Emptiness

Lamentations 1:1 CSB

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.

INTRO—

Godly Sorrow = expressing sorrow, mourning, or regret regarding a situation—biblically, this includes songs of sorrow brought on by: bereavement, personal trouble, national disaster, or God’s judgment.

[An early…[[first?]]…aspect of grief (sorrow) = loss; emptiness.]

[[Structure of Lamentations — Chapters 1-4 are an acrostic (1-2, 4…each verse begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet; 3…sets of three verses beginning with successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.]]

Why?? — to help remember; to say, “Everything from A-to-Z is being said about this matter.” (‘This is a comprehensive— “exhaustive”—expression of feeling & thinking about this matter.’)

Part of lament is the very real feeling of loss…emptiness…

Let’s see how Jeremiah addressed this feeling of (among) God’s people in the wake of the fall of Jerusalem (586 BC) in the period of exile for God’s people.

Emptiness Encountered [Lamentations 1.1-7]

[[Encountered; Identified; Acknowledged]]

Lamentations 1:1–2 “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. 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.”

Lamentations 1:4 “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.”

Seeing a stark reality

Lamentations 1:7 “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.”

Remembering what was. [Like Ephesus told to remember from where you have fallen in Revelation]

Encountering emptiness…like a video I remember watching during the height of the pandemic shutdown. Streets significantly more empty, quiet…and Disturbed’s version of the song “The Sound of Silence.” Encountering emptiness can (& should?) be very staggering…getting our attention.

[[OUR/YOUR MOMENT, TOO…]]

Emptiness Explained [Lamentations 1.8-15]

[[Explained; Spotlighted]]

Lamentations 1:8 “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.”

Jerusalem’s case of emptiness stems from the sin(s) about which the prophets had warned God’s people…and the recognition of which Jeremiah was acknowledging/asserting in this moment of heightened awareness (significant reminder).

Lamentations 1:12 “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?”

HEY! Don’t ignore this!! Don’t just walk on by. Don’t think, wish, hope this moment to be ‘no big deal,’ or ‘insignificant.’

Lamentations 1:15 “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.”

The sorrow can linger (intensify)… Acknowledgement and corporate calling together does not (always, often) lessen the hurt, the pain, of the moment.

[[OUR/YOUR MOMENT, TOO…]]

Emptiness Lamented [Lamentations 1.16-19]

[[Lamented; Mourned]]

Lamentations 1:16 “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.”

Sorrow, SUPER-sorrow…the emptiness of the moment in Jerusalem brings out big-time tears!

[[Shall we mourn??]]

Lamentations 1:18 “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.”

The lament sparks many things — including honesty. About all things befitting the situation. (Like a call to renewed (or new?) focus on financial stewardship, faithfulness. And to answer a special call to special faithfulness in the need of a critical moment…)

2 Corinthians 8:3–5 “I can testify that, according to their ability and even beyond their ability, of their own accord, they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints, and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us by God’s will.”

[[OUR/YOUR MOMENT, TOO…]]

Emptiness Appealed [Lamentations 1.20-22]

[[Relief sought; Redress (remedy) requested]]

Lamentations 1:20–21(a) “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. People have heard me groaning, but there is no one to comfort me.”

LORD! — please…deliver us (me…)!!

Lamentations 1:21–22 “…(b) Bring on the day you have announced, so that they may become like me. 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.”

A desire to see justice (righteousness, holiness) prevail extends to all situations, times, & places.

[[OUR/YOUR MOMENT, TOO…]]

CONCL—

[[Emptiness …to…Everything.]]

“Seeing lament not as mere sorrow, but as transformative expression toward divine comfort and renewal.”

[[Lament is sadness leading to transformation resulting in God’s comfort and renewal in our lives.]]

ESSENTIALLY — we will not move toward transformation…toward God’s comfort…toward life-changing renewal WITHOUT first recognizing and intentionally admitting (confessing) our emptiness before our Lord.

God will get the attention of his people to bring them back to where he wants them to be. I pray this is our moment…to recognize and return, renew, rebound!

When it comes to challenging financial need…in my life, I’ve seen God work in significant and unexpected ways at least twice…

Mom & Dad…OBU & CPI

Rhonda & Me…MABTS & RBC

INVITATION:

Salvation

Emptiness

Constancy (Dedication & Courage)

Lamentations 1:22 CSB

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.