Have you seen an emotion wheel like this one on the screen?
How many ways do you think we can describe the emotion of angry, sad, or feeling bad?
Or let me put it another way.
If someone say, I feel lonely, isolated, abandoned, vulnerable, victimized, fragile,
despair, grief, powerless, guilty, ashamed, remorseful, depressed, empty, inferior, hurt, disappointed, or embarrassed,
which emotion do people typically lump these emotions under?
These 18 emotions, they often lump under sadness, and often is when we are overwhelmed with sadness.
We lost all our hope.
We want to complain about our situation and point our fingers at the blames of our sufferings.
Instead, we would be more appropriate to ask the question the writer of Lamentation posed in chapter 3, verse 39.
Why should the living complain when punished for their sins?
To help us to lament about what we are facing?
Today, I want to take you on a journey with the director of Lamentation to find hope in despair and in darkness.
To find our hope in God.
If you open our St. Paul's app, you will see the three points for today.
Hope eclipse, hope emerge, and hope everlasting.
From chapter 1 to chapter 3, verse 18 in the Lamentations,
the 62 verses are like dark shadows moving across and eclipse our light shores.
All become dark when the writer say in verse 19 to 20,
His soul is downcast within him, holy and utterly hopeless because of the desolation to his hometown Jerusalem.
The book of Lamentations is a gift from God for us to connect with him.
The writer invites us to join God's grieving over sins and destruction of his creations.
Barry Webb, a well-known Bible scholar, pointed out that grief itself, by its very nature,
is a somewhat formless thing.
We need external help to address it.
You might have experienced this yourself, especially some grief that hits you very hard.
Maybe a tough breakup, or someone very deep to you died,
or watching a loved one dealing with debilitating sickness.
As your mind moves in circle, repeatedly returning to the source of grief,
unable to leave it, unable to resolve it,
was it hard to identify precisely how you feel?
Lamentation is written in a form that allows grief to be fully exposed and expressed,
and yet, at the same time, sets a limit to it.
These poems explore grief in its many various aspects,
viewing it first from one's perspective,
and then from another, and yet another.
That is why there are seemingly many repetitions within the book,
especially in the first 62 verses,
as we slowly eclipse into complete darkness.
At one stage, the writer is observer,
describing Jerusalem's personified suffering and desolation,
and speak out on her behalf to cry out to God for help.
And it's during those pleads for God's attention to the suffering,
he confessed and admitted that the sufferings are deserved treatment
of the sin of rebellion and disobedience,
because the Lord is righteous.
At another stage, he tries to be a comforter,
to describe and understand what God is doing among them.
All he saw was God's anger and acting like an enemy against his people.
Instead of protecting and holding back the destruction,
God plundered and removed all they had.
The city wall, the temple,
things they trusted for protection and pleasure
were all utterly destroyed.
They have nothing they can live on.
People were dying everywhere due to famine,
and even considering cannibalism for survival.
Their utter hopelessness drives the writer into darkness,
as if all the sufferings and griefs become personal to him,
and God is punishing him with the rod of his wrath.
In chapter 3, verse 1 to 9,
he feels God has locked and imprisoned him in darkness,
besieged him, and surrounded him with bitterness and hardship.
And even he can get out in verse 10 to 18,
God lay a bear and a lion ready to mangle him.
And the hunter that should shoot the arrow at the predators
was aiming his arrow at him.
It was utterly hopeless and dark,
and it was at this point, in the dark,
the writer finally sees what God is doing
and fully connects with God in his grieving process
over sin and its destruction.
The whole range of human sorrow is explored.
Desserted, widowed, enslaved,
bittered, betrayed, exiled,
restless, distressed, lonely, grief,
wandering, afflicted,
laughed at, despised, naked,
filthy, dishonored, shamed,
desisted, crushed, held down,
slain and slaughtered.
The aid to sad of sorrow
is laid in front of the reader
in these 62 verses of Lament.
By the structure and pattern of these verses,
grief is shaped
and led to a conclusion
where hope emerges.
A point of complete darkness
where everything necessary has been said,
at least for the time being,
and a mourner can fall silent
without feeling he has been suppressed or stifled.
In this sense,
the structure and the pattern of the man
have more than aesthetic significance.
It also has a therapeutic
and pastoral significance.
After 64 verses
of expressing deep sufferings,
hope finally offered.
This hope has nothing to do
with what humans can do.
It is all based on God's grace.
The remembering up to 3,
verse 19 and 20
is involuntary,
driven by circumstance,
as the writer described
what he saw and how he felt.
However,
the call to mind
of chapter 3,
verse 21
is a deliberate choice
the sufferer has made.
In his choice,
hope emerges,
and hope emerges
because the writer
recalls,
repents,
and returns.
Reading verse 21 to 24,
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope.
Because of the Lord's great love,
we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself,
the Lord is my portion,
therefore I will wait for him.
Yet this I call to mind
reflects a sudden change
of perspective,
like something had hit the writer.
