How do I come back to the Lord?

Introduction:

In learning to lament, we are taught one final lesson — how to come back to the LORD.

Image:

The story of the Prodigal Son is probably the most infamous story about a child who forsook his Father. The result of this story is that there was a great distance between the father and the son. Now, while we know that there was physical distance, really we must see that Jesus was not so much telling the story to point out the physical distance, as if the father was in New York and the son in California. There was a far more pressing distance that needed to be addressed — the distance caused by the greed and selfishness of this young son and the love and selflessness of the father. Some would call this a spiritual distance. This second kind of distance is the one of which we will learn in Lamentations 5.

Subject:

How do I come back to the Lord?

Need:

This particular question should matter to you because at some point you must face the reality of your own limitations. Some of you elderly are facing the reality of physical limitations; but, young people, don’t let this fool you. Young people, you too are faced with physical limitations — there is only so much you can do to alter your image. You can’t make yourself grow taller. You can’t change certain bone structures.

The allusion that we are completely autonomous and responsible to no one and in control of everything will eventually be exposed for what it is. And, when it is exposed, who will you have? What will you have? This is the story of the Prodigal Son, and there is only one sure place to return to — the LORD.

Kid’s Pause:

Life will be full of difficult things, but we have the LORD who wants us to come to Him.

Existential Question:

Am I truly depending fully upon the Lord for the restoration of my heart to Himself?

Text:

Lamentations 5:21 KJV 1900

21 Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; Renew our days as of old.

Preview:

the Plea, the Portrait, the Petition

(1) The Plea to be Remembered - (FORSAKEN) - (v. 1, 20)

Statement of Idea:

Coming back to the LORD requires we recognize that we are distant. [We don’t come back to someone unless we are apart from them]

Show in the text

Lamentations 5:1, 20 is a plea to be remembered.

(1) The plea reveals a sense of being forgotten.

We should not think that God is no longer omniscient but rather that God is not near or that they have been separated from Him evidentially.

(2) The plea is also one of empathy.

The one speaking is not talking about everything as if he is a spectator. He is including himself in the plea to be remembered.

(3) The plea is one of covenant.

The writer pleas to Yahweh, their covenant God. It’s as if he just wants someone to care — in particular God to care.

We cannot understand why God would forsake them unless we understand that they had forsaken God. Jeremiah 2:13

Jeremiah 2:13 KJV 1900

13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Israel had replaced the exclusive love and worship of the Lord with other gods.

Illustration:

Why do long distance relationships struggle?

When my wife and I first became engaged in July 1, 2000, it would be another 1.5 months before I moved to the area. At the time I was living in Richmond, VA and she was living here in Middletown. Yes, there was a physical distance that was felt, but we talked often and though we were apart, the relationship was fine. We certainly closed the gap and were married on June 2, 2001.

The fact remains that there have been times in our marriage where we have been more distant from each other, though we were in the same house, than when we were hundreds of miles apart. Why? The kind of distance that happens to people though they are living together is typically when competing interests enter into life. For example, I may have a selfish tendency to which my wife objects, or maybe my work takes priority over our relationship. She may begin to idolize the children. In either case, we become distant from each other though we are in the same household. I have replaced my love for her with either love for self or love for something other than her. This makes us distant from each other.

Explanation:

Really, that feeling of distance from the LORD is there to expose how the distance came about in the first place — by a willful replacement of the LORD. It is not that He abandoned us first, but that we abandoned him (i.e. Adam, Israel, David, Zedekiah…etc)

Example:

For example, the moment we choose idols we are forsaking the LORD. Jeremiah 5:19

Jeremiah 5:19 KJV 1900

19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

Application:

Have you forsaken your LORD?

James 4:1-4 One of the signs that you are distant from the LORD are adulterous passions.

What are you most passionate about?

Kid’s Pause:

The Lord Jesus Christ should be the ruling passion of your life.

Recap:

Coming back to the LORD requires we recognize that we are distant.

