WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.759 Now I have the privilege of inviting and introducing our preacher and our speaker for the morning, Dane Helsing. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:15.320 And I know many pastors in our area that I consider dear and precious partners in the gospel. 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:18.679 But not all of them are personal friends of mine. 00:00:19.539 --> 00:00:23.719 But Dane is someone really, he's a personal friend of mine. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:25.539 We planted around the same time. 00:00:25.539 --> 00:00:30.500 I think our church has been around seven years or so, and Dane's been around for eight years or so. 00:00:30.619 --> 00:00:37.600 And right around that time, we started praying together, Dane, me, and one other pastor who's no longer living and serving in Boston. 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:42.019 And that group, after he left, we stopped for a little while. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:47.060 And then now we're in another group where we're praying together once a month or so, four pastors. 00:00:47.060 --> 00:00:53.079 And Dane is, as that shows, someone who is dependent on God for his ministry. 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:56.159 He's faithful in the proclamation of the gospel. 00:00:56.500 --> 00:01:00.100 And I try to invite some of the best preachers to come. 00:01:00.379 --> 00:01:06.099 And I think Dane, in my humble opinion and estimation, is one of the best pastors in our area. 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:08.019 And we're grateful to have him here this morning. 00:01:08.700 --> 00:01:11.079 And so Dane and his wife, Laura, is here as well. 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:13.060 And actually, there are three kids. 00:01:13.739 --> 00:01:16.340 There are daughter and two sons. 00:01:16.340 --> 00:01:24.700 As you guys know from just watching me and Hannah, no pastor can do what he does without the support and prayer of his wife. 00:01:25.100 --> 00:01:26.300 And so, Laura, thank you for what you do. 00:01:26.659 --> 00:01:28.600 And thank you for being here this morning. 00:01:28.939 --> 00:01:30.280 And so, Dane, please come. 00:01:30.380 --> 00:01:30.820 Preach for us. 00:01:32.020 --> 00:01:35.280 Well, thank you for so warmly welcoming me. 00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:37.780 I have heard a lot about your church. 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:39.300 I've never been to your church. 00:01:39.540 --> 00:01:43.580 As Sean has mentioned, we've met on a pretty regular basis over the last eight years. 00:01:43.579 --> 00:01:53.140 And I've seen your church through the window of your pastor's heart and through his prayer requests as we share and as we gather on a pretty regular basis. 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:55.159 I've heard a lot about Trinity. 00:01:55.420 --> 00:02:00.939 And I'm so glad to be here in person, in the flesh, to see and to worship with you. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:07.219 Well, there's a language in the Bible that every Christian must know. 00:02:08.060 --> 00:02:12.819 There's a language in Scripture that we must gain fluency in. 00:02:12.819 --> 00:02:13.859 And it's not Hebrew. 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:15.919 It's not Greek. 00:02:16.579 --> 00:02:23.259 This is a language that will help you from growing bitter towards God during your times of deepest distress. 00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:31.579 This is a language that will help you communicate with God when sorrows like sea billows roll over you. 00:02:32.199 --> 00:02:34.639 This is the language of lament. 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:42.959 I understand that you've worked through some songs and some portions of the Scripture that lament in the last six months or so. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:45.319 And so hopefully this will be a refresher for you. 00:02:45.819 --> 00:02:50.079 So I'm thankful to be here to open God's Word with you. 00:02:50.739 --> 00:02:59.119 A 19th century preacher and seminary professor named William Plumer once wrote this about the language of lament that we find in the Bible. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:00.539 He writes, 00:03:00.539 --> 00:03:19.800 The trials of God's people throughout the ages are so uniform that the same laments and songs of sorrow found in Scripture suit every successive generation. 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:24.880 And we're going to examine one of those songs of sorrow in our time this morning. 00:03:25.140 --> 00:03:35.300 Our goal is to better grasp this glorious resource of lament that we have readily available in our Bibles. 00:03:35.300 --> 00:03:49.939 To gain fluency in this language that is embedded in the Scripture so that we can better process our grief and find our voice to God when we feel as though we've lost our voice. 00:03:51.260 --> 00:03:55.600 The onslaught of sorrow and discouragement and despair. 00:03:56.740 --> 00:03:59.740 So let's turn in our Bibles to Lamentations chapter 3. 00:03:59.880 --> 00:04:03.760 I know it is your practice to read as God's Word, to stand as God's Word is read. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:05.439 So please stand with me. 00:04:05.939 --> 00:04:08.379 Turn your Bibles to Lamentations chapter 3. 00:04:08.459 --> 00:04:11.539 I know that you have some copies of the Scripture on that back table there. 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:13.759 Lamentations chapter 3. 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:16.339 I'll read verses 1 through 24. 00:04:18.740 --> 00:04:24.459 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath. 00:04:25.899 --> 00:04:29.980 He has driven and brought me into darkness without any light. 00:04:29.980 --> 00:04:36.340 Surely against me, he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. 