Lessons in Suffering

Lamentations - Learning to Lament Lessons in Suffering - Lamentations 4:1-22 August 31, 2025 A long, long time ago - probably during the time of the patriarchs in the Bible - there was a man of great wealth, fame, and he well respected in his city. But, one day, it was all taken away. He attempted to process everything in silence, then his friends tried to help. Finally, He cried out to the Lord, realizing that he really had two choices, blame the Lord, or trust the Lord with the results. While he suffered a lot, in the end, he doubled what he had previously lost. However, as you might expect, it was not an easy journey, and in fact, he had to go through the journey to get to his final blessing. If that story sounds familiar, that's because it's the story of Job. While we're not talking about Job today, I think his story is very similar to what we've been studying in the book of Lamentations. Over time, Job had to learn to trust God again, and much of that was through lament. We've approached the descent of the book of Lamentations as we get into chapter 4 this morning. Last week, I broke up the chapter into three sections, and it seemed to work out very well, however, as I studied this chapter, the second part of the chapter covers about 15 verses, so I figured it would be best to run through the full chapter and once, then expand on the themes. So, let's begin with verse 1: 1 HOW THE GOLD HAS GROWN DIM, HOW THE PURE GOLD IS CHANGED! THE HOLY STONES LIE SCATTERED AT THE HEAD OF EVERY STREET. 2 THE PRECIOUS SONS OF ZION, WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN FINE GOLD, HOW THEY ARE REGARDED AS EARTHEN POTS, THE WORK OF A POTTER'S HANDS! 3 EVEN JACKALS OFFER THE BREAST; THEY NURSE THEIR YOUNG; BUT THE DAUGHTER OF MY PEOPLE HAS BECOME CRUEL, LIKE THE OSTRICHES IN THE WILDERNESS. 4 THE TONGUE OF THE NURSING INFANT STICKS TO THE ROOF OF ITS MOUTH FOR THIRST; THE CHILDREN BEG FOR FOOD, BUT NO ONE GIVES TO THEM. 5 THOSE WHO ONCE FEASTED ON DELICACIES PERISH IN THE STREETS; THOSE WHO WERE BROUGHT UP IN PURPLE EMBRACE ASH HEAPS. 6 FOR THE CHASTISEMENT OF THE DAUGHTER OF MY PEOPLE HAS BEEN GREATER THAN THE PUNISHMENT OF SODOM, WHICH WAS OVERTHROWN IN A MOMENT, AND NO HANDS WERE WRUNG FOR HER. 7 HER PRINCES WERE PURER THAN SNOW, WHITER THAN MILK; THEIR BODIES WERE MORE RUDDY THAN CORAL, THE BEAUTY OF THEIR FORM WAS LIKE SAPPHIRE. 8 NOW THEIR FACE IS BLACKER THAN SOOT; THEY ARE NOT RECOGNIZED IN THE STREETS; THEIR SKIN HAS SHRIVELED ON THEIR BONES; IT HAS BECOME AS DRY AS WOOD. 9 HAPPIER WERE THE VICTIMS OF THE SWORD THAN THE VICTIMS OF HUNGER, WHO WASTED AWAY, PIERCED BY LACK OF THE FRUITS OF THE FIELD. 10 THE HANDS OF COMPASSIONATE WOMEN HAVE BOILED THEIR OWN CHILDREN; THEY BECAME THEIR FOOD DURING THE DESTRUCTION OF THE DAUGHTER OF MY PEOPLE. 11 THE LORD GAVE FULL VENT TO HIS WRATH; HE POURED OUT HIS HOT ANGER, AND HE KINDLED A FIRE IN ZION THAT CONSUMED ITS FOUNDATIONS. 12 THE KINGS OF THE EARTH DID NOT BELIEVE, NOR ANY OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD, THAT FOE OR ENEMY COULD ENTER THE GATES OF JERUSALEM. 13 THIS WAS FOR THE SINS OF HER PROPHETS AND THE INIQUITIES OF HER PRIESTS, WHO SHED IN THE MIDST OF HER THE BLOOD OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 14 THEY WANDERED, BLIND, THROUGH THE STREETS; THEY WERE SO DEFILED WITH BLOOD THAT NO ONE WAS ABLE TO TOUCH THEIR GARMENTS. 15 "AWAY! UNCLEAN!" PEOPLE CRIED AT THEM. "AWAY! AWAY! DO NOT TOUCH!" SO THEY BECAME FUGITIVES AND WANDERERS; PEOPLE SAID AMONG THE NATIONS, "THEY SHALL STAY WITH US NO LONGER." 16 THE LORD HIMSELF HAS SCATTERED THEM; HE WILL REGARD THEM NO MORE; NO HONOR WAS SHOWN TO THE PRIESTS, NO FAVOR TO THE ELDERS. 17 OUR EYES FAILED, EVER WATCHING VAINLY FOR HELP; IN OUR WATCHING WE WATCHED FOR A NATION WHICH COULD NOT SAVE. 18 THEY DOGGED OUR STEPS SO THAT WE COULD NOT WALK IN OUR STREETS; OUR END DREW NEAR; OUR DAYS WERE NUMBERED, FOR OUR END HAD COME. 19 OUR PURSUERS WERE SWIFTER THAN THE EAGLES IN THE HEAVENS; THEY CHASED US ON THE MOUNTAINS; THEY LAY IN WAIT FOR US IN THE WILDERNESS. 20 THE BREATH OF OUR NOSTRILS, THE LORD'S ANOINTED, WAS CAPTURED IN THEIR PITS, OF WHOM WE SAID, "UNDER HIS SHADOW WE SHALL LIVE AMONG THE NATIONS." 