Lesson 12 - Lam. 3:19-33 - HOPE OF RELIEF IN GOD'S MERCY
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Jer. 33:1-9, 14-16, we concluded our study of the Book of Jeremiah with a promise of God's restoration at a very dark time when Judah had been completely overrun by Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian armies and the city of Jerusalem was fighting a losing battle to keep the invaders from breaching the walls. The key verse of chapter 33 was v. 3, where God exhorted the prophet to: "Call to Me and I will answer you and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know." God promised that "Days are coming" when He would restore both Judah and Israel and would "make a righteous branch of David sprout" and "execute justice and righteousness on the earth" (vv. 14-15). We know that this Davidic king appeared as Jesus of Nazareth at His first coming and that he will completely fulfill this prophecy at His Second Coming when He establishes His Millennial reign on earth from the city of Jerusalem. The two truths we learned from that lesson were: (1) We often do not understand what God is doing behind the scenes. The text made the point that sometimes we must ask the Lord for things before He will give them to us. And (2) before we can see the great and mighty things, God must first deal with our sin. If we are tempted to ask God about His mighty promises, we need to remember that He does a work of cleansing before he grants us a work of restoration-something we should keep in mind as individual Christians and as a church.
This week, in Lam. 3:19-33, we'll study a message of hope that Jeremiah proclaimed from exile between 575 and 586 B.C., after the city of Jerusalem had been conquered and destroyed. The whole Book of Lamentations is classified as a lament, a poem or writing in which the author expresses grief and sorrow over heartbreaking events that have taken place. Chapter 1, which we skip, describes Jerusalem as scene of utter desolation, which the prophet likens to a destitute widow who has been abandoned by her children and neighbors and left poor, detested, and filthy. It represents not only the condition of Jerusalem but also describes all that is left of Judah and Israel, too. In Chapter 2, also skipped, the prophet laments the misery of Jerusalem, its causes, leading him to make a confession of true sorrow and repentance as he concludes with a fervent prayer. Chapter 3 begins as an expression of the personal pain the prophet has suffered in the face of this national disaster, then, remembering that God is always a faithful and loving God, the prophet switches his thoughts to a message of hope.
Read Lam. 3:19-20 - MY SOUL REMEMBER
19 Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness. 20 Surely my soul remembers And is bowed down within me.
v. 19: "Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness." - Jeremiah could not experience any positive thoughts because of the deep "affliction" he felt. He compared his feelings to "wormwood," a desert plant from which people extracted a medicinal remedy that was known for its very bitter taste. Here he uses it as metaphor for the misery that has overtaken his life. The "affliction" that causes him to feel embittered comes from the reality that his homeland has been totally devastated and that his people have been exiled to a foreign place. Yet, he apparently felt it was more useful to remember it rather than pretend it had never happened. He was simply facing the reality that what had happened could not simply be undone and wished away.
v. 20: "Surely my soul remembers And is bowed down within me." - It was actually good for Jeremiah's "soul" to sink-to find its bottom point-so he can build it up on the right foundation. This is a turning point for the prophet: it causes his "soul" to humble itself and bow down before God. So, when we hit rock bottom in misery, where should we go? To the feet of God. He's always there...waiting for us to come to Him. He's ready to listen.
Read Lam. 3:21-24 - GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS
21 This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. 22 The LORD's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him."
v. 21: "This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope." - For perhaps the first time in this Book, the prophet allows himself to "hope." After having sunk so low in his soul, Jeremiah now remembers something that starts hope stirring within him. While there no denying the terrible consequences of what has happened to Jerusalem and the people, there is also no denying that the fact that Lord God has redeemed Israel from terrible situations in the past, giving Jeremiah hope that the Lord will redeem Israel once again.
v. 22: "The LORD's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail." - The key truth that Jeremiah remembers is the "LORD's "lovingkindnesses" (Heb. he·sed), which is a special term that describes God's loyal and unending love for His covenant people. Like the Greek word agapē in the NT, the Hebrew word he·sed is a term that means more than feelings but involves expressions of love through actions.
v. 23a: "They are new every morning;" - So, Jeremiah expresses confident faith that the Lord's he·sed never ceases and His mercies never end, because "They are new every morning." Since that is true, Israel has nothing to fear. As terrible as its present circumstances may be, its future is assured. And Israel and its people-even in times when they turned away from God-are still bound together in a covenant relationship and can trust the Lord to be faithful to that relationship.
v. 23b: "Great is Your faithfulness." - This phrase expresses the faith that the Lord has both the will, the means, and the power to redeem every situation, no matter how grim it may be. These words in Lamentations inspired the title of the wonderful old hymn, "Great is Thy Faithfulness." Let's reflect on these lines from the hymn and consider their connection to what Jeremiah is expressing in the text: "Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not. As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth. Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Blessings all mine with 10, 000 beside. Morning by morning new mercies I see. Great is Thy Faithfulness!"
v. 24: "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him." - Following the conquest of Canaan, the Lord directed the division of the land into tribal portions. Their tribal allotment constituted their livelihood-their means of sustaining life. However, Aaron and his descendants, the priestly order of the Levites, did not receive an allotment of land because the Lord said "I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel" (Num. 18:20), so that they would live off the tithes and gifts brought to the Lord (Deut. 32:9). Thus, Jeremiah, a Levite, sees the Lord as his "portion"-his means of sustaining life. So, he sees his spiritual heritage as far outweighing a physical heritage that consists merely of lands and goods. What is more, the one who is dependent on the Lord for his portion is truly blessed, because His compassion never fails and His faithfulness is, indeed, great.
