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Lamentations, is the book in the Bible, that is the prophet Jeremiah’s cry of anguish; but amazingly, yet in a way not surprisingly, for with God you are never without hope, in the midst of it all there is his bold declaration of courageous hope and it comes to you and I as the promise of God this month, declaring ,The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. [Lamentation 3:25] What is described above is a confident hope, based on the authority of God’s word.
The title of the book, ‘Lamentation’, says it all; it is self explanatory ! It is a deeply emotional book, yet synchronized and formally crafted, acrostic in nature, the first letter of each verse being the Hebrew alphabet, taken in order. Each chapter is made of twenty two verses, with the third chapter in the middle of the book alone with sixty six verses. In all respects it is a well thought out book, where in the midst of his sorrow, Jeremiah thinks things through, to reach a place of hope, resting in the faithfulness of God, to await His salvation. A Christian is never without hope even in dire circumstances is the thrust of this powerful book.
And, confident hope is much more than a superficial, ‘I hope so’. It is a certainty that comes in you, through your faith in the God whom you know and believe to be good and only good. His word declares that without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to Him, must believe that He exists, and rewards those who come to come to Him in faith, The Lord is good to those who seek Him in confident faith and trust is the core truth that Jeremiah establishes, through a step by step well thought out process to give hope in the seemingly impossible situation.
And, it is also how when you feel that all you can do is lament about your pain filled, sorrowful life, the lamentation can be transformed into rejoicing as you apply the principles that Jeremiah lays out step by step to lift you up. For, sometimes in a crowd, you can feel that you are simply making up the numbers, and God has not really heard your prayer. But, His reassurance to you is loving and powerful. He remembers your every prayer, however ancient and far ago it seems to you. The question is, do you ? !
He has not forgotten you :
For God is not unjust to forget your work, and the love you have shown towards His Name, in having ministered and in still ministering to His saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of your hope until the end, So that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. [Hebrews 6:10-12] It is how the writer to the Hebrews approaches the truth of God, and His nature, when the promises of God are seemingly delayed. He is never unjust, and has not forgotten your prayer, the cry of your heart. He is mindful of you, forever. It is vital therefore that you remember your prayers too, though years may pass by without you seeing an answer to it at all.
It is what happened to the priest Zacharias; and one can easily imagine how startled he must have been when the Angel came to announce to him, that his prayer for a child had been heard, and he was going to be blessed with a son. He found it impossible to believe, for years had gone by, he and his wife were now old, and probably he had grown resigned to his lot of being childless, having forgotten his prayers altogether. [Luke 1:11–20]
But God remembered. And again, one has to bear in mind the fact that God remembering your prayer or mine, does not imply in any way that it was forgotten by Him, at any point of time. Rather, it only signifies His timely intervention, for He has made all things beautiful in its time.Therefore, there is the responsibility on your part too, not to forget, or be sluggish, but with diligence be imitators of those who with faith and perseverance inherited the promises of God. For, the word of God is both honest and true, recording in it both good and bad examples. And it is the counsel of God that you may follow what is good. Multitudes fell in the wilderness, but two entered to inherit and possess the Promised Land as the Israelites were liberated by the mighty Hand of God from bondage in Egypt.
And, it is the lives of Caleb and Joshua, who with faith and perseverance held on to the promise of God which ought to be the beacon light that guide you. Faith and patience are both key components, two sides of the same coin, in appropriating the promises of God in your life. Having patience without faith will lead to futility, while having faith without patience will ultimately end in frustration in you. And therefore, if you have the faith to believe that God can do something in your life, something that He has promised to you, you have to wait until He does it; it is as simple as that ! The word of promise that you receive from God is the seed that is sown in the soil of your heart. And, there is always a gestation time involved, before it germinates to ultimately bring forth fruit. The time may vary from seed to seed, but the truth remains, that fruit will come, as you hold on to it in faith.
Without becoming sluggish :
The need to be fervent in faith and prayer is always there, because the natural tendency would be to become slack concerning it, especially when your answer is seemingly delayed. It may be steadily coming closer, even though you may not even be aware of God’s working toward it, just as water boils and starts bubbling only when the temperature reaches 100 degrees and not at 99 ! It is why you need to continue to put your trust in Him, without becoming sluggish and losing your zeal. For, the Lord is always and forever good. And yes, painful things maybe happening in your life, but in the midst of all the trouble and turmoil, for a change to come and things to turn around, you need to persevere in your faith. And, it is where having a diligent attitude comes into play.
