The Cause - Lamentations 1:1-22

Meagan and I had to get re-certified in CPR and First Aid recently for our Foster license. And if you have ever done CPR training then you may remember what they tell you the first thing they tell you to do is not chest compression's, not rescue breaths, not even to call 9-1-1. No, the first thing they tell you to do is assess the situation. Check the landscape and see what people are there, if there are any dangerous objects around, and make sure that you are in a safe place to help this person. Because it may also give you clues as to what the cause of the injury is. And then, you still don’t do CPR yet, you then check with the person and see how responsive they are, you assess the state of the person laying on the ground before performing any other actions. Because in order for you to act appropriately, you must first know the situation that you are walking into. If you rush into the situation you may end up making the situation worse. For that person, or even injuring yourself. But we like easy solutions, we like drive-thru convenience, in-and-out. We don’t want to have to think about our issues, we don’t want a prolonged experience, we want stimulation and we want distraction.

In Lamentations we have the people of Judah, for the first time, assessing the situation they are in. Almost as if, up to this point they had ignored all their problems. Really what they were doing was biding their time until the Lord came and fixed everything. They thought if they just waited long enough that God would solve all their problems and they wouldn’t have to do anything. But what chapter 1 gives us a picture of is a people come to the realization that there are no easy answers to the problems they face. Lamentations 1 starts us here, with their assessment of their situation, to them realizing the cause of all their problems, to then a deep plea for mercy to God, until they are eventually left with recognizing that God is just and they really aren’t deserving of any salvation from God. The wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ.

The Situation - Judah has been left in despair - v. 1-7

This chapter is written from the perspective of Judah as a woman who is mourning the loss of her husband and children. And the language used is meant to be overwhelming, drawing us into the misery they are experiencing. A lot of attention is made to Jerusalem. The city of the great king David that was previously a busy commercial center, a picture of God’s glory and blessing with His people, where people throughout the world came enjoy its beauty. It was where God’s people ruled the nations around it. But now we see that instead of being the conqueror, Judah is now the one who is conquered. Once royalty, and now the servant. Instead of having many possessions and great leaders, their possessions have been taking and in the case of Zedekiah and his advisers, rather than have leaders who stayed to protect the people they fled like skittish deer at the sight of danger.

Judah is lonely in the midst of her destruction and doesn’t have anyone to comfort her. Those who were Judah’s “lovers”, the nations that Judah sought to ally with in order to keep them same, have turned against them. Those that Judah relied on for comfort are now causing her affliction. And in seeking all these other lovers she has rejected her first love. Verse 7 gives us a picture of the people reminiscing about the "good ole days" when they were enjoying all of God's blessings. But now Babylon laughs at her misery. Their people have been scattered among the nations, they no longer have vast wealth and they are selling off their valuables for meager amounts of food., and it seems as if their God has left them. They had become nostalgic about the things God had blessed them when it says “she remembers all her precious belongings”, but forgotten to enjoy God as the one who brought them these blessings. And so, as v. 6 tells us, they are now like a deer that has no one to lead them and they stumble rather than to be like the deer of Psalm 23 who leads them to quiet waters, who renews their life, and leads them along the right paths.

It is so easy to find ourselves where Judah is, looking back and just asking yourself “what went wrong?” “How did I end up in this mess?” and “things used to be a lot better than this, what changed?” We can even feel as if, in some ways, this punishment is undeserved. “Do I really deserve this?” In Judah there were people who were living righteously and seeking God. But here they are, dealing with the destruction of sinful leaders. In v. 16 we see that the children are dealing with the sins of their parents, 2 Kings tells us specifically many children were either resorted to slavery or sometimes eaten by their parents because of how bad this famine was. Things are bad, and Judah is asking the question “why is this happening to us”. Jeremiah starts to answer this question starting in v. 8.

The Cause - Judah’s sinfulness - v. 8-11

In verse 9 we see that in some ways Judah is still surprised by her destruction, almost in unbelief that it has come to this. She never considered that God would truly lead them to exile, thinking that she could continue to wear out God's grace with no repercussions. But the cause of this exile becomes clear. Judah had prostituted herself to the nations, worshipping Baal and other idols hoping that they might help her gain favor from these nations that have now rejected her. Judah ignored her spiritual responsibilities, she ignored the prophets her warned her, and rather than protect God’s temple she has allowed it to be defiled by these pagans. The place that only priests were supposed to be able to enter and most of the citizens of Judah would have never stepped foot in, is now being desecrated by those who don’t even worship Yahweh. I mean, this is the greatest insult imaginable. All this has left Judah shamefully exposed in her nakedness. The nations mock her, they laugh that the God who once blessed them has now seemingly turned his back on His people. Judah acted ambivalently to the Lord's commands and refused to reflect on the holiness of God and trust in His faithfulness. But now, in v. 9, Judah calls on God “look on my affliction, for the enemy boats” after they are dealing with the consequences of their sin and in the midst of suffering and oppression.

