In Lamentations
Notes
Transcript
“He Is” - the cry for Israel
Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 1
Ancient tradition connects Lamentations with the prophet Jeremiah (based on 2 Chr 35:25), but the book itself does not identify its author
Some Psalms are laments - Lamentations is only laments
Five laments - poetic structure - use of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet
Many of the words are similar to the book of Jeremiah. He certainly could have written these laments. Preached the same message for 40 years. “Get right with God; judgment is coming.” They didn’t listen and judgement came as God sent Babylon’s armies.
Destruction of Solomon’s temple, of Jerusalem, the exile to Babylon, those remaining in the land. Many graphic descriptions of the desolation across the land and to God’s people.
The last 2 verses - plead with God for restoration - “UNLESS you ... are angry … beyond measure.”
It is easy to lament - maybe we don’t write poems - but we all too often commiserate with each other - it has been easy to lament during this past 15 months as the pandemic came upon us
Perhaps we had similar reactions to God as we read in Lamentations.
AGT - Simon’s Golden Buzzer contestant - Nightbirde stated, “You can't wait until life isn't hard anymore before you decide to be happy.”
She sang an original song - “It’s OK”
When Howie told her that "nobody would ever know" she was dealing with cancer, Nightbirde replied, "Thank you. It’s important that everyone knows that I’m so much more than the bad things that happen to me.”
In the middle of the book of Lamentations - we find words of hope
Please stand as we honor the reading of God’s Word:
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
THE WORD OF GOD, FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD
William Smitty - 300 Sermon Outlines from the Old Testament - focus on verses 24-26 from KJV
Soul’s Desire
Soul’s Desire
Soul’s Desire
King James Version (Chapter 3:24a)
The LORD is my portion, saith my soul;
Christian Quotations Desire
For desire never ceases to pray even though the tongue be silent. If ever desiring, then ever praying.
St Augustine of Hippo
To desire to love God is to love to desire Him, and hence to love Him, for love is the root of all desire.
Bishop Jean Pierre Camus
Soul’s Expectancy
Soul’s Expectancy
Soul’s Expectancy
King James Version (Chapter 3:24b)
therefore will I hope in him.
5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.
6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.
Soul’s Patience
Soul’s Patience
Soul’s Patience
King James Version (Chapter 3:25)
The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.
Streams in the Desert (July 26) - Lettie Cowman - calendar devotion
There is no patience so hard as that which endures, “as seeing him who is invisible”; it is the waiting for hope.Thou hast made waiting beautiful; Thou has made patience divine.
Soul’s Search Ended
Soul’s Search Ended
Soul’s Search Ended
King James Version (Chapter 3:26)
It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
If we work on our desire and love for God; if we love and desire with expectancy; if we trust in Him and patiently wait for hope of righteousness; we find that our search ends because we have found God, He has found us, all through His Son, Jesus Christ.
AGT gold buzzer contestant - 30-year-old Jane Marczewski - chose her stage name Nightbirde after 2 similar dreams and a similar actual experience.
"The birds were singing as if it was morning but there was really no sign of the light yet," she noted. "And I wanted to embody that. Being somebody that could sing through a dark time because I was so full of hope and assurance that there would be a morning."
The writer of Lamentations says - NIV = God’s compassions never fail; NLT = His mercies never cease.
23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
Is your hope in HIm?
Do you seeking Him “afresh” each day?
We have been seeking Jesus in each book of the Bible. Today is no different.
Jesus is in Lamentations!