00:04:36.980 --> 00:04:39.960 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away. 00:04:40.660 --> 00:04:42.180 He has broken my bones. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:48.040 He has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation. 00:04:48.900 --> 00:04:53.080 He has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:57.280 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape. 00:04:57.279 --> 00:04:59.719 He has made my chains heavy. 00:05:00.339 --> 00:05:04.019 Though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer. 00:05:04.679 --> 00:05:07.879 He has blocked my ways with blocks of stones. 00:05:08.539 --> 00:05:10.419 He has made my paths crooked. 00:05:11.579 --> 00:05:16.319 He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding. 00:05:17.099 --> 00:05:19.799 He turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces. 00:05:20.699 --> 00:05:21.859 He has made me desolate. 00:05:21.860 --> 00:05:26.920 He bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow. 00:05:27.699 --> 00:05:31.780 He drove into my kidneys the arrows of his quiver. 00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:38.540 I have become the laughing stock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long. 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:40.480 He has filled me with bitterness. 00:05:41.139 --> 00:05:42.939 He has sated me with wormwood. 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:46.100 He has made my teeth grind on gravel. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:48.540 It made me cower in ashes. 00:05:48.540 --> 00:05:51.980 My soul is bereft of peace. 00:05:52.280 --> 00:05:55.560 I have forgotten what happiness is. 00:05:56.060 --> 00:05:59.160 So I say my endurance has perished. 00:05:59.700 --> 00:06:02.280 So has my hope from the Lord. 00:06:03.080 --> 00:06:08.259 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall. 00:06:09.620 --> 00:06:13.920 My soul continually remembers and is bowed down within me. 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:19.460 But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. 00:06:20.080 --> 00:06:24.020 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:27.700 His mercies never come to an end. 00:06:28.379 --> 00:06:30.200 They are new every morning. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:32.680 Great is your faithfulness. 00:06:33.259 --> 00:06:35.740 The Lord is my portion, says my soul. 00:06:36.460 --> 00:06:39.300 Therefore, I will hope in him. 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:40.720 This is the word of the Lord. 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:42.980 So, you can be seated. 00:06:45.320 --> 00:06:49.560 Well, Jeremiah is likely the author of this prayer. 00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:55.740 And notice, as you read this text, he's not worried about offending God, is he? 00:06:56.600 --> 00:06:59.020 He does not stuff his emotions before God. 00:06:59.140 --> 00:07:03.580 He is unrestrained in expressing his feelings to God. 00:07:03.740 --> 00:07:06.660 This is what a lament does. 00:07:06.660 --> 00:07:11.500 You can think of a lament in scripture like a vent to God. 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:19.040 A venting of your heart before a holy God. 00:07:19.900 --> 00:07:22.540 An unhindered expression of grief before God. 00:07:22.840 --> 00:07:24.500 We find laments in the Psalms. 00:07:24.640 --> 00:07:25.680 We see them in the prophets. 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:27.360 We see them here in Lamentations. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:30.759 They are a gift to us. 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:38.360 Prayers and songs of lament are a gift from our good God to us in the midst of our grief. 00:07:38.900 --> 00:07:40.960 They allow us to express sorrow. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:43.000 They give us voice when we don't have one. 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:47.300 They help us process our feelings. 00:07:47.740 --> 00:07:51.420 And they guard us from growing bitter toward God. 00:07:51.420 --> 00:07:57.580 As I mentioned, it's most likely that the prophet Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations. 00:07:57.720 --> 00:08:08.360 Much of the vocabulary, the imagery, the expressions, complements what we read in Jeremiah's larger book, prophetic book. 00:08:09.840 --> 00:08:13.460 He's known as the lamenting prophet or the weeping prophets. 00:08:13.459 --> 00:08:22.620 We read in 2 Chronicles 35, verse 25, Jeremiah is said to have uttered a lament before King Josiah. 00:08:23.899 --> 00:08:30.159 Jeremiah was a first-hand witness in the day of infamy in God's people's history. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:32.460 The awful exile. 00:08:33.579 --> 00:08:37.840 That's the backdrop of this lament in Lamentations 3. 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:44.879 Lamentations 3 is a reflection on the disinheriting of God's people from their place. 00:08:46.920 --> 00:08:49.360 Lamentations 3 is this literary masterpiece. 00:08:49.560 --> 00:08:54.160 I just want to draw out some features of this passage for us before we unpack it. 00:08:54.680 --> 00:08:56.100 The imagery here is piercing. 00:08:56.620 --> 00:09:01.860 So, for example, God is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding. 00:09:02.379 --> 00:09:04.820 He turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces. 00:09:04.820 --> 00:09:07.460 Just think of the vivid nature of this imagery. 00:09:07.460 --> 00:09:08.820 It's almost uncomfortable. 00:09:10.940 --> 00:09:15.620 He has made my teeth grind on gravel, chewing rocks with your teeth. 00:09:16.620 --> 00:09:23.920 These are memorable, soul-penetrating images of grief that have given God's people voice in the midst of their own sufferings. 