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By Sam Smith|Published Date: March 13, 2010
Lamentations 3:19-21
19Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! 20My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 21But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The Story: At various pivotal points in redemptive history and moments of personal anguish, an ancient refrain between the Holy Lord and His sin prone image-bearers is occasionally echoed, “Remember.” Calling upon the Lord to have regard for the plight of sufferers recognizes His goodness, compassion, and mercy. The Lord remembered the suffering of the Israelites at the hand of the Egyptian pharaoh and sent Moses; the Lord remembered Rachael and Hannah and gave them motherhood (Gen. 30:22; 1 Sam. 1:5, 11, 19).
The Structure: Taking the set of laments together, we now approach the moment that unveils the central focus, an expression of genuine confidence that there is a reason for hope. The form that a lament often takes includes five distinguishable elements. The structure includes a crying-out to the Lord during a dire moment along with a listing of the sufferings (see 3:1-18). This includes an appeal for the Lord to remedy their plight often along with making a vow. In our text we see a fifth element, that of expressing confidence in the Lord because of Who He is.
Crying out to the Lord for remembering one’s suffering means humbling ones’ self, seeking only His mercy. Are you one who knows to cry out to the Lord, showing full dependence upon the compassionate Lord for your rescue?
For more information on this topic, get the book, Jeremiah, Lamentations, by Tremper Longman III. Or read the article, “Remember to Seek the Lord,” by T. M. Moore.
The Worldview Bible examines the teaching of Scripture according to the Story and Structure of Truth – the Framework of Christian Worldview – using only other Scriptures for illumination. Information about The Framework of Truth is available on this site. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |
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By Sam Smith|Published Date: March 12, 2010
Lamentations 3:17-18
17my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; 18so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.”
The Story: There comes a time, a specific day in one’s life, when all potential answers, or even momentary relief, are gone. How or from whom will we be rescued? The real needs may be for provision of the crucial necessities of life. Hope is often fed when a simple hint of a starting point becomes an imagined set of steps, a scenario of sorts, leading into a happier time. It is this self-generated vision in which we dream of happier days. We will even seek the Lord to give us our heart’s desire, but His silence to repeated requests eventually will leave us despondent and acknowledging that we were fooling ourselves.
With nothing left to feed more imagined scenarios, strength to go on ceases and hope evaporates. At this decisive moment, a different reason for hope will arise. Found in 1 Kings 17:8-24, the account of the widow of Zarephath has some parallel to this hopeless occasion for the Jerusalem survivors. She travels to the town’s entrance to seek a little firewood to take home to bake her last provision of flour for her son and herself, a last meal during a time of sustained drought. There Elijah, having received a commission from the Lord to meet this stranger, greets her with a test. Living in the neighboring Baal-worshipping region, she knows of Israel’s Lord, and in real answers to her destitution, she begins to recover hope for life grounded in the true God.
The Structure: Jeremiah’s divine assignment was not only to be the Lord’s trustworthy prophet, but Jerusalem’s consoler. Because of his first-hand experiences of the horrendous suffering, he would in truth be the leader showing that hope is grounded in the Lord’s promise. Trust in His promises, even when one cannot imagine how the Lord will save, is the acceptable attitude.
Reflect on the impossible situations you have found yourself. Were these occasions of increased faith or anxious grasping at forced solutions?
For more information on this topic, get the book, Jeremiah, Lamentations, by Tremper Longman III. Or read the article, “Despising Our Birthright?” by T. M. Moore
The Worldview Bible examines the teaching of Scripture according to the Story and Structure of Truth – the Framework of Christian Worldview – using only other Scriptures for illumination. Information about The Framework of Truth is available on this site. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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By Sam Smith|Published Date: March 11, 2010
Lamentations 3:14-16
14I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long. 15He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood. 16He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes;
The Story: There is no denying that something had gone terribly wrong. It was assumed that evidence of the existence or at least the power of a region’s god was demonstrated by his providing and protecting the people. But, which god was the true God? Baal, Yahweh, or who? Further, it is believed that the real God rewards those with whom He is pleased and punishes those with whom He is angry. Such one dimensional thinking has often led to wrong conclusions only revealed in time. Defeat in battle gave opportunity for the victors to gloat as they assumed they understood the answer to the questions.
After successive declensions of the once great Davidic empire, the last postage-stamp size territory felt, and in doing so, negated the prior boasts. In reality, the last hopeful stir of national revival came under Josiah nearly forty years earlier, and since that time worship and obedience to the Lord had slipped badly in the hearts of the kings and people of Judah and Jerusalem. Now, the nation was no more, and it would seem that the centuries-long question of whose god was God was at last answered. Yet the story is not ending, and the voice of the prophet is about to unveil an ancient perspective that will be the basis for recovering hope.
