of God

NEW CITY CATECHISM #18

Will God allow our disobedience and idolatry to go unpunished?

No, every sin is against the sovereignty, holiness, and goodness of God, and against his righteous law, and God is righteously angry with our sins and will punish them in his just judgment both in this life, and in the life to come.

PASTORAL PRAYER

Thanksgiving -- Conversion

Requests:

PBC -- those who are employees (some furloughed, some laid off, some working from home, some still on-site)

Sister Church -- Abundant Hope Baptist Church (Walter Black)

US -- those in abusive homes

World -- Serbia

Speak through sermon

SERMON

Some of my earliest memories as a kid are sitting around the TV watching old movies with my family. It started with movies like Arsenic and Old Lace, The Fuller Brush Man, and That Darn Cat. Over time we graduated to films like The Empire Strikes Back, The Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Christopher Reeves Superman films. Even though my parents carefully selected the movies they allowed us to watch, there would inevitably be a word an innuendo, or a scene that was met with my parents’ disapproval. At which point one of my parents—usually my mom—would exclaim, “Why did they have to put that in there?”

That may be the way some of you feel about certain parts of Lamentations 3. Scholars agree that chapter 3 is the book’s climax. It’s the chapter that helps us understand the entire book. It includes some of the most memorable lines in the entire Old Testament in verses 22-23: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

We love verses like that! But the glorious beauty of those verses makes certain parts of Lamentations 3 feel incredibly out of place. Like verses 1-18, our text for this morning. In these verses Jeremiah again laments his agony in the hands of an angry God. But, if it’s possible, these verses are even darker than chapter 2 which we covered last week. Because Jeremiah is no longer writing about the suffering as an observer, but as a participant. The first-person pronouns I, me, or my are used over thirty times in these verses.ii Eric Kress and Paul Tautges, The Discipline of Mercy, 81. No longer are we hearing Jeremiah talk about suffering, now we’re watching him suffer. Which may leave many of us exclaiming, why did they have to put that in there?

We established last week that God’s people were being disciplined for their unrepentant sin. So why do we have to talk about discipline again? Why can’t we just get to the good part already? It’s helpful to remember what the Apostle Paul said about the Scriptures in his final letter:

2 Timothy 3:16-17––All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

This includes those passages of Scripture we like to skim over, the parts that seem a little boring or redundant to us, and the concepts we like to ignore, like God’s discipline in Lamentations. But, the big idea I want you to understand this morning is that it is good for us to see how God disciplines His people.

But this is more than a mere academic exercise. It’s good for us to see how God disciplines His people so we can run from our sin and to our Savior. With the Spirit’s help, I want to show you Two Facets of God’s Discipline based on what Jeremiah endured in Lamentations 3.

It’s Good for us to see How Discipline Hurts.

If you look carefully in your copy of God’s Word, you’ll likely see that the verses in chapter 3 are divided into sets of three. Every other chapter in Lamentations is exactly 22 verses, one for every letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In chapters 1, 2, and 4 each verse begins with a letter of the alphabet, as if Jeremiah is describing Judah’s pain from A-Z. But Lamentations 3 is different. It’s still an acrostic, but instead of each verse beginning with a different letter of the alphabet, the verses are divided into triplets. So, verses 1-3 all begin with the Hebrew letter aleph, verses 4-6 with the letter bet and so on. In each of those triplets we’ll learn one way that discipline hurts.

Discipline May Feel Like God’s Wrath (vv. 1-3)

(1) I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; (2) he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; (3) surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long.

The word for rod in verse 1 sometimes refers to a weapon used to strike enemies. Other times it refers to what a father used to discipline his child. And therein lies the point. Often discipline feels like wrath.

We touched on this briefly last week. We said there’s a difference between chastisement and punishment, between discipline and wrath. Both are manifestations of God's displeasure with sin. But they differ in at least three ways.

First, discipline and wrath differ in their purpose. God’s purpose in wrath is the punishment of His enemies. In wrath He pays back the sinner according to His wrongdoing. God’s purpose in discipline is the purity of His people. Yes, dear Christian, it may hurt like wrath but its not the same. If your faith is in Christ, you will never endure God’s wrath. But God will discipline you for your good.

Hebrews 12:9-10 — Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.

Second, discipline and wrath differ in their effect. The effect of discipline in the life of the believer is repentance leading to restoration and righteousness.

