Today, I am reading and commenting on Lamentations 3-5.

The writer speaks of his great despair and the suffering he has experienced.  In the middle of his deep depression he reminds himself, and us, that God’s compassion never fails and His faithfulness is great.  He determined to wait on the Lord.  He tells us to examine ourselves, acknowledge our sins, and return to the Lord.  If we do so, and call on the Lord, He will hear and come near to us.  If we return to Him, God will take up our cause and redeem us.  Indeed, He has already redeemed us, we merely need to accept His redemption.  The writer then goes on to speak of the suffering of God’s people, which resulted from their failure to faithfully do God’s will.  God reigns forever and will restore His people in His time.  So, let us return to the Lord, and call His people to do likewise.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Lamentations 1-2.

I find the Book of Lamentations a bit depressing and usually struggle with what to write about it.  However, today as I read it, verse fourteen of chapter two really spoke to me:
The visions of your prophets
    were false and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
    to ward off your captivity.
The prophecies they gave you
    were false and misleading.
This verse tells us that that which happened to Jerusalem which led to the lamentations of this book resulted from the failure of the religious leaders to convey God’s words of correction to God’s people.  Thinking about that makes me wonder to what degree this may be true today.  Once more I will point out that most prophets are sent to God’s people.  So, are the prophets whom God is sending to the Church today calling out our sins?  Or, are they lying to us?  Are we listening to the prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah today?  Or, are we listening to those like those who argued that Jeremiah and Isaiah were wrong?  We need to be willing to those who expose our sin, rather than those who encourage us to sin.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Lamentations 3-5.

I write this a lot, but once again I am not quite sure how this is going to come together as I write about today’s passage.  Once again in today’s passage the writer, probably Jeremiah, speaks of his terrible sadness and the suffering he has experienced.  In the midst of his suffering he calls to mind what he knows about God.  He knows that God’s compassion will never fail and that He is ever faithful.  This knowledge lifts the writer up with hope.  It inspires him to wait for God to act because he knows that God is good to those who put their hope in Him.  Let us wait quietly for God’s salvation.  Seek God and He will rescue us from our affliction.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Lamentations 1-2.

I write this every year, but I don’t like covering Lamentations because it is rather depressing.  My focus is going to be on what the writer says in chapter two verse 11.  He writes this book of lamentations because his people have been destroyed. Everyone he cares about has suffered, and most of them have died.  Which explains why we must speak God’s words to those we care about, because if they continue to ignore His commands they too will suffer greatly.  If we cannot convince them to listen to God’s Spirit, they will suffer for their sins.  Of course, Jeremiah, who we think authored this book, spent his life telling the people of Jerusalem and Judah God’s words.  He tried to convince them to turn from their sins, but they would not listen to him.  So, even if we do our best to convince people to turn to God, they might not do so, but at least we will have tried.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Lamentations 3-5.

The writer continues with describing his depression.  He describes his suffering in detail which breaks your heart and starts to make me depressed because he experienced it.  Then he writes, “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.”  He goes on to tell us what he called to mind and why it gives him hope.  God’s compassion does not fail, it renews every day.  Put your hope in God and He will do good things for you.  When you face depression, when your world is coming apart, trust God and wait for His salvation.  We should not complain when we suffer punishment for our sins.  Instead, let us examine our actions and return to the Lord confessing our sins.  In the midst of our depression let us call upon the Lord.  He will hear us when we do, and tell us what He has told every generation which turns to Him, “Do not fear.”  I almost missed the other point about how God responds when we turn to Him.  When we cry out to God, He comes near to us.  A few people I know express how, when they are depressed that it feels like their prayers are bouncing off of the ceiling.  Well, that is why this is so important.  When your prayers are bouncing off of the ceiling, that’s OK because God has come near, right in the room with you.  The reason your prayers bounce off of the ceiling is because God is right next to you and they bounce off of the ceiling to His ears.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Lamentations 1-2.

I always struggle with the Book of Lamentations because it seems so unremittingly despondent.   Today I saw something a bit different.  In the middle of lamenting the suffering of the people of Jerusalem, the writer talks about the failure of its prophets to point out their sin and call them to repentance.  So, if like me, you see an echo of what Isaiah and Jeremiah had to say about Israel and Judah in today’s society, then we need to ask ourselves if we are like the prophets to whom the writer refers.  As I read the Old Testament prophets condemning the sins of Israel and Judah, I see  our society committing the same sins, and I see how those sins are destroying our society just as the prophets said they were destroying Israel and Judah.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Lamentations 3-5.

The prophet continues his lament, discussing how completely depressed he was by his suffering.  Though he had depression because of his suffering he also had hope because of God’s great compassion.  God’s compassion is new every morning, His love is unfailing.  God does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.  This needs to be given a bit of thought.  If God does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone, they must result from our sin.  God punishes us for sin in order to turn us from our sin before we suffer even greater affliction and/or grief than His punishment brings us.  So, we should examine our ways and test where we are not doing God’s will, especially when we face suffering or grief, but not just when we face suffering and grief.  Then, when we identify where we fall short of doing what is right, we should return to God and beg His forgiveness.

I had grown up with the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” which says that God’s compassion does not fail.  So, that felt like one of those things that everyone would understand.  Then I wrote that as part of the title for today’s blog and realized that needed some thought.  In the same verse where the prophet says that God’s compassion is new every morning he writes that God has great faithfulness.  Each and every day, God offers us new opportunities to serve Him.  Each and every morning we can seek those opportunities and put our hope in Him.  If we trust in God, He will give us hope.  When we face suffering, affliction, and grief, each day brings new hope.  Let us patiently wait for God to act.  Each day let us call out to Him, then wait to see what His response will be.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Lamentations 3-5.

Reading chapter 3 of Lamentations puts it all on perspective for me.  The prophet continues his laments for the suffering of both himself and the people of Jerusalem.  However, in the midst of his lamentation, he remembers that God is ever compassionate.  God does not willingly bring suffering and grief on anyone,  Suffering and grief come into our lives as a result of sin.  When we face troubles and suffering, let us continue to put our trust in the Lord and wait on His salvation.  The writer tells us to examine our ways and test them, then return to the Lord, confessing our sin.  If we turn from our sins, God will hear our pleas and rescue us.  God will draw near to us when we call on Him, and tell us not to fear.  As so many other passages tell us, if God is for us what else is there to fear?

This passage truly spoke to me.  When times look bad, when it looks like people have completely turned their back on God and His judgement will fall on the land around us, let us still put our faith in Him and trust Him to protect us.  We may suffer some along with those around us, but if we keep the faith, He will be faithful and see us through the dark times.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.