The Structure: Even as he was on the road to vindication of his truthfulness, Jeremiah had himself been the laughingstock of his own people. He keenly understood the anguish of soul of being ridiculed, painfully remembering the occasions when he was summarily rejected even as He spoke the words of the Lord (Jer. 20:1-6; 37:11-38:13; 43:1-7). Now, it was Jerusalem’s remnant that received derisive insults. Therefore, Jeremiah’s starting point of describing his own bitterness is his way of extending genuine empathy and drawing his fellow suffers a bit closer.
In searching through your own occasions of suffering—whether mental or physical anguish or both—are you now being brought into another’s life as a consoling and empathetic voice?
For more information on this topic, get the book, Jeremiah, Lamentations, by Tremper Longman III. Or read the article, “The Church Under Siege,” by Chuck Colson.
The Worldview Bible examines the teaching of Scripture according to the Story and Structure of Truth – the Framework of Christian Worldview – using only other Scriptures for illumination. Information about The Framework of Truth is available on this site. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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By Sam Smith|Published Date: March 10, 2010
Lamentations 3:10-13
10He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding; 11he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate; 12he bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow. 13He drove into my kidneys the arrows of his quiver;
The Story: Jeremiah’s complaint is bold to our ears in asserting that the Lord allows such painful things, even to those who think themselves as deserving. One could quickly conclude that the stalking Lord is done with the covenant relationship, as He is pictured here as a predator seeking to kill. What other conclusion could people make? In starting at this myopic perspective, the prophet creates an emotional connection of how the remnant feels, voicing this embittered view out of his own experiences, extending the acute anguish voiced in the first two laments. But Jeremiah knows where he will lead them. Other biblical writers have noted this sense of one becoming the Lord’s prey (cf. Hos. 13:8; Amos 5:19). Job voiced this universal human response of lashing out at God (Job 16:12). Yet, both Job’s and Jeremiah’s experience would be richly vindicated, in both time and eternity. Their testimonies of their faithfulness—as they groped for understanding amidst severe tribulation—are their legacy to us. We must catch ourselves from giving in to despair and concluding that we are only animals of prey rather than what we are, the Lord God’s image-bearers with whom He lives in covenant.
The Structure: The vivid pictures of the bear and lion waiting in ambush and the hunter-archer sending an arrow into his prey place Jeremiah in the scene. His series of complaints reflect the genuine suffering he personally endured. His message was often rejected (Jer. 7:1-8:3; 26:1-11), his own tribe stood against him (11:18-23), and he frequently suffered harm because of what he said (20:1-6; 37:11-38:13; 43:1-7). In order to bring any believable encouragement into the hearing of his fellow sufferings, Jeremiah opens his own life that they would easily identify with him. In doing so, he would pave the way for a more profound perspective, giving them a different and more accurate portrait of their covenant Lord.
Does the God you believe in abandon His promises? On some days it would seem so, but this perspective is false. The Lord is faithful.
For more information on this topic, get the book, Jeremiah, Lamentations, by Tremper Longman III. Or read the article, “What Cancer Taught Me About God,” by Regis Nicoll.
The Worldview Bible examines the teaching of Scripture according to the Story and Structure of Truth – the Framework of Christian Worldview – using only other Scriptures for illumination. Information about The Framework of Truth is available on this site. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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By Sam Smith|Published Date: March 09, 2010
Lamentations 3:4-9
4He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; 5he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; 6he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. 7He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy; 8though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; 9he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked.
The Story: Jeremiah places himself in the company of Jerusalem’s survivors and fully acknowledges the Lord’s harsh discipline. In doing so, he embraces the narrative of his people as his own. He was once their prophet sent to prepare them for the imminent wrath of God even as others try to silence him. But, the Lord’s faithful servant would himself endure through not only persecution from his people; he would also share in their lot. In the description above, one could quickly assume that the consequences being endured are deserving punishment as a result of sin. Rather, in the plan of redemption, the righteous Suffering Servant, Jesus Christ, foreshadows and models what God’s people may be asked to take up (Is. 52:12-53). Even during this new age of the growth of the kingdom, the Lord’s plan of redemption will not spare His people from suffering. Paul clearly explained this in 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 as he gave the basis of real hope. American and western European believers today must not assume that they will be spared the persecution their brethren in the broader world now endure for His name’s sake.
The Structure: Jeremiah’s credibility is put into effective action as a fellow sufferer. His vivid description is reminiscent of earlier instances before Jerusalem’s fall. In writing “though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer,” he speaks truthfully of the heart-breaking reality that some answers to our prayers will need to wait until the divinely set moment (Jer. 12:1-4; 15:10-21; 20:7-8). The message here is that the Lord has at His option the freedom to assign any of us to take up the role of a suffering servant. If He does, we must remember His kingdom is worth it, and many who have traveled this road have given valuable testimony to the rest of us of its worth (Heb. 11). It is their legacy of faith, given to us.
Would you hate the Lord if He placed you into the role of a suffering servant?
For more information on this topic, get the book, Jeremiah, Lamentations, by Tremper Longman III. Or read the article, “The Church Under Siege,” by Chuck Colson.