(2) The Portrait of Ruin - (v. 2-18) (FAILURE)

Statement of Idea:

Coming back to the LORD requires acknowledgement of loss. Lamentation reveals the collapse of all other focuses.

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Paul House and Duane Garrett* present a good breakdown of Lamentations 5:2-18.

Economic Impoverishment (2 - 10)

Social Degradations (11-14) [exploitation of the sexes]

Political Disintegration (15-18)

*Garrett, Duane. Song of Songs, Lamentations. Vol. 23B. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, TX: Word, Incorporated, 2004.

Each one of these areas represent a place in which the people may have attempted to find their strength, their identity, their sustenance. Now, they are all gone. The suffering has eliminated these as potential objects of faith.

Illustration:

Forbes contributor Taylor Tepper posted an article entitled, “WHO SHOULD WORRY ABOUT INFLATION — AND WHO SHOULDN’T” [https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/inflation-worries-2021/]. Accordingly, workers should worry, retirees should be somewhat concerned, investors shouldn’t worry…

So, when something you place hope in becomes volatile, what is being exposed?

Parents, you should care for the safety and security of your children; but there is a mindset that says, “The safety and security of my children is the #1 priority in my life.”

What happens when you cannot control it? Consider the text. What is exposed?

Explanation:

Suffering and loss have a way of exposing some of the things we foolishly place our trust in, and lament is transparent about this misplaced trust.

Example:

For example, the security of inheritance, status, basic provisions, physical protection, national governments, past generations, social status, appearance, gender, demographic, joy, political position, emotional clarity, health…They cannot trust their own heart.

Application:

Who or what is at the center of your life? Philippians 3:7-10

Why do you work the job you have?

Has the social structure of your family become more central in your heart than Jesus?

Is your heart dominated by the political fallout in our nation?

Kid’s Pause:

Losing something may actually show us that the Lord was not really the ruling passion of our lives.

Recap:

Coming back to the LORD requires we recognize that we are distant.

Coming back to the LORD requires acknowledgement of loss.

(3) The Petition for Restoration - (Faith) (v. 19-22).

Statement of Idea:

Coming back to the Lord begins with the LORD. Lamentation reveals the magnitude of what has been forsaken.

Show in the text

Lamentations 5:19-22 In contrast to all they had lost economically, socially, and politically, there was one unchanging reality — the LORD and his rule. It is in light of this magnitude that the writer asks that this immutable, unchanging LORD turn his people back to Himself.

Illustration:

Let’s do an exercise:

If there is darkness, then there must be light.

If there is evil, then there must be good.

If there is death, then there must be life.

What does personal loss and suffering do? It confronts us with the reality of our littleness.

Suffering/loss tells us that we are limited, but how can you say there is a limitation unless you have some kind of idea of unlimited?

Suffering/loss tells us that we are finite, but how can you say there is something finite unless you have some kind of idea of infinite?

Dependent vs. Independent

Temporal vs. Eternal

Explanation:

Suffering has a way of exposing the only One who is capable of bringing us back to Him — bringing us back to complete dependency upon Him even to turn us back to Himself. Psalm 90:2

Psalm 90:2 KJV 1900

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

Example:

For example, it is not just asking God to help us trust in Him over money, sex, and entertainment. It is asking the LORD to actually turn our hearts to Him. He is the cause of heart change.

Application:

This guides our petition:

To the intellectual who understands the concepts, but is not fully depending on the LORD, here is your petition - “LORD, turn my heart to fully depend upon you!”

To the Seasoned Saint, Master’s Daughter, Contenders, Widows, Widowers who feel as if their purpose for life is gone, you have a petition to offer the Lord, “LORD, turn my heart to fully depend upon you!”

Grandparents, how should you pray for your children and grandchildren? Is it not, “LORD, turn their hearts to fully depend upon you!”