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:31.320 Lamentations 3 is also known as an acrostic, which is a literary piece, 00:09:32.259 --> 00:09:36.379 a prayer, a poem, or a song that's structured around the Hebrew alphabet. 00:09:36.379 --> 00:09:40.700 So, if you look down into your Bibles, you'll see in Lamentations 3, there are 66 verses. 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:47.019 And most Bibles have these verses grouped together in sets of three or triplets. 00:09:47.580 --> 00:09:49.379 So, verses 1, 2, 3 is set apart. 00:09:49.639 --> 00:09:51.399 And then 4 through 6, set apart. 00:09:51.720 --> 00:09:52.840 And then 7 through 9. 00:09:52.899 --> 00:09:54.220 And on go the triplets. 00:09:54.220 --> 00:10:01.700 And each of those triplets begins with the same letter in the Hebrew alphabet. 00:10:01.920 --> 00:10:04.000 There's 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. 00:10:04.540 --> 00:10:06.759 So, 22 times three triplets. 00:10:06.899 --> 00:10:08.160 That gives you 66 verses. 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:12.440 So, verses 1, 2, and 3 begin with the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, Aleph. 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:16.720 And verses 4, 5, and 6 begin with the next letter, Bait, in Hebrew. 00:10:16.820 --> 00:10:17.680 And on down the line. 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:20.000 It's highly, highly stylized. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:21.120 Now, why am I telling you that? 00:10:22.899 --> 00:10:31.240 I'm telling you that because this is a very thoughtful, intentional, prayerful piece of literature. 00:10:31.580 --> 00:10:39.019 It's a prayerful work that Jeremiah didn't necessarily extemporaneously write or pray. 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:40.360 He fought through. 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:43.360 There's highly stylized writings here. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:49.779 And I draw that out because I think in the midst of our own sufferings and difficulty, 00:10:49.879 --> 00:10:55.440 as we're seeking to communicate with God, certainly we need to, on the spot, extemporaneously pray. 00:10:56.500 --> 00:11:02.600 But I think there's also value in sitting in the midst of your suffering and processing it with a pen. 00:11:03.980 --> 00:11:04.460 Journaling. 00:11:05.259 --> 00:11:06.039 Writing down. 00:11:06.620 --> 00:11:08.840 Seeking to make sense of your suffering. 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:10.060 Reflecting on Scripture. 00:11:10.059 --> 00:11:16.899 Paul Miller, in his excellent book, A Praying Life, speaks of the benefit of writing your prayers. 00:11:17.339 --> 00:11:18.500 Of simply journaling. 00:11:19.339 --> 00:11:27.059 And the way that it will serve as a catalog of God's faithfulness as you return to that journal six months, six years later. 00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:32.859 Seeing God's hand of faithfulness working you through those challenges. 00:11:32.860 --> 00:11:39.960 And as a blessing in God's providence to your progeny who might return to your notebooks, your journals. 00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:41.519 Blessing them. 00:11:42.060 --> 00:11:47.680 The benefit of writing down your prayers for yourself and for your progeny. 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:51.159 So we see here a thoughtful, intentional prayer. 00:11:52.620 --> 00:11:55.240 This morning we're going to focus on verses one through 24. 00:11:55.379 --> 00:11:57.539 Those verses that we read together. 00:11:57.539 --> 00:12:01.039 And I'd like to just structure our time together in two parts. 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:03.620 First, an honest lament. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:06.360 In verses one through 20. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.240 Followed by a remembrance of mercy. 00:12:08.419 --> 00:12:09.740 Verses 21 through 24. 00:12:10.259 --> 00:12:11.259 An honest lament. 00:12:11.439 --> 00:12:12.639 It's the bulk of the passage. 00:12:12.939 --> 00:12:13.639 One through 20. 00:12:13.959 --> 00:12:16.519 Followed by a remembrance of mercy. 00:12:16.659 --> 00:12:20.379 There's a marvelous transition that happens in verse 21. 00:12:20.459 --> 00:12:22.039 And we'll draw that out in time. 00:12:22.259 --> 00:12:23.620 So let's take a look at the first part. 00:12:23.719 --> 00:12:24.719 An honest lament. 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:30.560 Jeremiah writes in verse one, I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath. 00:12:32.060 --> 00:12:37.420 The kind of affliction that Jeremiah speaks of here is a disciplinary affliction. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:41.060 We gather this from the word rod. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:43.019 I have seen affliction under the rod. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.000 That is God's rod. 00:12:46.019 --> 00:12:46.940 God's wrath. 00:12:48.940 --> 00:12:51.540 Rod is an implement of direction. 00:12:51.539 --> 00:12:54.679 Certainly in Psalm 23, our sister Bailey read that. 00:12:55.839 --> 00:12:58.399 Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 00:12:58.500 --> 00:13:00.539 So it's a tool, an implement of direction. 00:13:00.779 --> 00:13:03.679 It's also a tool, an implement of discipline as well. 00:13:04.099 --> 00:13:05.519 Proverbs 13 verse 24. 00:13:06.079 --> 00:13:08.000 Whoever spares the rod hates his son. 00:13:08.079 --> 00:13:11.559 And he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. 00:13:11.939 --> 00:13:15.279 The rod is a tool of direction and a tool of discipline. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:20.600 Right now, in this passage, God's people are under the rod of his wrath, the rod of discipline. 00:13:21.559 --> 00:13:24.740 Well, what disciplinary action is Jeremiah referring to? 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:30.659 It's that day of infamy in God's people's history. 