The Worldview Bible examines the teaching of Scripture according to the Story and Structure of Truth – the Framework of Christian Worldview – using only other Scriptures for illumination. Information about The Framework of Truth is available on this site. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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By Sam Smith|Published Date: March 08, 2010
Lamentations 3:1-3
1I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; 2he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; 3surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long.
The Story: The third of the five lament draws encouragement based upon God’s covenant relationship with His people. At this historical moment, the recorded conditions for blessings had been spurned and His curses were released (Lev. 26:14-45; Deut. 28:15-68; 2 Chron. 6:18-42; 7:11-22). While the short-term perspective of the disaster that Jerusalem and Judah experienced was due to His anger, the Lord’s long-term unbreakable commitment gave reason for real hope. This covenant commitment has both corporate and individual dimensions. In earlier times, Moses was rebuffed by the people he had freed from Egyptian bondage; they would not enter the Promised Land because of unbelief (Deut. 1:19-46). The promise was left to the next generation to courageously enter the land under Joshua and Caleb, the two faithful remnant members from the older generation. Likewise, as Judah entered into exile, it would be Daniel, himself a man of no specific transgressions, who would plead for the Lord’s mercy and restoration (Dan. 9:3-19). As the righteous ones of any wicked nation can restrain the hand of the Lord from bringing curses, so too God’s punishment washes over all, even the righteous. However, His mercy makes distinctions during such times (Rev. 3:10). Each person has a dual citizenship responsibility, to further the Lord’s Kingdom within his own nation. In understanding his solidarity with his own people, the empathetic voice of a lone speaker calls out to the faithful remnant.
The Structure: The significance of this third lament is reflected in its arrangement and length. Being the middle lament of the collection of five, its content is central to the overall purpose. It consists of sixty-six verses, as opposed to twenty-two verses of the other four laments, arranged in three stanzas each. As the metered pacing expressing somberness continues, the voice of a fellow sufferer enters, probably Jeremiah’s, who now takes center stage. He knows first-hand of their pain but is sustained by the promises of the Lord. He understands both his individual and corporate responsibilities, even when sorely tempted by his earlier rejection and suffering.
In being both God’s people and citizen of the country we reside, do you embrace both callings?
For more information on this topic, get the book, Jeremiah, Lamentations, by Tremper Longman III. Or read the article, “The Law of God and the Heart,” by T. M. Moore.
The Worldview Bible examines the teaching of Scripture according to the Story and Structure of Truth – the Framework of Christian Worldview – using only other Scriptures for illumination. Information about The Framework of Truth is available on this site. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |
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Seeking the Pity of the Lord |
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By Sam Smith|Published Date: March 07, 2010
Lamentations 2:20-22
20Look, O LORD, and see! With whom have you dealt thus? Should women eat the fruit of their womb, the children of their tender care? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? 21In the dust of the streets lie the young and the old; my young women and my young men have fallen by the sword; you have killed them in the day of your anger, slaughtering without pity. 22You summoned as if to a festival day my terrors on every side, and on the day of the anger of the LORD no one escaped or survived; those whom I held and raised my enemy destroyed.
The Story: We shall see in the third lament that crying out to the Lord for relief can be made on the grounds of His mercy upon us, for the His name’s sake, or for the relative innocence of the sufferer (Lam. 3). Here, it is seeking mercy by appealing to His pity. Indeed, the Israelites could remember how, when enslaved to the Egyptian pharaoh, they cried out for relief from their harsh bondage, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham (Ex. 2:23-25). The Lord remains true to His promises, and He extends mercy to those of our day and age. James would later write to the first century Church “to remember that the Lord is compassionate and merciful” to those who suffer for various reasons (Jms. 5:11). In addition to encouraging patience and resisting a complaining deposition, he prescribes confessing one’s sins to others within the fellowship, even calling on local church’s elders to come, receive confession of one’s sins and pray for healing (Jms. 5:13-16).
The Structure: The second lament’s final few phrases shift from the voice of the prophet back to personified Jerusalem where she tells again of the extent of her desperation. Here, the description is unimaginably ugly, and is without a doubt a result of the “anger of the Lord (v. 22).” Jerusalem does not call outward as she once did, but now calls upward to her personally named God (Her. YHWH). In doing do, she pleads for Him to relent. The first two laments have prepared the mourners for the third that grounds any hope they might have in the covenant promises of the Lord founded upon His love.
This day you may find yourself in severe personal trials, even suffering beyond what you can bear. Is this the time for you to come before Him freely and without restraint to bare your soul, asking Him to take pity?
For more information on this topic, get the book, Jeremiah, Lamentations, by Tremper Longman III. Or read the article, “Where are the Jehoidas?,” by T. M. Moore.
The Worldview Bible examines the teaching of Scripture according to the Story and Structure of Truth – the Framework of Christian Worldview – using only other Scriptures for illumination. Information about The Framework of Truth is available on this site. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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