Restore Us, Lord

Lamentations - Learning to Lament Restore Us, Lord - Lamentations 5:1-22 September 7, 2025 As we come to the close of this great book, I want to sort of recap what we've learned. In doing so, I thought a great way to do that would be to revisit some points from when Pastor Pat opened the series in August. As you may remember, we drew a lot from a book called Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy from author Mark Vroegop. In this book, there are several principles of lament that we can learn. So, here are a few notes from that sermon, inspired by Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, that are helpful as we close this book this morning. First, as we were reminded of last week, here's the definition of lament that we've used in this sermon series: A lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust. Pat also introduced some important aspects of biblical lament, first ... * Lament is not about trying to get God to change our circumstances. o This should sound familiar, as we touched on this last week. o Understanding, however, we can absolutely ask the Lord to change our circumstances but know that it doesn't always happen that way. o If we approach our troubles trusting the Lord with the outcome, we will be blessed, whether He decides to remove us from them or not. Next, * Lament is a tool that helps us live through suffering based on what we know to be true rather than on what we see or feel. o This is really the idea here. o Learning to trust the Lord through suffering. Then, we were introduced to four elements of lament, beginning with ... * Turn to God in prayer * Bring my complaints * Ask boldly * Choose to trust With that re-introduction in mind, I'm going to read our final chapter this morning, and as I do, see if you can identify these four elements of lament - don't worry, we will revisit these later. So, let's read Lamentations 5:1-22 this morning. Feel free to follow along in your bibles or on the screen: 1 REMEMBER, O LORD, WHAT HAS BEFALLEN US; LOOK, AND SEE OUR DISGRACE! 2 OUR INHERITANCE HAS BEEN TURNED OVER TO STRANGERS, OUR HOMES TO FOREIGNERS. 3 WE HAVE BECOME ORPHANS, FATHERLESS; OUR MOTHERS ARE LIKE WIDOWS. 4 WE MUST PAY FOR THE WATER WE DRINK; THE WOOD WE GET MUST BE BOUGHT. 5 OUR PURSUERS ARE AT OUR NECKS; WE ARE WEARY; WE ARE GIVEN NO REST. 6 WE HAVE GIVEN THE HAND TO EGYPT, AND TO ASSYRIA, TO GET BREAD ENOUGH. 7 OUR FATHERS SINNED, AND ARE NO MORE; AND WE BEAR THEIR INIQUITIES. 8 SLAVES RULE OVER US; THERE IS NONE TO DELIVER US FROM THEIR HAND. 9 WE GET OUR BREAD AT THE PERIL OF OUR LIVES, BECAUSE OF THE SWORD IN THE WILDERNESS. 10 OUR SKIN IS HOT AS AN OVEN WITH THE BURNING HEAT OF FAMINE. 11 WOMEN ARE RAPED IN ZION, YOUNG WOMEN IN THE TOWNS OF JUDAH. 12 PRINCES ARE HUNG UP BY THEIR HANDS; NO RESPECT IS SHOWN TO THE ELDERS. 13 YOUNG MEN ARE COMPELLED TO GRIND AT THE MILL, AND BOYS STAGGER UNDER LOADS OF WOOD. 14 THE OLD MEN HAVE LEFT THE CITY GATE THE YOUNG MEN THEIR MUSIC. 15 THE JOY OF OUR HEARTS HAS CEASED; OUR DANCING HAS BEEN TURNED TO MOURNING. 16 THE CROWN HAS FALLEN FROM OUR HEAD WOE TO US, FOR WE HAVE SINNED! 17 FOR THIS OUR HEART HAS BECOME SICK, FOR THESE THINGS OUR EYES HAVE GROWN DIM, 18 FOR MOUNT ZION WHICH LIES DESOLATE; JACKALS PROWL OVER IT. 19 BUT YOU, O LORD, REIGN FOREVER; YOUR THRONE ENDURES TO ALL GENERATIONS. 20 WHY DO YOU FORGET US FOREVER, WHY DO YOU FORSAKE US FOR SO MANY DAYS? 21 RESTORE US TO YOURSELF, O LORD, THAT WE MAY BE RESTORED! RENEW OUR DAYS AS OF OLD- 22 UNLESS YOU HAVE UTTERLY REJECTED US, AND YOU REMAIN EXCEEDINGLY ANGRY WITH US. The structure of this final chapter, or lament, is different than the rest of the book. While it does have 22 verses, it is not written in the acrostic literary style. Here's how the final chapter is organized, borrowing this outline from the ESV Study Bible: * Opening petition (5:1) * The woes Jerusalem has faced (5:2-18) * A concluding prayer for restoration (5:19-22) Frankly, I don't think it is necessary to rehash the woes that we see in verses 2-18, so I suppose that really leaves us with verses 1, 19-22. That is to say that verses 2-18 restate all that we've already seen in chapters 1-4 and is really a detailed continuation of verse 1's request to "REMEMBER" them. I want to keep our sermon really simple this morning, so here's the main idea to set up the rest of our time today: In times of trouble, I will use lament as a prayer that leads to trust. That should sound familiar. It's simply our definition of lament as a statement of action. You may have noticed that this chapter is a prayer. It's the prayer of the lamenting prophet to His Lord. He is showing us how to conclude or continue this process of lamenting. One could argue that THE FOUNDATION OF LAMENT IS PRAYER. As the author concludes, he does so with three distinct prayers. The first is found in verse 1: * "REMEMBER, O LORD ..." (v.1) o This prayer of "remember" is typical with the writings of lament. o It's really a request for the Lord to intervene. o It's also a call for the Lord to remember His covenant with His people. o Recall earlier, I stated that the purpose of suffering is not always to change the circumstances, but this verse (along with verse 22) makes it clear that it is okay to do so, understanding that the Lord's will will prevail. o This leads us to the next prayer, found all the way in verse 19: * "BUT YOU, O LORD, REIGN FOREVER" (v.19) o Jeremiah just spent all of verses 2-18 detailing all of the troubles, but through it all, this is where he ended up. o Friends, this is where we are to end up. As we lament, we should be calling out: * Lord, because You reign, I will trust You. * Lord, because You reign, I know Your way is best, because you control all things. * Lord, because You reign, I will be faithful. * Lord, because You reign, I don't have to fear. * Lord, because You