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:34.519 The awful exile of God's people. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:37.699 586 BC, they're deported from the land. 00:13:37.700 --> 00:13:40.580 And we read this. 00:13:40.740 --> 00:13:42.320 It's warned of throughout the scriptures. 00:13:42.620 --> 00:13:45.060 That day that the temple was desecrated and destroyed. 00:13:45.520 --> 00:13:49.440 Nehemiah tells us that the walls were broken down, destroyed by fire. 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:51.480 The land was pillaged. 00:13:52.140 --> 00:13:53.020 Women were raped. 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:58.080 They're lined up and they're headed out of Israel into Babylon. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:13:59.900 An awful day. 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:01.560 An abysmal day. 00:14:02.020 --> 00:14:08.620 And a day that was a direct consequence of their persistent rebellion against God. 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:10.160 Their disobedience. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:12.620 For centuries, they'd been rebelling against God. 00:14:12.700 --> 00:14:15.879 And God long suffered them, with them, through those times. 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:18.580 They lived in defiance of God's word. 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:22.660 Routinely following their neighbors, the nations that worshipped idols. 00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:25.680 God had been so gracious to them. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:29.259 God had been so gracious to them, calling them unto himself, delivering them from bondage. 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:32.799 And they're so quick to run into idolatry. 00:14:34.059 --> 00:14:38.539 And God graciously warns his people of this disaster some 900 years before it happened. 00:14:38.839 --> 00:14:41.219 Through Moses, Deuteronomy chapter 28. 00:14:41.779 --> 00:14:47.239 If you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God, the Lord will bring a nation against you from far away. 00:14:47.439 --> 00:14:50.039 From the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle. 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:52.059 A nation whose language you do not understand. 00:14:52.059 --> 00:14:56.099 A hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young. 00:14:56.479 --> 00:15:03.519 They shall besiege you in your towns until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land. 00:15:03.899 --> 00:15:09.979 The Lord will bring you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. 00:15:09.980 --> 00:15:18.519 This is God graciously warning his people of the consequence to come for rebelling against him. 00:15:20.300 --> 00:15:28.279 He long suffered for them 900 years before finally orchestrating, overseeing the events of the exile. 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:31.779 Now, this is the backdrop of Lamentations 3. 00:15:31.939 --> 00:15:40.039 This is what Jeremiah mourns over and helps his people, facilitates their mourning over this consequence. 00:15:41.419 --> 00:15:48.620 Now, there are times in our lives where we just simply don't know the source of our suffering and our affliction. 00:15:49.620 --> 00:15:51.639 Unexplained suffering to no fault of our own. 00:15:52.179 --> 00:15:54.759 And some of us, some of you are in the midst of that right now. 00:15:54.759 --> 00:16:02.519 There are other times where we do have a direct tie to our consequences from our behavior. 00:16:03.899 --> 00:16:06.059 And sometimes it's a combination of both. 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:19.059 Lamentations 3 speaks of behavior-induced discipline and affliction. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:21.799 Suffering as a result of our own sinfulness. 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:27.919 A disciplinary action at the hand of God as a result of our disobedience to him. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:33.899 And the good news of this passage, as you track through, is that no matter the severity of your sin, 00:16:34.019 --> 00:16:38.240 no matter how far you've fallen, look, there's mercy. 00:16:39.199 --> 00:16:42.639 God gives mercy to sinners no matter how far they've fallen. 00:16:42.779 --> 00:16:45.199 That's where this passage heads. 00:16:45.319 --> 00:16:49.620 That's the dynamic, glorious transition that happens at the end. 00:16:49.620 --> 00:16:54.580 Affliction is not the end of the story for repentant people. 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:55.639 Mercy is. 00:16:57.000 --> 00:16:59.159 That's where this passage is headed. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:00.980 That's where Jeremiah takes us. 00:17:01.500 --> 00:17:05.640 Before we make that transition, though, let's camp out in the imagery of the lament. 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:08.519 This honest lament before God. 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:10.059 Verse 3, Jeremiah says, 00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:14.960 Surely against me, that is God, he turns his hand. 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:18.819 Now, the open hand of God in the scriptures is a picture of provision. 00:17:19.299 --> 00:17:25.640 He is giving generously, abundantly, doling out to his people with an open hand. 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:29.480 But this image here, notice what happens. 00:17:29.579 --> 00:17:31.220 He turns his hand. 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:39.660 In other words, he's turning off that provision in order to shock the senses of his people to repentance. 00:17:39.660 --> 00:17:46.759 He turns his hand of provision to shock them out of their sinfulness. 00:17:48.080 --> 00:17:51.660 Verse 4, he has made my flesh and my skin waste away. 00:17:51.940 --> 00:17:53.779 He has broken my bones. 