What is diligence ?
It is a combination of effectiveness, which is doing the right thing, and efficiency, which is doing it rightly. The right thing would be to put your trust in Him in faith, and remaining persistent without losing heart, would be doing it rightly. And, very often you will find that before changing your circumstance, God will bring about a mighty change in you, as you focus upon Him in your prayer of faith and continuing trust. Lamentations, is a book that is deeply emotional, and on the surface level, may appear to be just a mournful lament, but when you study it, and not just read it, you will find that it is well thought out. It was also what Abraham did to reach a place of conviction within him.
He reasoned within himself as he climbed the mountain, to offer up his son, Isaac, in obedient sacrifice unto God. He trusted the promise of God to him, that it would be through Isaac that his descendants would become like the stars in the sky in diligent faith, to know the truth of God, ‘Give and it shall be given back to you’ ! Jeremiah too in similar fashion, thinks things through in his situation, step by step, to reach the place of truth – the place of hope.
‘ My soul remembers …’ :
It is where he begins, when in all honesty Jeremiah admits what is going on within him, sorrowful as he is about the plight of his people, the impending doom , ‘Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me’. [Lamentation 3:20] The human mind has an innate capacity to remember bad experiences; and more often than not they linger much more strongly than the good times that have certainly come in every person’s life. And, it is what makes a person bowed down and discouraged within him, as Jeremiah expresses very aptly. But, it is then that Jeremiah, instead of succumbing to the negative emotion, pauses to reason in his mind, and think it through to take the next step, one of positive hope. He goes on to change the subject in his mind, shifting his focus to be upon the God who remains faithful and good in all things, and at all times.
God’s compassion and faithfulness :
This I recall to my mind, and therefore I have hope. The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease; for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. [Lamentation 3:21-23] When you are a child of God, you may be in a seemingly helpless situation, but you are never ever hopeless. ‘But the more I try to forget, the more I remember it all’, may be your position regarding the painful experiences of your past, and it is indeed very true. And, it is then that your focus becomes predominantly important. For, focusing on what is painful and troubling will only lead to worry that goes on to become a stronghold of fear.
Worry comes when you focus on your problem, while switching the subject to focus on the promises of God instead, will lead you out of your problem, to a place of hope, rest and perfect peace. It is psychology though, that shows you what you need to do, and stops short with that. But, by walking in the Christian truth you will know that it takes place as you meditate upon the word of God, to know that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. It is the truth that sets you free. If the Son sets you free you are free indeed; and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.
Recalling to have hope :
‘This I recall to have hope’, is what the prophet declares, referring not to the opinion of men, but the truth of God’s word. And, who gives you the power to recall what is good and right ? It is God, who does it as you fix your thoughts upon Him, to keep you in perfect peace. [Isaiah 26:3] Change happens not by trying to change yourself, but by trusting in Him who leads you in a triumphal procession in Christ. The apostle Peter paints a very beautiful picture of it in his epistle.
The lamp in a dark place :
So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. [2 Peter 1:19] Focusing on a solitary lamp is easier in a dark place. The contrast works ! And, in a world where there is bad news all around, it is certainly not difficult to focus on the one good news, the gospel, which is nothing but the person of Jesus Christ, on what He has already done, what He is doing in your life right now, and what He is going to do in the future. And sometimes, it is when you withdraw to a quiet place in prayer, shutting out the noise of the world, the contrary and negative opinions of people, that you can hear from God through His word, as a lamp that shines to light your way in the darkness of the world towards life and hope.
Written, that you may have hope :
For whatever was written in earlier times, was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. [Romans 15:4] Scripture comes to you to instruct, encourage and give you hope even in a dark and bleak situation. It is why Jeremiah reasons within himself, and speaks to his own soul, about what he needed to recall, in order to have hope, a confident hope, a sure conviction and certainty, that is not mere wishful thinking. The watchman knows as he keeps watch, that dawn will certainly come. He does not vaguely wonder and hope that the sun would rise in the morning ! [Psalms 130:6] And, the psalmist makes the source of his confident hope abundantly clearin the previous verse. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits; and in His word I do hope. [Psalms 130:5]
You can wait without any shred of doubt in you, when your hope is confident, because it is built on the word of God. The Bible, the written word of God, is ancient, and has no power now, people may say. But, the evangelist Reinhard Bonke has countered the false argument by pointing to the sun :- that it is a created object, which is still giving heat and light without losing its power, and therefore, how much more will be the power of the word that created it ! It is the seed that will surely bring forth the promised yield, as you wait in confident hope. The watchman waits with hope, knowing and believing that the sun will rise in the morning; how much more certain you can be of the Sun of Righteousness, the Lord, who Himself will ultimately be your everlasting Light, and the word that He speaks to you. What you choose to recall therefore matters, in order to have hope.