He called to mind
the realization
that people are not
entirely wiped out,
we are not consumed,
that the destruction
was on the city
and possessions,
on things
that have become
their idols,
but not on all the people.
Himself,
as a remnant,
is a living proof
of God's great love
and compassions.
These two words,
in original language,
were plural,
reflecting the multiple occasions
when God demonstrated
his great love
and compassions.
They are more than enough
to comfort
and deal
with the suffering
that the writer
has faced.
Hope emerges
with recalling
and realizing
that even
to be able
to lament
is a gift,
for to weep
is to be alive.
And to that extent,
being able
to lament
is based
on God's grace.
They are new
every morning,
similar to the light
that emerged
from the shadow
after the eclipse.
The light
of the new dawn
always emerged
after each night,
just like what
Jackie just shared
with us.
Eclipse
has always been
transitional.
Sooner or later,
the shadow
will pass.
The dark shadow
will move off
our light source
and hope
emerge.
All other
character
and attributes
of God
rise to the
writer's mind
in quick succession
after the writer's
call to mind
God's great love,
compassion,
and faithfulness.
With that,
the glimmers
of hope
grew brighter
and brighter.
The writer
calls to mind
the truth
about God
and finds
God's promise
and confidence
are still
valid.
The joy
of discovery
is conveyed
by the beauty
and freshness
expressed in the
rest of the chapter.
Verse 25,
The Lord
is good
to those
whose hope
is in him,
to the one
who seeks him.
It is good
to wait
quietly
for the salvation
of the Lord.
It is good
for a man
to bear the yoke
while he is young.
The theme
of a yoke
is not new
in lamentation.
Chapter 1,
verse 14
says,
My sins
have been
bound
into a yoke.
So,
and the writer
said,
It is good
for man
to bear
the yoke
while he is young.
He implies
that the earlier
we realize
our inability
to stop sinning
and accept
the responsibility
and consequence
of our sins,
the earlier
we will find
hope in our despair.
Verse 28,
Let him sit
alone in silence,
for the Lord
has laid it on him.
Let him bury
his face
in the dust.
There may yet
be hope.
Let him offer
his cheek
to one
who will strike
him and let
him be filled
with disgrace.
When we sit
alone in silence,
submit ourselves
under God,
not fighting him
or those he used
to correct us.
As we bury
our face
in the dust
as our sign
of repentance,
there we will
see hope emerge.
The darkness
will move away.
We read on
from verse 31,
For no one
is cast off
by the Lord
forever.
Though he brings
grief,
he will show
compassion.
So great
is unfailing love,
for he does not
willingly bring
affection or grief
to anyone.
God's anger
was real,
but not hasty
or irrational.
It did not
nullify
the essential
truth
about him,
which had been
revealed in history,
especially in the Exodus.
Judgment
was part
of the confident
relationship,
but did not
bring it
to an end.
The writer
remembers that
God himself
guaranteed
the continuance
of our relationship
with him
by his character.
We read on
in verse 37,
who can speak
and have it
happen
if the Lord
has not decreed it.
It is not
from the mouth
of the Most High
that both calamity
and good things
come.
At this point,
the writer
realized
one fundamental
thought
humans have
been doing
and asked
the question
I mentioned
earlier,
why shall
the living
complain
when punished
for their sins?
His answer
was,
instead of
complaining,
we should
examine ourselves,
confess,
and repent.
Verse 40,
let's examine
our ways
and test them.
Let's return
to the Lord.
Let's lift up
our hearts
and our hands
to God
in heaven
and say,
we have
sinned
and rebelled
and you have
not forgotten,
forgiven.
After we recall
and remember
God's character,
hope will
continue to
emerge
as we repent
of our sin.
Only
when our
laments
include
confession of
sin
does it
fully
come to
grip
with reality
and allow
the love,
compassion,
and faithfulness
of God
to heal
what is
broken
and make
restoration
complete.
Lament
without
confession
of our
sin
is merely
a complaint.
And after
we repent
and return
to the Lord,
we can
trust in
God's
judgment
because God
has not
found delight
in crushing
all the
prisoners of
the earth,
nor depriving
anyone of
justice,
nor subverting
a person
in a legal
dispute.
His
steadfast love
lever
ceases
and his
mercy lever
comes to
an end.
Hope
emerges
as we
return
to God
for he
heard
our
plea
and
come
near
when
we
call
him
and
he
say
to
us
do
not
fear.
Hope
emerges
when we
recall
who God
is
and repent
of our
sins
and return
to God.
In my
community
group,
someone brought
up an
essential
prerequisites
for us
to call
to mind
the character
of God
is
we need
to know
God.
That is
why
as a
body
of Christ
we make
growing
in our
relationship
with God
by having
four or
more
devotional
a week
our goal.
By
regularly
learning
under God
and submerging
yourself
in his
word,
we store
up
what we
can call
to mind
in our
darkness.
If we
have nothing
in our
tank
when you
find no
hope in
yourself,
where do
you look
for hope?