00:17:54.259 --> 00:18:01.460 This wasting away of flesh and brokenness of bones are images in the Bible of suffering as a result of sin. 00:18:01.460 --> 00:18:06.100 For example, David, in his prayer of confession, in Psalm 32, says, 00:18:06.220 --> 00:18:09.740 When I kept my sin silent, my bones wasted away. 00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:13.100 Verse 7, Jeremiah says, 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:16.420 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape. 00:18:16.620 --> 00:18:18.460 He has made my chains heavy. 00:18:18.819 --> 00:18:20.720 This imagery of imprisonment. 00:18:21.740 --> 00:18:23.200 Our sin shackles us. 00:18:23.319 --> 00:18:24.279 It enslaves us. 00:18:24.420 --> 00:18:25.600 It imprisons us. 00:18:25.600 --> 00:18:30.700 And only God can liberate us from that house of slavery. 00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:36.860 He alone holds the key to unlock the heavy chains that shackle us. 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:38.200 Verse 8, 00:18:38.700 --> 00:18:41.740 Though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer. 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:46.640 A feeling of forsakenness is what Jeremiah is communicating here. 00:18:46.900 --> 00:18:49.620 The awful silence of God in the midst of our suffering. 00:18:49.720 --> 00:18:50.620 Do you know what that's like? 00:18:52.299 --> 00:18:56.600 Prayers for relief seemingly falling on deaf ears. 00:18:56.599 --> 00:19:00.980 We find this feeling of forsakenness in other laments of the Bible. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:01.799 Psalm 13, 00:19:01.919 --> 00:19:03.019 How long, O Lord? 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:04.399 How long? 00:19:04.699 --> 00:19:05.959 Will you forget me forever? 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:10.879 Psalm 22, perhaps the most well-known lament in the Bible. 00:19:11.059 --> 00:19:13.799 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:19:13.879 --> 00:19:15.879 Why are you so far from saving me? 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:17.439 From the words of my groaning, 00:19:17.799 --> 00:19:19.659 Oh my God, I cry by day, 00:19:19.799 --> 00:19:20.839 but you do not answer, 00:19:20.839 --> 00:19:23.579 but I find no rest. 00:19:23.859 --> 00:19:26.240 This feeling of forsakenness. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:28.699 This imagery is intense. 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:30.240 Verses 10 and 11, 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:32.819 He is like a bear lying in wait for me, 00:19:32.899 --> 00:19:33.799 a lion in hiding. 00:19:33.919 --> 00:19:36.619 He turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces. 00:19:37.819 --> 00:19:40.980 Jeremiah and his people feel hunted down by God. 00:19:41.939 --> 00:19:44.359 Like a bear hunts its prey down. 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:45.299 Verse 12, 00:19:45.299 --> 00:19:49.059 He bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow. 00:19:49.639 --> 00:19:52.119 Picture an archer bending his bow, 00:19:52.919 --> 00:19:53.919 aiming at his target, 00:19:54.279 --> 00:19:55.799 and letting that arrow fly. 00:19:56.980 --> 00:20:01.799 Jeremiah and his fellow countrymen feel targeted by God. 00:20:02.919 --> 00:20:04.779 Well, let's just pause for a moment and picture this. 00:20:04.899 --> 00:20:08.059 God is a ferocious bear lying in wait in a bush 00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:11.119 for his people to go by that he might maul them. 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:14.259 God is a skillful hunter, 00:20:14.959 --> 00:20:16.579 setting his sight on his people, 00:20:16.779 --> 00:20:17.619 bending his bow, 00:20:17.739 --> 00:20:20.179 about to release the arrow into their side. 00:20:20.939 --> 00:20:22.319 How do you feel about these images? 00:20:23.699 --> 00:20:24.699 If you're like me, 00:20:24.919 --> 00:20:26.059 you ought to feel uncomfortable. 00:20:27.559 --> 00:20:28.719 Is this how God is? 00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:29.779 These are shocking, 00:20:29.979 --> 00:20:32.519 seemingly sacrilegious images of God. 00:20:34.379 --> 00:20:36.059 How could he say these things? 00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:37.500 Oh, but friends, 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:39.119 this is the liberty of a lament. 00:20:40.039 --> 00:20:41.059 God can handle it. 00:20:41.419 --> 00:20:42.199 All of it. 00:20:43.059 --> 00:20:43.439 In fact, 00:20:43.500 --> 00:20:45.019 he wants us to vent to him 00:20:45.019 --> 00:20:46.399 because the worst alternative 00:20:46.399 --> 00:20:48.599 is turning inward on yourself, 00:20:49.079 --> 00:20:51.059 retracting in your prayerfulness to him, 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:52.779 and growing bitter. 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:55.039 He can handle your lament. 00:20:55.319 --> 00:20:55.719 Bring it. 00:20:56.699 --> 00:20:57.219 Vent it. 00:20:58.019 --> 00:20:58.899 Tell him about it. 00:21:00.219 --> 00:21:01.559 It's the power of a lament. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:04.219 Laments are not primarily seeking 00:21:04.219 --> 00:21:07.719 to communicate truths about God, 00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:12.039 but rather the truth about the lamenter's feelings. 00:21:13.740 --> 00:21:15.799 Therein lies the power and the usefulness. 00:21:17.460 --> 00:21:19.880 Laments seek not to communicate facts about God, 00:21:19.940 --> 00:21:21.519 but rather the feelings of the lamenter. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:27.339 This is a vent of Jeremiah on behalf of his people. 00:21:27.700 --> 00:21:29.160 They're often unrestrained, 00:21:29.940 --> 00:21:30.519 unhindered, 00:21:31.420 --> 00:21:33.200 and Jeremiah's lament is no different. 