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Favorite Sitcom Episode - why do we love tv … others drama, stuff gets solved and tied into bows in 22 minutes …
One of the many reasons that I love the book of Lamentations is because of what the book does not do.
It does not resolve the pain of God’s actions quickly or neatly.
It does not answer all of our questions.
It does not communicate things in a way that is tidy or even comfortable.
And it does not downplay the significance of the struggle or the pain.
Lamentations is not linear.
And that is why I love it.
After all, life – yes, even the Christian life – is not always predictable or easy to manage.
Suffering, whether innocent or deserved, does not follow a formula, and grief is certainly not tame.
-The emotions, questions, struggles, fears, and frustrations in the midst of hardship are very real and difficult, at times, to process.
That is why the category of lament is so helpful.
It gives voice to those emotions and struggles while directing our thoughts Godward.
-Lament is inherently Christian because it is a prayer that pours out our heart to God.
1) Lament mourns what has happened, - it gives a voice to reality
2) it anchors us in what we believe, - it reminds us of previous decisions, commitments, covenants
3) and it looks expectantly to the day when God will make all things right.
- it turns our face to the future, we don’t stay stuck in the past
Brokenness Leads to Mercy
In chapter one we were introduced to this book and the poetic and graphic description of the fall of the city of Jerusalem.
We learned about the devastating consequences of sin, and we ended the service by confessing our sins.
In chapter two we saw the bigness of God’s righteousness and how He can feel like an adversary when He turns against sin.
In chapter three we climbed to the summit of Lamentations, and we saw the hope of new mercies every morning and the confidence in God’s faithfulness.
Additionally, we learned that “Great is Thy Faithfulness” is declared while Jerusalem lies in ruins; it is a faith statement.
In other words, Jeremiah is lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem AND clinging to what he knows to be true about God.
He uses lament to express his sorrow and anchor his hope in God.
However, the book is not finished.
We still have two more chapters, and they are not necessarily upbeat.
Both chapters four and five contain glimmers of hope – more so that chapters one and two – but they are still dark.
-The promise of who God is and the pain of life exist together.
even if they are not necessarily reconciled like a sitcom episode
Chapter four, in particular, shows us God’s mercy that comes after brokenness.
-The hope of chapter three is still true, but Jeremiah reflects on how broken the people really are.
God has deconstructed His people such that their only hope is Him.
He has broken them so that he can rebuild them.
He has taken away the things that they used as crutches so that they will look to him.
Do you know that the Bible commends this kind of brokenness?
Do you know that brokenness can create a God-ordained path to mercy?
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
(Psalm 51:16–17)
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
(Psalm 34:18–19)
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28–30)
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
(1 Peter 5:6–7)
By brokenness = when God removes the objects of our trust such that we are driven to hope in Him.
It is a season where your “crutches” in life have been kicked out, and your only hope is God.
Sometimes brokenness can come because of our own sin.
Sometimes it can come because of someone else’s sin.
And it can also come because of the general brokenness in the world.
Regardless, the result is the same: brokenness awakens us to our need for God’s mercy.
Take a Moment and actually answer these questions internally!
Can you think of a time when God removed some “crutches” in your life?
Or maybe the Lord has placed you in a situation or scenario that has become very disappointing, almost like a season in a desert.
-I hope you will find some hope and spiritual comfort from Lamentations four.
A Broken People
After identifying the faithfulness of God in chapter three, Jeremiah quickly returns to the destruction around him.
However, the focal point here is different.
Once again there are twenty-two verses, and there is the same poetic structure as the first two chapters with each verse starting with the subsequent Hebrew letter.
However, the verses are shorter than the first two chapters.
Additionally, chapter four starts with the word “How,” which serves as the thematic title of the book.
The focus is on the brokenness of the people of God and highlights the destruction of the things that they had hoped in before.
There is no longer any hope in their culture, their leaders, or in another nation who might come and rescue them.
The nation of Israel has nothing to hope in except God.
They have been stripped of everything.
Let’s see how this plays out:
Degraded Culture (vv.
1-11)
Israel was proud of her status as God’s chosen people.
There was something special about the nation, the temple, and their place in the world.
But now the glory of Israel has completely faded.
The “glory-years” of the past were long-gone.
If you have captured a picture of the nation during the reigns of David, Solomon, Hezekiah, or Josiah and then compared it to this scene, it would be utterly shocking.
Everything in Israel is inverted and degraded.
The first verse really captures this theme well: “How the gold has grown dim” (4:1).
This phrase has two possible meanings.
First, since the beauty of the temple was its gold, it could have been a general statement about the city’s destruction.[1]
We might say, “The lights have grown dim in New York City.”
Jerusalem lies in rubble, and her gold (what is left of it) is covered in dirt and dust.
The city no longer gleams as a beacon to the world.
Second, the gold and the reference to holy stones in verse one could be a figure of speech for the people of Israel.
The people once considered themselves to be “gold” and “precious” and the other nations to be of lesser value.
So the statement could be communicating the humiliation of the people.
The nation of Israel no longer sat in the seat of divine favor.
They and their city had grown dim.
The people of God had lost their luster.
Verse two seems to point toward the second meaning with the identification of the “precious sons . . .
worth their weight in fine gold . . .
are regarded as earthen pots . .
.” (4:2).
An earthen pot was the most common of all containers.
There was nothing special about an earthen pot.
Think about it like you would Tupperware or a Glad-lock freezer bag.
Earthen pots are cheap, disposable, and are noted for what they contain, not for the vessel itself.
Israel has fallen from a being a valuable family heir-loom to a commonplace vessel.
Her stock has tanked.
In verses 3-4 we see how cruelly the people of Israel treated each other.
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