May 9, 2021

LAMENTATIONS: THE RIGHT CRY FOR HELP

May 09, 2021

Pastor Jonathan Falwell

 

What is the lowest point you’ve ever reached in life? Can anyone share? What lessons did you learn from it?

Sometimes the pain we experience seems more than we can bear. Those who have a solid relationship with God can see His faithfulness in past seasons of grief, but even then life can be very tough. Jeremiah the prophet, as he wrote the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations, found the destruction of Jerusalem and the spiritual destitution of his people Israel to cause him more suffering than he thought he could handle, and he cried out to God for relief. As we continue reading the Bible through in these first six months of 2021, we find there’s much  encouragement to be gleaned in this short book by “the Weeping Prophet.”

Focal Passage: the book of Lamentations

The Right Cry for Help

  • Read Lamentations 1:2. What were the circumstances under which Jeremiah wrote this lament for his beloved homeland? Why does he call the other nations “lovers”?
  • Read 1:5. This verse lists the reasons for Judah’s destruction by God. What had she done? Although different circumstances, who are some other OT saints who cried out to God for deliverance in times of emotional or physical agony

Our first turn should be to Him

  • Read Lam. 3:52-54. Why did Jeremiah feel that everyone had become his enemy? (In last week’s sermon, how was his message of warning to Judah received by the rulers, the religious leaders, and the people? Did they hate him for his dire warnings from God?)
  • Can a person go much lower in pain and sorrow than to feel like death would be a release? Explain your answer.
  • Read Lam. 3:55. How was Jeremiah able to pull himself out of his anguish enough to call upon God? What other options are generally tried first, as we seek to relieve our own suffering? Why is it usually a last resort to draw near to God rather than to go to Him immediately?

 His promises are absolute

  • Read Lam. 3:56-57. When Jeremiah cried out to God, what was God’s response? How is that restated in James 4:8a? How do you know that is a promise for us?
  • How was Jeremiah’s cry to God similar to David’s trust in Psalm 23:4? Read 1 Peter 5:7. Is this also a promise that we know we can trust? Can you share a favorite verse that promises God’s help during times of trouble?

He will do the heavy lifting

  • Read Lam. 3:58-61. Once Jeremiah breaks through his chains of agony, where does he begin to focus his thoughts? What does he start to thank God for?
  • How did Jeremiah relinquish control of the revenge he might have wanted to exact on his enemies? Read Romans 12:19. How have you been able to turn your desire to “get even” with someone over to God? Were you able to let it go?

Nothing is too hard for Him

  • Read Lam. 3:22-25. As Jeremiah began to focus on God, with His past faithfulness and constant care, how did he turn his own grief to faith? What promise did he give us as an anchor we can hold on to through our storms?

Close

Scripture is full of beautiful passages that have resulted in hymns and songs of worship throughout church history. Some, like those based on Psalm 23, are too many to number; others, like “I Am His and He Is Mine” (Jer. 31:3), “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth” (Job 19:23), or “Grace Greater Than All My Sin” (Rom. 5:20), will probably be sung in churches until our Lord returns. A favorite hymn, though, was taken from Jeremiah’s words in Lamentations 3:21-23, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” He spoke words that resonate in our hearts as we remind ourselves of the faithful watch care our Father provides, but he went on to write, “His compassions fail not, they are new every morning.” Do you see the wonder of that?

Would our depths of pain, sorrow, or grief be lighter if we were truly able to grasp how much God loves us? Probably. We tend to think in finite terms of love, one that is often more conditional than unconditional. Sometimes we may even struggle with doubts that we love Him as He desires us to. God’s first commandment—that we love Him—should be our top priority. If we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and spirit, we will always be aware of having Him near, and when seasons in life get out of control, we grab that anchor that will be there no matter how bad the storm. We need to train our minds to recognize that we need Him every moment of every day for every need!

When night comes, when the thoughts on one’s pillow create unrest and worry, we call out His name and He’s there to comfort. Where can I go from Your presence, David asks in Psalm 139:7-12. He then concludes, nowhere, Lord. Or as Peter proclaimed in John 6:67-69 to Jesus, when He asked if the disciples wanted to leave Him, “Lord, to whom should we go? Only You have the words of eternal life.”

May that be our conscious refrain as we come into trials, as we go through them with His help, and come out on the other side with thanksgiving. Where else can we go? Only He has the words of eternal life for us.

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