What Judah is experiencing is destruction because of their own sinfulness. They had flirted with disaster so many times, they would go through these cycles where they would sin, God would warn them of destruction, and they would turn back to Him for a short turn before falling back into sinfulness and idolatry. Romans 6:1-2 “What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” What Paul says here is, “yes, God is compassionate, gracious, and merciful to us, God has blessed us with more than we deserve. But does this mean that we should take advantage of God’s kindness to us by living however we would like and expecting Him to forgive us time and time again?” The answer is no! Because certainly, God’s grace is certainly able to cover more sin than we could ever commit. But the danger is what sin does to our hearts as Romans 1 tells us.

Romans 1:24-25 “Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.”

Romans 1:28 “And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right.”

See the warning here comes from what is happening in lamentations. God delivered Judah over to her desires. And if we continue on in sin, that at some point God will just let us enjoy that which we desire in our heart, even if that means brutal consequences to follow.

It reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book “The Cat in the Hat”. As a summary, there are these two siblings who are sittings at home on a cold and rainy day. When all of a sudden they hear a loud bump followed by the arrival of The Cat in the Hat, wearing a red and white-striped top hat and a red bow tie. This Cat wants to help them have some fun. Now the fish of the two kids warns them that he doesn’t think this Cat is up to anything good, but the Cat quickly distracts the kids from listening. As he leads them on this adventure, he introduces them to Thing 1 and Thing 2, who cause destruction throughout the house. Falling pictures, destroying their mothers dress, things littered everywhere. And as the mother of the two kids starts to arrive the Cat leaves and the children see the mess in from of them and don’t know what to do. But then the Cat returns with a machine that quickly picks up all the mess that had been left behind before the mother walks in and then he leaves.

Do you know what I hate about this story? This is the story that sin likes to tell us. “Have as much fun as you want, enjoy the destruction and the chaos, don’t worry about the consequences!” But unlike the Cat in the Hat, when judgment comes, there is no one to help save us. That was the story of Judah, they trusted in the nations and in idols, but when judgment came they were nowhere to be found. And so God delivers us over to these desires. We can’t just wave a magic wand and have all our problems disappear, or just expect that no punishment should be paid for our sin. Sin has real and devastating consequences, but what we can often start to think is just because there are not immediate repercussions to our actions that it means that we have gotten away with it. If we don’t face punishment right after the sin we can think that maybe we didn’t sin at all, or maybe God didn’t notice. It can make us even feel like sin isn’t that dangerous. What I am expressing, and what Lamentations is expressing, is not Karma. But the natural and serious consequences of sin. It is what James 1 tells us, that desire breeds sin, and sin breeds death. And now, in Christ, we can often think that because Christ has saved us from death, that we no longer have to face the consequences of our own sins and even the consequences of a living in a fallen world. But sin still has consequences, we still can make a mess of our lives, and God has given us a warning in His Word about what happens if we continue to follow our wordly desires. And what Judah does next is what we all do when we are facing trials, and would have happened if the mother walked in to see the mess, the only resort they have left. Plea for Mercy.

The Plea for Mercy - God has inflicted judgment - v. 12-17

The story Jeremiah continues to tell is a detailed depiction of the pain Judah is feeling in the wake of the destruction of Jerusalem. It says that as the sins of Judah has multiplied it has weighed on them like a yoke on an animal, and now God is bearing down on this burden as they face his judgment. Judah is in great despair. But she speaks to those around her as if her pain is unique, as if what she is experiencing is worse than that of others. Yet, her response is met with silence. She blames God’s for her troubles “the Lord made me suffer”, Judah has been blessed by God but now they want to direct all their problems to Him. It makes sense why they would feel so strongly about their troubles. I once heard someone say that the reason that babies, and kids, and teenagers cry over things that seem so inconsequential to us, is because up to that point in their lives they have never experienced something as difficult as what they are in the moment. Kids haven’t experienced a lifetime of scraped knees, so it feels overwhelming when they go through it. Teenagers are experiencing their first relationships, and even if it is just a week, they are dealing with emotions they had not felt before. So Judah here is acting like one who has never experienced being rejected by God. Judah is certainly correct, God’s wrath has caused this suffering to occur. But he is disciplining in order to draw them back to Him. Even as she talks about this burden that God has placed on them she is unable to recognize that the Lord desires to take it from them. There is no one to comfort them because they had previously rejected the one who had desired to comfort them. So now they cry out, they cry about their pain and suffering hoping that God may relent concerning their judgment because it is such a heavy burden for them.

For us, as Christian’s, we are confident that Christ alone is sufficient in our suffering. As 2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.” When we try and boast in our strength and hide our weaknesses than we only increase our problems, we put ourselves in even greater danger. Judah is crying out because they know that what they face is past their ability to fix, only God is able to solve them. In Christ we know even more so that God’s grace is sufficient in Christ in all of our weakness. But Judah is still struggling, why are they going through such extraordinary pain? But as they wrestle with this difficult thoughts the tone shifts in v. 18.