Hebrews 12:11 — For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

But God’s wrath has a vastly different effect in the life of the unbeliever. It leads not to humble repentance, but to continued rebellion. Listen to the haunting words of C.S. Lewis, “I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the gates of hell are locked on the inside.” (The Problem of Pain, 127)

Third, discipline and wrath differ in their duration. According to the writer of Hebrews, discipline lasts “for the moment.” It’s temporary. The day is coming, Christian, when you will be completely pure, and discipline will no longer be necessary. But while discipline is temporary, wrath is eternal.

Now it’s possible some of you who are watching right now are under God’s wrath. Let me be clear: you are not safe. You might feel like things are fine, but if you embrace your sin and reject your Savior you are in danger. Listen to what Paul says:

Romans 2:5 — But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

There is only one way to be rescued from this wrath. It’s what the Bible calls the Gospel.

The Gospel means Good News, and first and foremost it’s a story. At PBC, we often tell that story using four C’s. It begins with a holy Creator, the God who made the world and everything in it. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, lived in a garden paradise but they still rebelled against God. As a result, the curse of sin spread to the entire universe. Death and destruction entered the world, and every human born since was a sinner, just like Adam and Eve. Every human being except One. Two thousand years ago, God sent His own eternal Son, Jesus the Christ to live the sinless life none of us could ever live. But it wasn’t enough for Jesus to simply live a sinless life. He needed to die. The wrath of God needed to be absorbed by a sinless substitute, so the Father poured out the wrath that we deserve on His own Son. But if you want to escape God’s wrath, you must respond to this Good News.

If you’ve never responded to that Good News, you can do that today, right where you’re sitting. The Bible says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13). We call on the Lord by turning away from our sinful lives where we do what we want when we want, and by trusting in Jesus alone to rescue us. You can turn and trust in Jesus, right now, right where you are.

But pay attention to this, friend. Lamentations teaches us that even if we have been rescued from God’s wrath, it might not always feel that way. When Jeremiah refers to the “rod of wrath,” he’s using poetic language to describe what his pain feels like. It feels like God is mad at him. But he reminds himself of the truth in verse 22. As a member of God’s covenant people, he is not an object of wrath, but of love. Yes, that love sometimes means discipline. And yes, that discipline sometimes feels like wrath. But he is loved nonetheless. Discipline hurts when it feels like wrath.

Discipline May Result in Physical Pain (vv. 4-6)

(4) He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; (5) he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; (6) he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.

Here Jeremiah uses metaphorical imagery to describe the reality that often discipline physically hurts. This is the lesson that faithful parents try to teach their children when they biblically discipline them. We tell our children regularly, “the way of the sinner is hard,” and then we reinforce that truth with controlled discipline, so they understand that sin hurts.

The New Testament is clear that sometimes God’s discipline may result in the physical pain, and even the physical death, of His people:

James 5:16—Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

1 Corinthians 11:27-32—Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

1 John 5:16 — If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.

These verses are clear that God will sometimes inflict physical pain to discipline His children. More shockingly, if you belong to Him and you refuse to respond to His discipline, He may take your life. God will not be mocked.

This certainly doesn’t mean that you can always draw a straight line between the specific sins of God’s people and their sickness and death. But sometimes you can. Discipline hurts when it results in physical pain.

Discipline May Lead to Hindered Prayers (vv. 7-9)

(7) He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy; (8) though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; (9) he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked.

Here Jeremiah once again employs poetic imagery to describe how discipline hurts. It feels like being cut off, enslaved, unable to escape. But worst of all, it feels like his prayers are hindered. He’s crying out to God for help, surely that’s a prayer that God would honor. But instead he laments that God has shut out his prayer.

It may surprise you to learn Jeremiah’s experience is not unique. Throughout the Scriptures we see examples of prayers being hindered as God disciplines His people.

Psalm 66:18 — If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Proverbs 28:9 — If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

1 Peter 3:7 — Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Again, this doesn’t mean that every time your prayers are unanswered you can draw a straight line to a specific sin. But sometimes you can. Discipline hurts when it leads to hindered prayers.

Discipline May Feel Like Divine Opposition (vv. 10-12)

(10) He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding; (11) he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate; (12) he bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow.

Now Jeremiah’s metaphors are even more vivid. God is like a bear, but he’s not cuddly like Paddington or Winnie the Pooh. He’s like an angry grizzly ready to attack. He’s like a lion, but not like Simba or Mufasa. He’s like Scar, hiding, waiting, ready to pounce and tear Jeremiah to pieces. He’s like a hunter, skilled with a bow and arrow, ready to strike. What’s the point of this violent imagery? Jeremiah is trying to describe how discipline feels. Sometimes it feels like God is your enemy, like He’s opposing you.