00:21:33.819 --> 00:21:35.420 Well, God is not a ravenous beast 00:21:35.420 --> 00:21:37.940 lying in a bush waiting to pounce on his people. 00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:41.119 He does not hunt his people down like a skillful hunter, 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:43.879 but in the midst of our suffering and our affliction, 00:21:43.979 --> 00:21:45.819 it can certainly feel like he's doing that. 00:21:46.959 --> 00:21:48.819 God doesn't hunt his people down. 00:21:49.639 --> 00:21:51.759 Oh, but he does pursue them 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:54.919 and press upon them through conviction. 00:21:57.719 --> 00:22:01.119 He places his strong and heavy hand of conviction upon us, 00:22:01.219 --> 00:22:03.199 which certainly feels unpleasant 00:22:03.199 --> 00:22:05.979 when we're placed under it. 00:22:07.139 --> 00:22:08.639 David writes in Psalm 32, 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:11.880 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:14.980 My strength was dried up by the heat of the summer. 00:22:15.660 --> 00:22:18.180 In the midst of his silence, 00:22:18.820 --> 00:22:20.000 his unconfessed sin, 00:22:20.100 --> 00:22:22.960 he feels the hand of God pressing upon him. 00:22:23.259 --> 00:22:25.000 God is pursuing him in grace 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:27.700 with the goal of his repentance. 00:22:29.040 --> 00:22:30.660 It can feel unpleasant, though. 00:22:31.640 --> 00:22:33.860 The heavy, convicting hand of God 00:22:33.860 --> 00:22:35.700 that pursues us in our sin, 00:22:35.800 --> 00:22:38.259 that presses upon us through conviction. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:42.580 Laments are prayers of grief 00:22:42.580 --> 00:22:44.800 that primarily seek to communicate truth 00:22:44.800 --> 00:22:46.920 about how the lamenter is feeling 00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:49.160 in the moment of grief. 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:53.320 Unrestrained, uncensored expressions of grief to God 00:22:53.320 --> 00:22:56.060 that often paint him in an unflattering light, 00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:58.540 as we see here in Lamentations 3. 00:22:59.960 --> 00:23:01.560 And God loves it. 00:23:01.620 --> 00:23:02.560 He welcomes it 00:23:02.560 --> 00:23:05.880 because his people are praying to him. 00:23:05.880 --> 00:23:08.000 Their eyes are looking to him. 00:23:08.420 --> 00:23:10.960 That is the gateway of restoration. 00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:12.600 Eyes on God. 00:23:12.800 --> 00:23:14.780 Fix your eyes on Jesus. 00:23:17.700 --> 00:23:19.320 In the midst of your suffering, 00:23:19.540 --> 00:23:20.740 eyes on God. 00:23:20.860 --> 00:23:23.320 That's the trajectory of restoration. 00:23:24.080 --> 00:23:26.520 And that's what Jeremiah is inviting us to do. 00:23:27.740 --> 00:23:28.500 Brothers and sisters, 00:23:28.920 --> 00:23:30.080 lament give us license 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:32.259 to come before God as we are. 00:23:32.819 --> 00:23:34.379 Not to polish ourselves up, 00:23:34.439 --> 00:23:36.179 not to pick ourselves up from our bootstraps. 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:39.099 You need to go to God as you are. 00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:42.460 Tell him what you're going through. 00:23:43.019 --> 00:23:44.460 He wants to hear it. 00:23:44.659 --> 00:23:46.179 He can handle it. 00:23:48.019 --> 00:23:49.919 Lamenting to God serves as a guard 00:23:49.919 --> 00:23:51.519 against growing bitter towards him. 00:23:52.879 --> 00:23:53.720 Because notice, 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:54.679 when you're lamenting, 00:23:54.740 --> 00:23:55.559 what's your trajectory? 00:23:55.819 --> 00:23:57.000 It's toward God. 00:23:57.000 --> 00:23:58.380 It's a Godward direction 00:23:58.380 --> 00:23:59.319 when you're lamenting. 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:01.900 Yes, those truths are heavy, 00:24:02.819 --> 00:24:04.039 seemingly sacrilegious, 00:24:04.099 --> 00:24:05.839 but your trajectory is toward God. 00:24:05.940 --> 00:24:06.779 You're looking to him. 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:07.839 You're speaking to him. 00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:08.700 What's worse 00:24:08.700 --> 00:24:10.200 is when you're turned inward 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:11.619 and going the other direction, 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:12.660 retracting. 00:24:13.299 --> 00:24:13.819 Prayerlessness. 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:16.140 One of the symptoms of bitterness 00:24:16.140 --> 00:24:18.019 toward God is prayerlessness. 00:24:19.539 --> 00:24:20.440 And can I ask you, 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:21.779 in the midst of your own difficulty, 00:24:21.779 --> 00:24:26.440 how would you assess your prayers to God? 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:31.579 The concern point is prayerlessness. 00:24:32.460 --> 00:24:34.099 And I know that we might even have the words, 00:24:34.220 --> 00:24:35.460 but let's open up the Bible. 00:24:35.940 --> 00:24:36.819 Turn to Psalm 13. 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:38.019 Turn to Psalm 22. 00:24:38.420 --> 00:24:39.759 Turn to Lamentations chapter three. 00:24:40.119 --> 00:24:42.259 Let this be your voice when you don't have it. 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:45.559 Beware prayerlessness. 00:24:46.460 --> 00:24:47.740 It's the root of bitterness. 00:24:47.740 --> 00:24:56.120 One of the glorious truths 00:24:56.120 --> 00:24:57.759 that we find about God in this lament 00:24:57.759 --> 00:24:58.640 and others like it 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:01.579 is that God is sovereign over our suffering. 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:05.599 God superintends our suffering. 