21 REJOICE AND BE GLAD, O DAUGHTER OF EDOM, YOU WHO DWELL IN THE LAND OF UZ; BUT TO YOU ALSO THE CUP SHALL PASS; YOU SHALL BECOME DRUNK AND STRIP YOURSELF BARE. 22 THE PUNISHMENT OF YOUR INIQUITY, O DAUGHTER OF ZION, IS ACCOMPLISHED; HE WILL KEEP YOU IN EXILE NO LONGER; BUT YOUR INIQUITY, O DAUGHTER OF EDOM, HE WILL PUNISH; HE WILL UNCOVER YOUR SINS. This chapter may sound familiar. It really does restate much of what we saw in the opening two chapters. One author put it this way: Lamentations 4 keeps coming up even after you've lived through Lamentations 1 and 2. Really, what we are seeing here is another reminder of the pain and suffering that Jerusalem faced. But why is the author restating all this again? Well, last week, in the middle of chapter three, we saw the climax of the book, so now, as the book winds down, we see that while Jeremiah arrived at praise and hope in chapter 3, lament is still a real thing that needs to be processed. One overarching lesson to be learned about lament in general is that one of its purposes is not to change our circumstances, but rather to teach us to trust the Lord. Or how we've defined lament in this series: a lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust. Which is exactly what we saw last week, and we'll see a little bit in this chapter as well. Before we get there though, there is more to learn from this chapter. In fact, I think there are at least three truths and lessons that we can learn from this chapter. Let's first identify the overarching theme with our main idea: There are always lessons to be learned in suffering. So, let's tackle this passage and seek to understand some ... LESSONS IN SUFFERING from Lamentations 4. First ... * The Lord determines my worth (vv.1-5) o The opening verses describe this shift in perceived worth. o We see that with the example of "gold" used three times in verse one alone. o We know from prior chapters, and other books, that the temple had already been destroyed o The description of the temple from 1 Kings 6 makes note of the vessels and utensils, the shields, and the walls all being made from gold and precious gold. o In verse 2, the "sons of Zion" were called precious. o But quickly in the second half of verse 2, we see that their prior worth was quickly turned to the worth of earthen pots. * Of course, this illustrates the fragility of the earthen pots, that they could easily be broken. o Just as Job learned, the Lord gives, and the Lord takes. o The city was in ruins, and the people knew that. o The people that were once wealthy privileged by the Lord were now worse off than the animals. o As you read this (and the prior chapters) you see the desperation of the people, fighting to survive. * Verse three describes the sad truth that the mothers were abandoning their children because they could no longer feed them or care for them. * Verse four describes the malnourished infants and children * And verse five describes what they used to be o As we saw back in chapter two how they lost all of the security that once protected the city and her people. o Now? All is lost. o So, what is our lesson through this? * Find your security in the Lord. * Often, we look at our bank accounts, our retirement savings, our investments, or other assets, instead of looking for His protection. o Our next truth and lesson is found in the longer section of verses 6-20, which tells us, in short that ... * We are all vulnerable (vv.6-20) o Yes, we may not experience exactly what Jerusalem did in our lives. o But. We've all experienced sorrow. Pain. Confusion. Anger. Desperation. A lack of faith. Discomfort. * Obviously, we can go on and on. o As I mentioned last week, part of the problem is how we deal with these things. o Verses 1-5 hinted that they had great dependance on their worth and their wealth. o Here, we see in verses 12-13 that they had great dependence on their leaders - who we see here had led them astray. o How typical is it for us to depend on others for our own physical and spiritual health? * I couldn't help but think of Psalm 121:1-2 this week. * Here's what the psalmist said: 1 I LIFT UP MY EYES TO THE HILLS. FROM WHERE DOES MY HELP COME? 2 MY HELP COMES FROM THE LORD, WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH. * What was it that Ronald Reagan said? "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." * Obviously, people do not only look to the government for "help," but even to other people who have let them down time and time again. * Family * Friends * Their manager at work * Their pastors and church leaders * We're all human, with a common problem: sin * This is what makes us vulnerable. * This is what causes us to fail * This is what makes us disobedient to our faithful God. * In God's providence, I started reading Jeremiah as part of my daily reading just last week. * In nearly every chapter, the prophet is warning them of what will