Romans 8:31 reminds us that God does not oppose His people: “If God is for us, who can be against us.” He is for us. And yet, He certainly opposes the sin that we sometimes cling to even as Christians. The tighter you cling to a specific sin, the more it will feel like it’s part of who you are. And the more that happens, the more it will feel like God is opposing you. Discipline hurts when it feels like divine opposition.

Discipline May Lead to Public Humiliation (vv. 13-15)

(13) He drove into my kidneys the arrows of his quiver; (14) I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long. (15) He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood.

In these verses Jeremiah continues the metaphor of God as a hunter. In those days, the kidneys were thought to be the most sensitive and vital part of the body, much like we view the heart today. Jeremiah feels exposed, as God aims at his heart, and as a result he is now the laughingstock of the land. And that public humiliation is a bitter feeling for the prophet.

Often God disciplines His people by exposing their sin, which leads to this sort of public humiliation. Listen to what Jesus said to His followers:

Luke 12:2-3 — Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

This passage came alive to me about 10 years ago. I was guilty of the sin of pornography, and God began to discipline me. Part of that discipline was the humiliation I endured as my private sin became public. I remember being in tears one night, lamenting the fact that I felt like a laughingstock. And then the Spirit reminded me of this passage. And even though it hurt, I remember thanking God for showing me in just one small way that He keeps His Word. Discipline hurts when it leads to public humiliation.

Discipline May Feel like Utter Hopelessness (vv. 16-18)

(16) He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; (17) my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; (18) so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.”

Jeremiah pictures himself face down in the gravel and dirt cowering in hopelessness. He’s forgotten what it feels like to be happy. It reminds me of that scene in Tolkien’s epic masterpiece, The Return of the King. As Frodo and Sam near Mount Doom, Sam tries to bring hope to his friend by reminding him of the beauties of home. But Frodo replies, “I can’t recall the taste of food, nor the sound of water, nor the touch of grass.”

That’s what God’s discipline sometimes feels like. It feels like a life without peace, a life void of happiness, a life empty of hope. It’s worth noting that verses like this fly in the face of our popular image of a God who exists to make us happy. God has bigger fish to fry than your personal happiness. He cares far more about your eternal holiness than your temporary happiness.

But even when you don’t feel happy, you must not allow yourself to feel hopeless. Here Jeremiah is a good example to us. He’s honest about his unhappiness, he’s even honest about his feelings of hopelessness. But in the next trio of verses, he reminds himself that even if God’s discipline feels hopeless, it isn’t hopeless. Discipline hurts when it feels like utter hopelessness. But there’s another facet of discipline we must consider. We’ve seen how discipline hurts. Now let’s consider how discipline helps.

It’s Good for us to see How Discipline Helps.

Do you remember what we said about lament when we began this series? Lament is a type of prayer that turns to God with honest complaints and bold requests, resulting in a decision to trust. The verses we’ve considered this morning are filled with honest complaints. But that’s not the end of the story. If we peek ahead in the book, we’ll see Jeremiah’s decision to trust. And in so doing, we’ll notice at least three ways that discipline helps us.

Discipline Reveals the Love of God

How does Jeremiah have hope, even when he feels hopeless? By putting fact before feeling, by remembering that “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.” Yes, discipline hurts. It may hurt more than anything you’ve ever endured in your life! But the Scriptures are clear that discipline doesn’t conceal God’s love, it reveals His love!

Hebrews 12:6-8 — For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

If you were disciplined as a child, you know this to be true by experience. Now some of you may be old enough to have lived during the days when it was socially acceptable to spank any misbehaving child, whether it was yours or not. But generally, parents discipline their own children. I don’t attempt to discipline the kids misbehaving at Target or in my neighborhood. I discipline those whom I deeply love.

So too with God. If you’re able to sin brazenly without facing the painful effects of His discipline, you should examine yourself to see if you truly belong to Him. But if you cannot continue long in sin without incurring His discipline, be encouraged! You belong to Him! As Jesus reminds the church in Laodicea, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent” (Rev ‭3:19‬). Discipline helps by revealing the love of God.‬

Discipline Reduces the Spread of Sin

Imagine a skilled surgeon. With scalpel in hand, she cuts and prods to remove the cancer that is destroying her patient’s body. It feels very invasive. Even with the most potent painkillers this will be a painful operation, followed by a painful recovery. But the patient who is thinking clearly does not question the care of his doctor. Because he knows his cancer is killing him, he willingly endures incredible pain in order to escape even greater pain.