The Reflection - God is Just - v. 18-22

As Judah considers her rebellion she now considers God’s righteousness and His goodness. She remembers that God has given her His law which sought to help them flourish in the land, but she deliberately ignored His commands. God desired to set her on a path of righteousness but she chose rebellion. And because of her rebellion she is no longer safe, outside she will be taken by sword inside there is plague. She once thought she could escape God’s judgment, but she forgot that God cannot be in the presence of the wicked. The only hope they have is to trust in the Lord and submit to His will. No one else can restore her, everyone else has deserted her and they have no one to blame but themselves.

But then they look over at their enemies, who have defeated them, and are enjoying the schemes of the wicked and Judah says “God why aren’t you judging them? I hear them mocking me, so why don’t you show them who is boss?” We all want to enjoy our own “code of conduct”, where we don’t experience wrath but others do. We where have our own perceived idea of right and wrong that we stand by, and if others could just follow it the world would be a better place. But that is why Romans 1-3 tells us in some way we do the same thing we judge others for. And if we do judge others and than go and do the same thing we have judged others for, do we really think God will not judge us? Judah is now understanding God’s justice, that they have rebelled. They have seen their AFFLICTION THEY HAVE UNDERSTOOD THEIR OWN SIN AND REBELLION AS THE CAUSE OF THEIR AFFLICTION AND EVEN THOUGH GODS JUDGMENT SEEMS HARSH THEY HAVE RECOGNIZED THAT HE IS JUST IN ALL HIS WAYS

BUT HOW DOES THIS HELP US IN OUR TRIALS AND SUFFERING? I THINK THERE ARE TWO IMPORTANT TAKE AWAYS WE MUST CONSIDER

Take Away

God is just, even when it doesn’t seem like He is

We like the storyline of redemption, we love the feel good story. But without the full story than redemption is empty, it is a participation trophy. God’s judgment is not only necessary, but it is good.

We may say that we don’t want judgment, we don’t want justice, we may say “why can’t we just be loving, why does God have to punish us” but we don’t really mean that. Read what Paul says in Romans 3:5-6 “But if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what are we to say? I am using a human argument: Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath? Absolutely not! Otherwise, how will God judge the world?

So is God unrighteous to inflict wrath? No! Because when we are wronged, we want to see that person pay. When we see those in our lives dealing with abuse and trauma, we want to see that abuser receive judgment. When there are horrific things that happen in the world, when there is the employer taking advantage of their workers, when there is a human trafficker, when there is a violent dictator we want to see judgment! We want to see them get what they deserve.

So we don’t ACTUALLY want no judgment, we just want for us to be the only one not experiencing those consequences. We want to blame God when evil things happen. When we feel the trial we are facing is unfair, when others are thriving and we are struggling to get by each day. But without the trials, without the discipline, then we can never experience the incredible gift of redemption. Because all of us have fallen short of the glory of God.

And yes, sometimes we can bear too much guilt on ourselves, but that isn’t from God that is from Satan. What we should say is “I have sinned against God, let him show me his mercy” not “I have sinned against God, I don’t deserve his mercy”. Because if we think “I have sinned so much that there is no way God could love me” then you think less of yourself than God does. We know this because He sent Jesus.

Jesus carries our heavy burden

We are getting prepared for Easter, where we have the picture of Jesus on the Cross. Now in the Old Testament they didn’t have the cross to look at. But they did have Isaiah, where He see’s that Jesus was bruised for our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities, punishment for our peace was on Him. We imagine the picture of this heavy burden that was on Judah that God allowed to crush them. But in Christ that burden is taken, we no longer have to bare it if we allow Him to take it. God wanted to take Judah’s burden as well. But we have to allow Him to take it for us. IF we hold onto it, if we try to carry it ourselves, if we self-medicate, if we pour ourselves into our job, or try and let UNC winning the championship (or losing the championship) give us happiness rather than turn to God, then we aren’t letting Him do what He already has done for us.

Horatio Spafford was a wealthy businessman in Chicago during the 1800s. In 1871 his two year old son died and his lost much of his business because of the Great Chicago Fire. In 1873 he had planned on travelling with his wife and four daughers across the Atlantic on an ocean liner. But he ended up having to stay back for some business he had to attend to but planned on meeting them in Europe. Four days into the journey for his family their boat collided with an iron-hulled ship, 12 minutes the ship had sunk, and his wife, Anna had survived but his four daughters did not. Spafford boarded a ship to meet his wife, while they were sailing the captain told him that they were at the spot that his children had died. That is when he wrote the song “It is well with my soul.” A song you may know, the Lyrics go

When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, "It is well, it is well with my soul."

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control: that Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and has shed his own blood for my soul.

My sin oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! my sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more; praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

See, for Spafford, he learned to experience the goodness of God’s grace in lament. Lament his helpless estate, his sin, and all the sorrows that he faced. His sin and all of the destruction that comes with it. He lamented it and then said “It is well with my soul” It was well because Christ had taken his burden, had shed his blood, and he no longer bears rhis burden.

It can be hard to reflect on our sin, on all the truly hard circumstances that we go through. Sometimes we can feel alone, we can feel distressed, we can feel angry. But then, when we look at our sin and then we look at Christ, than we know. It is well with my soul.