Read Lam. 3:25-30 - THE LORD IS GOOD TO THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM
25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him. 26 It is good that he waits silently For the salvation of the LORD. 27 It is good for a man that he should bear The yoke in his youth. 28 Let him sit alone and be silent Since He has laid it on him. 29 Let him put his mouth in the dust, Perhaps there is hope. 30 Let him give his cheek to the smiter, Let him be filled with reproach.
v. 25a: "The LORD is good to those who wait for Him," - We find emphasis on "waiting" throughout Scripture. To "wait for" the LORD means to live in faith with the expectation that God's compassion and mercy never fails-that His faithfulness to us is assured. So, to "wait for" the Lord is the ability to see beyond our present circumstances (like the exiles) to a future that will be blessed (the restoration of Israel in Jeremiah's case and assurance of spending eternity in heaven in our case).
v. 25b: "To the person who seeks Him. - All the misery suffered by God's people had come because they had refused to truly seek God and wait for Him. Instead, they had rejected Him and looked to other things to protect them (i.e., false gods, foreign alliances). However, truthfully and faithfully seeking Him again would bring them renewed evidence of his "lovingkindness" (he·sed) for them.
v. 26: "It is good that he waits silently For the salvation of the LORD." - While everything in the previous chapters of Lamentations in relation to misery and despair was by no means over, these flashes of light by Jeremiah were welcome and necessary. Against all this hardship, Jeremiah declared to himself and all others the goodness of hope and the patience of seeking God.
v. 27: "It is good for a man that he should bear The yoke in his youth." - There are seasons of adversity in every life, and sometimes it's better to experience those seasons when one is young. If God disciplines us when we are young, it is intended to train us for a fruitful future. Early habits, when they are good, are invaluable; and early discipline, when they are bad, is equally valuable.
v. 28: "Let him sit alone and be silent Since He has laid it on him." - When the Lord places a yoke (or burden) on someone, the wise person quietly suffers it in silence in acknowledgement of his or her sin. By doing so, their silence will acknowledge the rightness of the Lord's judgment and the certainty of the Lord's forthcoming mercy.
v. 29: "Let him put his mouth in the dust, Perhaps there is hope." - Putting one's "mouth in the dust" is a proverbial way of demonstrating submission to authority. In this way the disheartened person does so in the hope that his master (i.e., God) will notice his submission and lighten his load.
v. 30: "Let him give his cheek to the smiter, Let him be filled with reproach." - Giving one's "cheek to the smiter" is another proverbial way of demonstrating submission to a master. To accept "reproach" is the same as accepting or admitting blame. For some, it could mean accepting criticism and even physical abuse for your faith-something on which Jeremiah was expert. This should bring to mind Jesus' silence in the face of His smiters (Matt. 26:62-63; John 18:22).
Read Lam. 3:31-33 - THE LORD WILL NOT REJECT FOREOVER
31 For the Lord will not reject forever, 32 For if He causes grief, Then He will have compassion According to His abundant lovingkindness. 33 For He does not afflict willingly Or grieve the sons of men.
v. 31: "For the Lord will not reject forever," - God's anger is only temporary. Although the people have suffered the destruction of Jerusalem and are now suffering in exile, Jeremiah expresses faith that the Lord will not punish Judah forever but will redeem her.
v. 32: "For if He causes grief, Then He will have compassion According to His abundant lovingkindness." - God purpose in punishing the Judahites has a redemptive purpose. The Lord's "lovingkindness" (Heb. he·sed = unending love for His people) guarantees that the exile won't last forever. This will in fact, happen: When God raises up Cyrus as king of Persia, he will crush Babylonia in 539 B.C. Cyrus would also prove to be a compassionate ruler who not only encouraged the people to resume worship of YWHW, but also provided the means for them to rebuild their temple and city.
v. 33: "For He does not afflict willingly Or grieve the sons of men." - Good parents discipline their children when discipline is required, but they find no joy in doing it. Here, the Lord is administering discipline to these Jewish people, but His discipline is only a means to an end. God's purpose is to is get the peoples' attention, to cause to turn back Him, with the objective of bring them back into the covenant relationship He established with them centuries earlier.
APPLICATION-God is Good No Matter What
1. No matter what circumstances of life throws at us, we always have the hope that God is good. Jeremiah came to this realization in today's text. After sinking as low as he could go, Jeremiah remembered that God's lovingkindness (Heb. he·sed), his loyal love for him and his people never ceases, giving him the confidence to hope that He would redeem them once again in the future.
2. Because God's faithfulness is great, He has both the will and the power to redeem us from any situation, no matter how terrible it seems. When life has forces us into a bleak situation, God promises us new mercies every day-a way of escape. When we hit rock bottom, like Jeremiah, we should straight to the feet of God.
3. To wait for the Lord is the ability to see beyond out present circumstances to the future. For Jeremiah and the people it was to wait for the restoration of Israel. In the case of Christians, we not only have the hope of God's blessings in our immediate future, but the blessed assurance that we will spend eternity in heaven with Him.
4. If God places a yoke on us-disciplines us for sin-we should suffer it in silence. A wise person will suffer his or her divine discipline quietly, and by doing so, will accept the rightness of the Lord's judgment and the certainty of the Lord's forthcoming mercy.
5. When God's people sin, His anger is only temporary. God's purpose in punishing His people when they sin is redemptive-intended to cleanse them of their sin and bring them back into a right relationship with Him. And when God's people repent of their sin and return to Him, He is faithful to redeem them with hope and a future. And the "future" has special meaning for the Christian. Jeremiah said it best: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jer. 29:11).