reign, I can face tomorrow. o Oh, to have that faith in times of trouble! o Jeremiah's final prayer is in verse 21, where he says: * "RESTORE US TO YOURSELF, O LORD." (v.21) o There's really a couple of ways we can look at this. o The term in the ESV that reads "RESTORE" could also mean "return" or "turn back" o And it is in that second half of the verse that gives us a hint of what the specific prayer is ... namely, to restore Judah to what they were. o What were they like before? * We could go all the way back to chapter 1, verse 1 to see that: HOW LONELY SITS THE CITY THAT WAS FULL OF PEOPLE! HOW LIKE A WIDOW HAS SHE BECOME, SHE WHO WAS GREAT AMONG THE NATIONS! SHE WHO WAS A PRINCESS AMONG THE PROVINCES HAS BECOME A SLAVE. o I added the emphasis to show her previous status among the nations. o Jeremiah wanted the Lord to restore them to that. o One author said this: "The hope expressed in Lamentations will be fulfilled not in the restoration of Jerusalem to its former glory but will be evidenced by a new glory." Adding, that "restoration will come in the person of Jesus..." o We've said it time and time again, there is a purpose behind our suffering. o So, our prayers in lament must lead us to trusting the Lord. Earlier, I challenged you to find these elements that were first introduced in Lamentations 1, as Pat opened the series. So, to come full circle, I want to identify these FOUR ELEMENTS OF LAMENT from the concluding chapter of this book. Let's begin first with: * Turn to God in prayer o This one is easy, we just spent some time here. o Verses 1, 19 and 21 are all prayers to the Lord. o All with specific requests. o Once again, this is instructive. o When we pray, we must pray with purpose. * In the book we've mentioned previously, Mark Vroegop references an article titled, "Why Charlotte Exploded and Tulsa Prayed." * The article was written shortly after two black men were shot and killed by police officers, one in Charlotte, and the other in Tulsa. * The article goes on to illustrate the vast difference in how each of the cities responded. * In Charlotte, as the title suggests, they rioted and protested, while in Tulsa, they lamented and prayed. * Why the difference? * A pastor in Tulsa recognized the need to lament and called the city to join him. * In lament, Tulsa was allowed to be angry, confused, and frustrated, but the center of all of that was they took it to the Lord, not to the streets. * When the church prays, it is a very good thing. In fact, James says this in his letter: THEREFORE, CONFESS YOUR SINS TO ONE ANOTHER AND PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER, THAT YOU MAY BE HEALED. THE PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS PERSON HAS GREAT POWER AS IT IS WORKING (James 5:16) * When we're hurting, we must turn to God in prayer. o The next element of lament is to ... * Bring my complaints o We saw this in verses 2-18, didn't we? o Let's be honest, we've seen it in almost every verse of this five-chapter book. o Again, I think that's instructive. * It's a reminder - straight from God's Word - that it is okay to complain to Him. o In fact, there are categories of these complaints. The two main categories are: * Why? * These are questions around why things are happening. * How? * These are mostly around the question of "how much longer" o Maybe you have not been courageous in the past with this type of prayer, I pray that you will be encouraged today that it is okay. The problem, however, would be staying in this place of complaint. o This is precisely why the next element exists; we are called to ... * Ask boldly o Verse 21 is a bold prayer. o Restore us, O Lord, Jeremiah said. o Aside from a bold request, this prayer is also an acknowledgement of God's ability to restore and heal a desolate people. o If you have been born again, you are a living testament to that very fact. o King David understood this, in Psalm 51, a Psalm that was written after Nathan confronted him because of his sin with Bathsheba, wrote these words in verse 10: CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART, O GOD, AND RENEW A RIGHT SPIRIT WITHIN ME. o God can renew your desolate heart, one that has been destroyed with sin. o He gave us His Son Jesus to accomplish this. o Have you confessed Jesus as Lord? Has your heart been restored? o Finally, our faith in our lament should lead us to ... * Choose to trust o While verse 21 was a bold prayer, showing that Jeremiah knew that the Lord can restore Jerusalem, verse 22 seems to take an unexpected turn. o Strangely enough, I think verse 22 illustrates trust just as well as verse 21. o Jeremiah already knew that this was not permanent. We saw this in 3:31, and last week in 4:11 and 4:22. o Once again, though, we can look to the Scriptures for this hope. o For example, the latter chapters in Isaiah illustrate this perfectly, as it not only gives comfort to those in exile in Isaiah 40:1-8, but also in chapters 52-53, where we see the ultimate reason for our trust and hope seen through the Suffering Servant, Jesus Christ. o Pastor and author John Piper once said we must, "Keep trusting the One who keeps you trusting." Earlier, we restated our definition of lament when we said: In times of trouble, I will use lament as a prayer that leads to trust. Prayer really should be our first response in times of trouble. In doubt. In pain. And even in promise. Mark Vroegop said it this way: "Lament is the song we sing in the space between pain and promise." In fact, there were several quotes that I think are useful as we close. * "Lament is the song we sing in the space between pain and promise" * "Dark clouds may come, but divine mercy never ends." * "Lament gives us hope because it gives us a glimpse of truth." Finally, consider these words: "Keep turning to God in prayer. Keep complaining. Keep asking. Keep trusting." Let's pray. 2