00:25:07.259 --> 00:25:08.299 Yes, in his anguish, 00:25:08.420 --> 00:25:10.779 Jeremiah speaks in exaggerated terms 00:25:10.779 --> 00:25:11.799 about God in the lament. 00:25:12.180 --> 00:25:13.880 God is a bear lying in wait for me, 00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:15.640 but it's unmistakable 00:25:15.640 --> 00:25:18.660 whom Jeremiah credits 00:25:18.660 --> 00:25:20.380 for the source of this. 00:25:21.240 --> 00:25:22.820 Who is in charge of it? 00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:25.380 Who's overseeing this affliction? 00:25:26.420 --> 00:25:27.980 Jeremiah knows supremely well 00:25:27.980 --> 00:25:29.680 that it is God's hand 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:31.040 that has orchestrated 00:25:31.040 --> 00:25:33.880 this disciplinary measure. 00:25:35.220 --> 00:25:37.740 God is orchestrating these dreadful events. 00:25:38.580 --> 00:25:39.940 He's not the author of evil, 00:25:39.940 --> 00:25:42.860 but he certainly superintends evil, 00:25:43.180 --> 00:25:45.120 has the power to bend evil, 00:25:45.259 --> 00:25:46.759 to accomplish his good purposes 00:25:46.759 --> 00:25:48.580 redemptively in people's lives. 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:49.740 That's what we see here. 00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:51.019 Jeremiah knows it. 00:25:51.720 --> 00:25:54.580 God is superintending all of this. 00:25:54.860 --> 00:25:56.720 He is sovereign over your suffering. 00:25:57.980 --> 00:25:59.480 You must believe that 00:25:59.480 --> 00:26:00.840 in the midst of your affliction. 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:03.860 God superintends all of it. 00:26:05.620 --> 00:26:07.059 It will guard you 00:26:07.059 --> 00:26:08.880 from walking away from him. 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:10.300 This is medicine for the soul. 00:26:10.820 --> 00:26:12.220 I know at first glance 00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:14.100 it seems hard to swallow 00:26:14.100 --> 00:26:16.460 that God is orchestrating our suffering. 00:26:17.580 --> 00:26:18.860 Can't he just remove it? 00:26:18.940 --> 00:26:19.840 Well, yes, 00:26:20.540 --> 00:26:22.260 but he's doing something through it 00:26:22.260 --> 00:26:23.000 to be patient, 00:26:23.460 --> 00:26:24.220 turn to him. 00:26:24.940 --> 00:26:25.720 He's at work. 00:26:26.080 --> 00:26:27.620 He's accomplishing his good purposes. 00:26:28.840 --> 00:26:30.840 What would be terrible news 00:26:30.840 --> 00:26:32.560 is pointless suffering, 00:26:33.260 --> 00:26:34.960 purposeless suffering. 00:26:35.260 --> 00:26:37.480 That is cause for despair. 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:39.019 Affliction in our lives 00:26:39.019 --> 00:26:40.559 beyond the reach of God's hand 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:41.460 working in it. 00:26:41.539 --> 00:26:43.140 That would be awful news. 00:26:43.500 --> 00:26:44.519 And those are the alternatives 00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:47.819 that atheism and agnosticism offer us. 00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:50.440 Pointless, purposeless suffering. 00:26:50.839 --> 00:26:51.980 The Christian gospel, 00:26:52.259 --> 00:26:53.180 the Christian God, 00:26:53.420 --> 00:26:54.700 offer a better alternative. 00:26:55.099 --> 00:26:55.960 Yes, it's painful, 00:26:56.420 --> 00:26:58.500 but God is superintending all of it, 00:26:58.779 --> 00:27:01.039 accomplishing his good purposes through it. 00:27:01.360 --> 00:27:03.380 God is sovereign in our suffering. 00:27:03.380 --> 00:27:05.140 It's medicine for our souls 00:27:05.140 --> 00:27:07.400 when we can wrap our hearts and minds 00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:08.360 around this truth 00:27:08.360 --> 00:27:10.800 in those painful times. 00:27:11.360 --> 00:27:12.080 Charles Spurgeon, 00:27:12.200 --> 00:27:13.620 the great 19th century pastor 00:27:13.620 --> 00:27:15.660 of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:18.420 spoke extensively about the good news 00:27:18.420 --> 00:27:20.180 of God's hand in our suffering. 00:27:20.560 --> 00:27:23.140 He was well acquainted with suffering, 00:27:23.580 --> 00:27:24.880 bedridden in depression, 00:27:25.360 --> 00:27:26.240 multiple weeks, 00:27:26.460 --> 00:27:28.520 had to take long leaves of absence 00:27:28.520 --> 00:27:29.840 on the French coast 00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:32.899 just to get his mind and his head clear. 00:27:33.699 --> 00:27:36.359 He writes this about God's sovereign hand 00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:37.740 in his suffering. 00:27:38.879 --> 00:27:40.720 Oh, it would be a very sharp 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:42.220 and trying experience to me 00:27:42.220 --> 00:27:43.899 to think that I have ever had an affliction 00:27:43.899 --> 00:27:45.539 which God never sent me. 00:27:46.839 --> 00:27:49.220 That the bitter cup was never filled by his hand. 00:27:49.539 --> 00:27:51.939 That my trials were never measured out by him, 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:53.839 not sent to me by his arrangements 00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:55.539 of their weight and quantity. 00:27:56.139 --> 00:27:57.839 If you drink the river of affliction, 00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:00.199 near where it pours out upon you, 00:28:00.439 --> 00:28:01.500 you will find it bitter 00:28:01.500 --> 00:28:02.959 and offensive to the taste. 00:28:03.500 --> 00:28:05.699 But if you will trace that river 00:28:05.699 --> 00:28:06.779 back to its source, 00:28:06.980 --> 00:28:08.359 where it rises at the foot 00:28:08.359 --> 00:28:09.459 of the throne of God, 00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:10.679 you will find it waters 00:28:10.679 --> 00:28:12.519 to be sweet and health-giving. 