On Lament and Lamentations (pt.3)

Lament has been called a "lost art" and it seems to be a spiritual practice we have largely neglected in modern Western Christianity. For the next few weeks, I'm going to share some of the key spiritual truths that the book of Lamentations has to teach us. They are lessons and truths that we might otherwise miss if we try our own shortcuts past suffering.

If there’s any passage you know from Lamentations, it is the verses of 3:22-24:

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.”

These lie at the center of the book in chapter 3 and I don't think that is an accident. The pivot point for lament is this core truth about God. Lament could turn into bitterness if we didn't have this as our hope. 

In the previous post, we noted how God harshly judges sin. He's the ultimate cause of their suffering as they have forced him to punish their sin because they've refused to repent and loved their rebellion. So as chapter three is added to the equation, Lamentations confronts us with this paradox:

While God is the source of our pain, he’s our only hope of relief.

Later on in the chapter – 3:55-57

I called on your name, Lord,

    from the depths of the pit.

56 

You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears

    to my cry for relief.”

57 

You came near when I called you,

    and you said, “Do not fear.”

They have endured God's wrath, but they know they can still turn to their God.

And this isn't just limited to this part of Scripture. If you go to other places in the Bible with laments, you’ll see this same pattern. Google “Lament Psalms” almost every single one will end with an expression of trust and hope in God.

Even if answers aren’t apparent…

Even if relief isn’t on the horizon...

...We can still trust God. He's our only hope of relief.

On Lament and Lamentations (pt.2)

Lament has been called a "lost art" and it seems to be a spiritual practice we have largely neglected in modern Western Christianity. For the next few weeks, I'm going to share some of the key spiritual truths that the book of Lamentations has to teach us. They are lessons and truths that we might otherwise miss if we try our own shortcuts past suffering.

Last week we worked through how Lamentations shows us that it is ok to complain to God in our misery. Another general theme emerges when we read through the book of Lamentations:

God is a strict judge of unrepentant sinners.

We are given the freedom to complain to God, but make no mistake - Lamentations does not try to excuse the predicament they are in. Lamentations does not deny that they deserved punishment. It accepts this punishment as just: 

“The Lord is righteous,

    yet I rebelled against his command.

Listen, all you peoples;

    look on my suffering.

My young men and young women

    have gone into exile. (1:18)

It still hurts of course. Their reality was still disastrous and no less horrifying.

Lamentations 3:42-48:

“We have sinned and rebelled 

and you have not forgiven.

43 

“You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;

    you have slain without pity.

44 

You have covered yourself with a cloud

    

so that no prayer can get through.

45 

You have made us scum and refuse

    among the nations.

When we work through this book we would do well to remember that God is not a wrathful God at his core. God is not, by nature, one who takes pleasure in punishment. It is something he does when his hand is forced. Something he does, not the core of who he is.

But Lamentations records the aftermath of events at a time when his hand was forced. Over decades and even centuries, Judah was unfaithful to their covenant. Over and over again they refused to follow what God wanted. Instead they pursued other false religions and the false promises of political alliances to try to achieve their own ends.

And finally, God had to strictly judge them. It was fair and deserved, but it was also harsh and painful. 

When we relate to our Creator, we should not conceive of him as a displeased authority just waiting to strike us down at our first misstep. But we also should not imagine him as a cuddly teddy bear Santa Claus who only ever nice. He will judge when rebellion and wickedness call for it. But the one who is Judge is also our hope...and that will be where we camp out next year.

 

Music Mondays

Yesterday's sermon was on the book of Zephaniah. 

Zephaniah checks all the boxes of what OT prophets did, in three succinct chapters.

• He criticizes God's people and pagans for their wickedness. Along with that criticism comes vivid descriptions of promised judgment.
  
• He energizes the faithful to persevere through adversity by describing the future hope and restoration God will bring.
  
• He calls the people to repent and seek the Lord's presence before it's too late.

Read works by Dr. Walter Bruggemann and/or my former professor, Dr. Brent Sandy and you'll discover Zephaniah fits the prophetic mold to a 'T'. 

Given that summary of the minor prophet, crafting a worship service around the book didn't seem particularly natural. Our worship planners didn't even know the specifics but knew the broad strokes. Honestly though this seemed like one of those weeks we didn't tie the worship to the sermon in real specific ways.

Yet the way the Lord brought things together did just that. Zephaniah's a book describing how God is the one whose powerful wrath we need saved from, but he's also the only one who can protect and deliver us.

The song we used to close the service captured that idea well in my view. It's a newer 'classic' by Michael W. Smith. Simple yet deep in it's biblical descriptions of who our Lord is.