Young adults who may feel like you don't now what direction to go with their lives, education, or relationships. What should be your petition? Is it not, “LORD, turn my heart to fully depend upon you!”

Teens who have been led to the worship of academic pursuits, image pursuits, and a multitude of idolatrous temptations. What should be your petition? “LORD, turn our hearts to fully depend upon you!”

Children, it is so easy to fall into the worship of your toys, and your tv time, and your game time. These enjoyable things can become a replacement for God. Pray the LORD, “LORD, turn my heart to fully depend upon you!”

The ones in the most danger of missing this point are those who have never really endured suffering so that your weakness and idolatry might be exposed. To those who still feel that they are pretty moral and do not really need heart work, would you please consider your need for the LORD to do a work in your heart.

To the unbeliever, you are welcome to continue to go from one addiction unto the next; but let me show you a better way — it is the way in which you will never thirst again; it is the way in which you will never hunger again. It is the way of the Forsaken One through Whom God comes to us so that we are able to come to Him.

How is this turning back possible?

Jeremiah 4:1-4, 14 gives to us a small clue as to how the LORD would make this possible. It is through the circumcision of the heart — something that only the LORD could accomplish. But what does this mean?

Turning back to the Lord requires a heart work that only the Lord could do. Jeremiah 31:18.

Since only the Lord could do this heart work, FAITH is required on the part of the people.

This heart work that the Lord could do is referred to as “circumcision of the heart.”

Circumcision was the sign of covenant relationship for God’s people but in the OT this was a part of the flesh that was removed.

Though a person could change the appearance of the flesh with circumcision, they could not circumcise their own heart. Thus, the LORD was going to establish a New Covenant - Jeremiah 31:31, 33-34 (Hebrews 8:6,10)

Circumcision of the heart happens when someone repents of sin and self-dependence, believes that Jesus has made the full payment for sin, and receives the gift of God’s Holy Spirit whereby they now worship God. Romans 2:28-29, Philippians 3:3.

[Unbeliever] This means that coming back to God does not begin with you but it begins with God’s work in your heart through Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit, whereby you leave the worship of all other false gods and are made into true worshipper.

[Believer] This means that your life becomes an ongoing cycle of being brought back again. Luke 22:31-32

He will need “to turn back,” according to Jesus, who uses a verb that commonly appears in Luke-Acts with reference to repentance. [ἐπιστρέφω—see 17:4; Acts 3:19; 9:35; 11:21; 14:15; 15:19; 26:18, 20] - Green, J. B. (1997). The Gospel of Luke (p. 773). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Recap:

Coming back to the LORD requires we recognize that we are distant.

Coming back to the LORD requires acknowledgement of loss.

Coming back to the Lord begins with the LORD.

Bridge: (existential question, summary of points, transition to applications/conclusion)

Am I truly depending fully upon the Lord for the restoration of my heart to Himself?

(1) There is the plea to remember [Forsaken]

(2) There is the portrait of ruin [Failure]

(3) There is the petition for restoration [Faith]

Conclusion:

Bumper sticker:

In learning to lament, we are taught one final lesson — how to come back to the LORD.

Illustration:

Remember that the distance between the prodigal and the father was not simply a physical distance. The physical distance was the simple part. So, the prodigal son is rehearsing what he is going to say to his father. He knows that he is at the father’s mercy so his plan is to say, “I have sinned against God and you…I am not worthy to be called your son, so simply accept me as a servant...” That was the rehearsal. The actual goes something like this, “Father, I have sinned against God and you and am not worthy to be called your son…[Father interrupts…commands the servants to bring the best...”]

This gives me the hope that the LORD actually delights to bring us back to Himself.

Give examples/applications (negative, positive)

There are many things that you can ask the Lord to do today, but there is only one from this passage that you must do, “Ask the Lord to turn you back to Him — to turn your heart to worship him and him alone.”

Final clear statement of bumper sticker

In learning to lament, we learn that our only hope of heart change is by faith in the LORD.