So too with the Lord. He is the Great Physician. Yes, like Jeremiah you may feel like God is brandishing a weapon against you as you endure His discipline, but upon closer inspection what looks like a weapon is a scalpel. And God isn’t cutting you because He takes pleasure in harming you. He’s cutting the sin out of you that’s killing you. This is why Jeremiah can say beginning in verse 31, “the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.” Discipline helps by reducing the spread of sin.

Discipline Refines the People of God

More than 30 years before Jerusalem was destroyed and the book of Lamentations was written, God promised He would discipline His people. Listen to what He says:

Jeremiah 9:7 — Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of my people?

Refining is one of the Bible’s favorite metaphors for how God purifies His people. Minerals like gold and silver are found in an impure state, so a refiner puts them through the fire to purify them. In a sermon about God’s refining fire, John Piper said this: “A refiner's fire does not destroy indiscriminately like a forest fire. A refiner's fire does not consume completely like the fire of an incinerator. A refiner's fire refines. It purifies. It melts down the bar of silver or gold, separates out the impurities that ruin its value, burns them up, and leaves the silver and gold intact.”

But, Piper reminds us, this is fire we’re talking about. He continues, “therefore purity and holiness will always be a dreadful thing. There will always be a proper ‘fear and trembling’ in the process of becoming pure. We learn it from the time we are little children: never play with fire! And it's a good lesson! Therefore, Christianity is never a play thing. And the passion for purity is never flippant. [God] is like fire and fire is serious. You don't fool around with it. . . . this is not merely a word of warning, but a tremendous word of hope. The furnace of affliction in the family of God is always for refinement, never for destruction.iiii https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/he-is-like-a-refiners-fire

Discipline helps by refining the people of God.

Even though my parents sometimes were sometimes frustrated with certain content on family movie nights, they didn’t shield us from difficult themes. I remember as a kid watching movies that dealt with hard truths like war, slavery, the holocaust, persecution, and more. My parents understood that we shouldn’t look away from a topic just because it’s hard to watch. I hope you understand that too. I hope you understand that it is good for us to see how God disciplines His people. It is good for us to see how discipline hurts, and how it helps.

But we must do more than see. We must respond. Let me leave you with a few questions to ask yourself, and maybe talk about with people in your family or Care Group to help you respond rightly.

Do I experience God’s discipline when I sin? Few Christians will experience every symptom of discipline, but when we stray we should feel some of them. The most miserable person on the planet isn’t an unbeliever, it’s a Christian living in unrepentant sin. Do you know what that feels like? If you’ve never felt God’s hand of discipline, you might need to ask yourself if you truly belong to Him.

Is there a sin I need to confess now? I don’t think it’s helpful to ask yourself if you’re currently being disciplined. Every single symptom endured by Judah was also endured by Job, even though he was the most righteous man on earth. When life hurts, it could be God’s discipline for your sin, or it could be a trial God has ordained for your good and His glory. The storms of life don’t come with a label. Don’t try to examine your storms, instead examine your life. Then confess and forsake the sin God reveals.

Will I allow God’s Word to tell me what love is? If we’re honest with ourselves, discipline doesn’t always feel loving. Because it doesn’t feel loving, we’ve convinced ourselves discipline is not loving. And so, Christian parents have abandoned biblical discipline in the home. And we have abandoned biblical discipline in the church. Do we really think we can love better than God? If God is love, and love disciplines we are fools to think that we are more loving when we neglect our responsibility to discipline those we love.

Will I submit to God as He reveals Himself? The picture of a disciplining God is difficult. But it is the right picture. It is the picture that God has given us of Himself. Will we believe in the God of the Bible, or will we attempt to remake a god in your own image? No, this God is not easy to understand. He is not a tame lion. But He is good. So let’s cling to Him, even when His discipline hurts.

“Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,

For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;

I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.”

“When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;

For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,

And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.”

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,

My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;

The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design

Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.”

“The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,

I will not, I will not desert to his foes;

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake!”

BENEDICTION

Romans 11:33-36 — Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

________________________

i Eric Kress and Paul Tautges, The Discipline of Mercy, 81.

ii https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/he-is-like-a-refiners-fire

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