happen if they went against the covenant. * We are reminded of the result of that disobedience, yet again in chapter 4 of Lamentations. o Look again at verse 16. * He reminds us that He allowed this to happen, as part of His judgement on the people. * He reminds us that we cannot look to others, but we must look to Him. Believe in His commands and be obedient to His commands. * Finally, He reminds us that even His precious people were vulnerable to His wrath. o American Christians live in a time and in a country that allows us to worship and act freely (in so many ways), even to the point where those who hate us still want to be here, and don't want to leave. o Guess what? We are vulnerable too. o I think we can look at 9/11 as an example of that. o But we are also subject to His wrath. Not just the wrath of America's enemies. o We often like to pray verses like 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Jeremiah 29:11 for us ... but those were specific prayers for Jerusalem, largely ignored by her people. * Not to say that we could not apply those principles to our lives, but those aren't promises for us specifically. o Our lesson? In your personal walk, and as a local church, we cannot turn our back on our Lord. o Defend your faith and make disciples. o It begins here [in the church and home], and it continues out there [outside these walls] ... o The next lesson is found in verses 21-22, where we learn that ... * There is hope (vv.21-22) o We have - of course - seen this already, especially last week. o Notice two things from this section. * First, the enemies of God's people will be subject to His judgement, and next in verse 22 notice ... * There is an end to exile. * Back in verse 11, the ESV reads that THE LORD GAVE FULL VENT TO HIS WRATH indicates that He completed the promised judgement. * The term "ACCOMPLISHED" in verse 22 indicates the same. o Our suffering on earth is not permanent, especially for those in Christ. * Verses 11 and 22 mentioned moments ago should point us to the finished work of Christ on the cross. o That is why we can have hope. o In Jesus Christ. Earlier, I said through our main idea that there are always lessons to be learned in suffering. The hardest part is looking for those lessons through the suffering. But the Lord gives us the tools to do that. He gives us His Word, for example. A passage from 1 Corinthians 10 kept coming to mind all week. Paul, while addressing the topic of idolatry, spoke these words to the church in Corinth in verses 6-12: 6 NOW THESE THINGS TOOK PLACE AS EXAMPLES FOR US, THAT WE MIGHT NOT DESIRE EVIL AS THEY DID. 7 DO NOT BE IDOLATERS AS SOME OF THEM WERE; AS IT IS WRITTEN, "THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK AND ROSE UP TO PLAY." 8 WE MUST NOT INDULGE IN SEXUAL IMMORALITY AS SOME OF THEM DID, AND TWENTY-THREE THOUSAND FELL IN A SINGLE DAY. 9 WE MUST NOT PUT CHRIST TO THE TEST, AS SOME OF THEM DID AND WERE DESTROYED BY SERPENTS, 10 NOR GRUMBLE, AS SOME OF THEM DID AND WERE DESTROYED BY THE DESTROYER. 11 NOW THESE THINGS HAPPENED TO THEM AS AN EXAMPLE, BUT THEY WERE WRITTEN DOWN FOR OUR INSTRUCTION, ON WHOM THE END OF THE AGES HAS COME. 12 THEREFORE LET ANYONE WHO THINKS THAT HE STANDS TAKE HEED LEST HE FALL. Twice there Paul reminds us that the words that we have now in the Scriptures (he of course is speaking about the Old Testament) are there for us to learn and not make the same mistakes. That is how much the Lord loves us. Think about that. He loves us enough to allow us to learn from the failures of those that went before us. In His Word, we have one of the best tools for us through suffering. He also leaves us with the gift of prayer. I was reading through Luke 11 early Wednesday morning before I finished this sermon, and the commentator made a very interesting observation. The disciples asked the Lord to teach them how to pray. He stated that this was the only thing that they asked Jesus to teach them. Jesus taught them a lot in His ministry - evidently unsolicited - but they wanted to pray like Jesus, so they asked Him to teach them. He left us that tool. Finally, He left us with the gift of fellowship. I experienced firsthand this week the power of being present for someone in need. Sometimes we need one another. This is why the writer of Hebrews wrote not to forsake the gathering of the saints. We know that there will be suffering in our lives, but we know that the Lord will be by our side as we go through it. So, we lean on the lessons learned. We seek Him. We lean on Him. We depend on Him. Let's pray. 2