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.

I am using 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 tells us that in the midst of his great suffering and depression over what has happened to him, he still puts His trust in God.  Despite knowing that his suffering comes from God, his faith in God still gives him hope.  He knows that God faithfully loves those who seek Him.  In the midst of our bad times let us wait patiently for God to deliver us.  Yesterday I wrote that Lamentations is hard for me, but today there is truly a message for us.  This year may be a difficult year (although nowhere near as difficult as the situation which inspired the writer of Lamentations), but we can still place our hope in God and trust that He will bring us salvation.  No one is abandoned of the Lord forever.  He may have brought difficult times upon us in order to bring us back to Him, but if we turn to Him He will bring us joy once more.

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

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

There is much more to this passage than I am able to put into words.  However, early in it the prophet makes a point which I want to focus on.  Assuming the prophet is Jeremiah, as tradition claims for this Book, we can see a parallel between what is written at the beginning of Chapter 3 and his life.  He saw the destruction of Jerusalem coming and prophesied calling the people to change their ways to avoid it.  But they did not listen and the destruction came.  Then, even after the destruction and the suffering he experienced leading up to it, he was forced to join those who fled to Egypt.  Yet, for all of this, he remembered that God’s love is faithful and endures forever.  He put his hope in God and was not disappointed.

The prophet reminds us that the Lord is good to those who depend on Him.  Therefore, we should submit to His discipline from an early age.  Let us patiently wait for the Lord’s salvation and quietly accept His demands. 

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

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

Here the prophet, generally thought to be Jeremiah, laments the destruction of Jerusalem.  The prophet writes of how beautiful Jerusalem had been and how it has been devastated.  However, he warns everyone that Jerusalem’s devastation resulted from the sins of her people.  They had given no thought to the consequences of their action and lived for the moment; sinning without fear of what would happen later.  They listened to prophets who told them what they wanted to hear rather than those who spoke God’s word.  The people thought that because the Temple was there that God would never allow the city to fall.  They turned from God to make friends with other nations (Note: this does not necessarily mean that it was wrong for them to make friends with those nations.  The wrong was in turning from God to do so).  However, when God brought home the consequences of their sins, none of those nations were willing, or able, to come to their aid.  In all of this Jerusalem, and the Kingdom of Judah, are object lessons for all nations and peoples.  If you turn from God and sin against Him when His judgement comes none will stand by you to offer you aid.