Cry Out in the Night
Read: Lamentations 2:17-22 Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! (v. 19) During their “empty nest” years, my grandparents cared for foster children. Many of them carried emotional wounds and dysfunctional coping strategies. Once, a child burned himself on the wood stove. Instead of telling my grandparents, he hid his injury […]
Poured Out
Read: Lamentations 2:11-16 My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns. (v. 11) It’s not easy being a prophet. Jeremiah’s ministry coincided with the decline and fall of the nation of Israel. Jeremiah’s job was warning his people of the consequences of their idolatry. Jeremiah knew that judgment was coming, but he didn’t escape it. […]
Torn Down
Read: Lamentations 2:6-10 The LORD determined to lay in ruins the wall of the daughter of Zion. (v. 8) In the film Polish Wedding, a once-gentle husband flies into a jealous rage. His wife has just disclosed a deep betrayal as they stand together in the kitchen they carefully built together. In response, he tears down […]
Like an Enemy
Read: Lamentations 2:1-5 He has bent his bow like an enemy. (v. 4) In the years leading up to the exile, God identified himself as Israel’s husband and characterized their idolatry as marital infidelity (Jer. 31:32). In Lamentations 2, Jeremiah describes an alarming transformation: God has gone from being a lover to an enemy. Israel’s God […]
No Comfort?
Read: Lamentations 1:17-20 Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her. (v. 17) Years ago, I watched a television program that featured a man beginning the process of overcoming an addiction. His best friend, a reformed addict, said, “Get used to the fact that nothing is going to make you feel good […]
Unable to Move On
Read: Lamentations 1:12-16 Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow. (v. 12) When I was a new pastor, I learned much from my mistakes. One hard lesson was that time passes differently for the grieving. Several recently widowed church members expressed hurt and betrayal that their pastors and elders had neglected them. […]
Regret Redeemed
Read: Lamentations 1:7-11 Jerusalem remembers . . . all the precious things that were hers. (v. 7) As I get older, I find myself troubled by regrets: failing to savor my daughters’ childhood years, hurting family members, missing the opportunity to reconcile with a now-deceased friend. No matter the nature, regret amounts to the same thing: […]
How
Read: Lamentations 1:1-6 How lonely sits the city that was full of people! (v. 1) The original Hebrew title for the book of Lamentations is also the book’s first word: How. Lamentations has traditionally been attributed to the prophet Jeremiah—who warned God’s people of the impending exile to Babylon, then watched as the devastation unfolded. The […]
The End of Worship
Read: Psalm 105:1-6 Seek his face always. (v. 4 NIV) When does worship end? Answer: It doesn’t. Our life with God is full of both satisfaction and hunger at the same time. Augustine said that we seek God to enjoy him more than before, and we enjoy God so we can seek him even more passionately. […]