For hope
to emerge
in our
darkness,
for the
Holy Spirit
to remind
us of
the teaching
of God,
we need
to regularly
come under
God's
word and
store up
things that
the Holy Spirit
can recall
and remind
us of.
That is
why we
should aim
for four
or more
devotions
per week
to learn
from God.
Hope
eclipses
and emerge
is a
pattern
of our
life
that every
human
will face
and continue
till we
die.
Based on
the faithfulness
of God
to his
promise
to maintain
a relationship
with those
who trust
in him,
we can
wait in
hope for
darkness
to pass.
Hopeful
waiting is
justified
because hope
is dependent
on who
God is
rather than
on what
we can do
for ourselves.
God
is the
everlasting
hope.
God
always does
what he
says he
will do.
In
contrast to
people,
God does
not act
capriciously.
Human
beings are
inconsistent
and unreliable,
but not
the God
of the
Bible.
The God
of the
Bible is
everlasting.
He's
immutable,
which means
he is
entirely
and totally
consistent.
In
concise
theology,
J.R.
Parker
explains that
God is
totally
consistent
because he
is
necessarily
perfect.
He cannot
change
either for
better or
for the
worse.
Because God
is not
in the
time or
confined by
time,
he is not
subject to
change as
we are.
Far from
being detached
and immobile,
he is always
active in
his world,
constantly
making new
things sprung
forth.
But in
all this,
he expresses
his perfect
character in
perfect
consistency.
God's
unchanging
unchangelessness
or changelessness
does not
involve
unresponsive
indifference
to what
goes on
in this
world.
He is not
cold-hearted
towards our
suffering and
not be
moved by
them.
The
immorality
of God's
character is
precisely the
guarantee of
his adherence
to the
words he
has spoken
and the
plans he
has made.
God's
immorality
is the
reason why
when people
return to
him,
when they
confess and
pray and
trust in
him,
God changes
his attitude
towards them
and they
have hope
everlasting.
God
promised not
only that
he'll dash
some of
our hope
but he'll
give you
better one.
Trials are
coming into
your life.
If you know
God's character,
you can trust
him.
God's grace
help us to
discern God's
plan in our
suffering.
The unchanging
character of God
are your hope
everlasting.
reading from
verse 57,
you come
near when I
call you
and you
say do not
fear.
You,
Lord,
took up
my case.
You
redeemed my
life.
Lord,
you have
seen the
wrong done
to me.
Uphold
my cause.
God
had come
near in
the fresh.
He took
up our
case by
Jesus,
who is
the light
of all
mankind,
that shines
in the
darkness.
In
Matthew
chapter 14,
silent,
verse 22,
the disciples
of Jesus
was in a
boat in
the dark
of night,
buffered
by waves
and wind
against them.
Shortly
before dawn,
Jesus went
out to
them,
walking on
the water.
They were
terrified and
cried out,
and Jesus
immediately
said to
them,
take courage,
it is I,
do not
be afraid.
It was
still dark,
maybe in
the trite
light,
where Peter
could not
see clearly.
So he
replied,
Lord,
if it is
you,
tell me to
come to
you on
the water.
He
stepped out
onto the
water,
after hearing
Jesus
answer,
come.
He had
to rely
on the
voice of
Jesus to
walk towards
him,
because the
light of
the dawn
had not
fully
shone.
But when
he saw
the wind,
he was
afraid and
beginning to
sink,
and he
cried out,
Lord,
save me!
And
immediately,
Jesus
reached out
his hand
and caught
him.
You of
little faith,
why do you
doubt?
I can
imagine the
dawn of
light shining
through as
Jesus reached
out and
caught the
sinking
Peter,
who was
crying out,
Lord,
save me!
The light
of hope
shined
through as
Peter and
Jesus climb
into the
boat,
and the
wind dies
down.
In our
suffering and
pain,
in our
sorrow,
allow
yourself the
time to
sit in
silence and
describe what
you see and
how you
feel.
Take as
long as
you need.
Do not
suppress or
stifle any
of your
emotions.
After you
remember all
that God
has allowed
happening to
you, in
that darkness,
call to
your mind
the great
love and
compassion of
the everlasting
God.
In his
everlasting hope,
you can say
to God,
Lord, if
it's you,
tell me to
come to
you on
all the
trouble and
sufferings,
to step
into the
sea of
uncertainty and
worries.
Even if it's
dark and I
cannot see
clearly, I
will follow
your voice to
find you.
And if you
get afraid
while walking
towards Jesus
and begin
to think,
cry out,
Lord, save
me, Jesus'
saving hand
with the
hole from
nail on the
cross will
reach out in
the light of
hope to
catch you.
The
everlasting hope
will emerge
and shine
through after
each eclipse
and darkness
because great
is the
faithfulness of
our everlasting
God.
Our
benification
pastor, Nick,
has recorded a
song to help
us reflect on
God's great
faithfulness and
give us something
to call to
our mind.
So let's
listen and
reflect and
join in praise
to our King
of Kings.