Recalling the nature of God :
A shifting of focus from your problem, to the nature of God, is the effective and efficient thing that you need to keep doing, in order to come out of your troubling circumstance. And to this end, it is the loving kindnesses of the Lord, His compassion and mercy that is new every morning, and the greatness of His faithfulness that you recall and have hope. [Lamentation 3:22,23] It is by recalling His mercy that you know the truth of all your sins having been dealt with on the Cross of Calvary. You have a God who has said, ‘I will be merciful towards their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more’. [Hebrews 8:19]
And, His grace that is new every morning, gives you sufficiency as you depend upon it to live an overcoming Christian life. Manna ceased for the Israelites at a certain point of time, when they entered the land of Canaan. But in the new covenant, His grace is new every morning, granting you fresh empowerment for the challenges of the day, and will be freely available to you, every day of your life.He is also a God whose compassion never fails. People can express their sympathy in your time of need, or be empathetic towards your plight, being able to put themselves in your place and really feel your pain. But, it is the compassion that the Lord has towards the suffering that does something to rectify and remove their suffering.
And today, He is your Great High Priest who sympathizes with your every weakness, having been through it all, and yet without sin. He pleads on your behalf, seated at the right hand of God, and boldly you can now in Christ, approach the throne of grace, to receive mercy and help in your time of need. And finally, the culmination of it all is your future, concerning which you can recall His faithfulness and have hope. For, He is a God who remains faithful, even when you are faithless. therefore, even as Jeremiah declares, ‘Great is Your faithfulness’, you too can confess, to move from lamentation to a place of rejoicing. It is the next step that Jeremiah takes in his journey to hope.
‘The Lord is my portion’ :
Life and death are in the power of the tongue, declares the word of God. And, knowing and applying this truth in his life, Jeremiah comes to the right conclusion, to focus not on his problem, but to confess and declare, not his lament, but his hope, saying, ‘The Lord is my portion’, says my soul; therefore I hope in Him. [Lamentation 3:24] Trusting in God always needs to be ratified by your confession of it, even as psalm one hundred and three is, where the psalmist makes a good confession of the benefits that you and I receive from God, who richly supplies our every need. And, when this is your position of faith and trust in God, whom you know to be faithful and good, you can echo and confess the words of the prophet to say, ‘It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord’. [Lamentation 3:26]
The progression of hope :
So wonderfully expressed by the psalmist’s own experience, hope in you builds up step by step, even as the level of trust in you progressively increases. The psalmist begins by declaring that he is not greatly shaken, to move to higher ground as he recalls the goodness of God, where he is able to say that he is not shaken ! He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense. I shall not be greatly shaken. [Psalms 2:2] My soul, wait silently for the Lord; for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be shaken. [Vs 5,6] Even in your life it can be a very similar progressive journey. For, initially, when you receive a promise from God , you may think that it is too difficult to be manifested in your life. And, the next stage would be as your faith increases, to think that, ‘Yes, God can do it in my life. But, will He ?’ Finally, you will reach the point of trust in God’s faithfulness where you will be able to declare, ‘God will certainly do it; it is only a question of time’ ! It is the place of confident hope !
A return to your rest :
And, it is then that you can say to yourself when you become anxious, ‘Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you’. [Psalms 116:7] You have a wonderful Savior, and therefore you can recall and have hope; that the Lord is your portion, and it is good to wait for His salvation. Focus on the only bright light, the word of God, in the midst of darkness. God has wonderful things planned for you that will certainly come to pass, and thank Him as you wait, for He has taught you to say, ‘It is well with my soul’, whatever your lot may be.
With a grateful heart therefore, offer thanks unto the Father, for giving us His Son, to give His life for us on the Cross of Calvary, and the wonderful things that have been accomplished for us through it all, to see our lamentation turn into rejoicing. And, may partaking of the Lord’s Table not be a mere ritual, but the place where we appropriate it all in our life’s circumstances, in Christ and through Christ, in common union with the Almighty God, our Father in heaven.
In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