00:28:12.919 --> 00:28:15.039 As long as I trace my pain to accident, 00:28:15.139 --> 00:28:16.299 my bereavement to mistake, 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:17.839 my loss to another's wrong, 00:28:18.019 --> 00:28:19.319 my discomfort to an enemy, 00:28:19.539 --> 00:28:20.799 and so on and so on, 00:28:20.819 --> 00:28:22.459 I am of the earth earthy 00:28:22.459 --> 00:28:24.480 and shall break my teeth 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:25.419 with gravel stones. 00:28:25.420 --> 00:28:27.279 But when I rise to my God 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:28.480 and see his hand at work, 00:28:28.759 --> 00:28:30.480 I grow calm. 00:28:34.740 --> 00:28:36.039 Many in our culture 00:28:36.039 --> 00:28:37.320 look to suffering and heartache 00:28:37.320 --> 00:28:37.860 in this world 00:28:37.860 --> 00:28:40.820 as evidence that God does not exist, 00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:43.240 that he's not involved in our world. 00:28:43.620 --> 00:28:44.519 That's just false. 00:28:45.580 --> 00:28:46.600 The Christian God 00:28:46.600 --> 00:28:49.180 is sovereign over our suffering, 00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:51.580 and you see it from Genesis to Revelation, 00:28:51.740 --> 00:28:53.279 what he's doing providentially 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:53.879 in our pain. 00:28:56.319 --> 00:28:58.599 Trace that river back 00:28:58.599 --> 00:29:01.240 beyond the source of your suffering 00:29:01.240 --> 00:29:02.279 all the way up, 00:29:02.539 --> 00:29:05.200 all the way up to the throne of God. 00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:06.200 He's working. 00:29:06.920 --> 00:29:07.599 He's good. 00:29:08.420 --> 00:29:09.160 Trust in him. 00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:10.200 Cling to him. 00:29:15.740 --> 00:29:16.879 Verses one through 20, 00:29:17.019 --> 00:29:19.160 Jeremiah prays in honest lament. 00:29:19.160 --> 00:29:19.240 Lament. 00:29:20.120 --> 00:29:23.440 And then we see a glorious transition 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:25.200 in verse 21. 00:29:25.720 --> 00:29:26.640 An honest lament, 00:29:26.740 --> 00:29:26.980 notice, 00:29:27.080 --> 00:29:28.580 becomes a remembrance of mercy. 00:29:29.120 --> 00:29:30.120 Do you see what happens here? 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:31.440 There's a three-letter word, 00:29:31.500 --> 00:29:32.040 a conjunction, 00:29:32.660 --> 00:29:33.340 very basic, 00:29:33.500 --> 00:29:34.560 but it's the most beautiful word 00:29:34.560 --> 00:29:35.180 in all the Bible. 00:29:35.820 --> 00:29:36.180 But. 00:29:37.120 --> 00:29:37.620 But. 00:29:41.620 --> 00:29:43.820 My circumstances are abysmal, 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:46.440 but this I call to mind, 00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:47.920 and therefore I have hope. 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:49.720 The steadfast love of the Lord 00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:50.580 never ceases. 00:29:50.700 --> 00:29:52.320 His mercies never come to an end. 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:53.640 They are new every morning. 00:29:53.779 --> 00:29:55.019 Great is your faithfulness. 00:29:55.500 --> 00:29:56.900 What a glorious transition. 00:29:57.320 --> 00:29:58.300 One of the most beautiful words 00:29:58.300 --> 00:29:58.920 in all the Bible 00:29:58.920 --> 00:30:00.420 is that three-letter conjunction, 00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:01.320 but. 00:30:04.380 --> 00:30:06.220 This passage parallels a passage 00:30:06.220 --> 00:30:06.980 in the New Testament 00:30:06.980 --> 00:30:08.740 that many of us are well acquainted with, 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:09.920 that likewise captures 00:30:10.560 --> 00:30:11.740 a glorious transition. 00:30:12.180 --> 00:30:13.279 Ephesians chapter two, 00:30:13.740 --> 00:30:14.720 verses one through five. 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:16.440 You were dead in the trespasses 00:30:16.440 --> 00:30:17.960 and sins in which you once walked, 00:30:18.059 --> 00:30:19.319 following the course of the world, 00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:20.140 following the prince 00:30:20.140 --> 00:30:21.100 of the power of the air, 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:22.740 the spirit that is now at work 00:30:22.740 --> 00:30:24.019 in the sons of disobedience, 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:25.440 among whom we all once lived, 00:30:25.740 --> 00:30:26.960 in the passions of our flesh, 00:30:27.360 --> 00:30:28.640 carrying out the desires 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:29.640 of the body and the mind, 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:31.079 and were by nature children of wrath 00:30:31.079 --> 00:30:32.019 like the rest of mankind. 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:34.539 Can it get any more bleak 00:30:34.539 --> 00:30:35.839 and discouraging? 00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:38.019 Oh, but look what's coming. 00:30:38.019 --> 00:30:40.279 But God, 00:30:40.619 --> 00:30:41.599 being rich in mercy 00:30:41.599 --> 00:30:42.660 because of the great love 00:30:42.660 --> 00:30:43.579 with which he has loved us 00:30:43.579 --> 00:30:44.460 even when we were dead 00:30:44.460 --> 00:30:45.359 in our trespasses, 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:47.339 made us alive together with Christ. 00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:47.980 By grace, 00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:49.200 you have been saved. 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:50.980 God is the author 00:30:50.980 --> 00:30:52.900 of glorious transitions, 00:30:54.420 --> 00:30:55.720 abysmal circumstances, 00:30:56.299 --> 00:30:57.619 but because of God, 00:30:58.740 --> 00:30:59.799 great transition. 00:31:00.279 --> 00:31:01.200 That's what we see here. 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:05.980 My circumstances are dreadful, 00:31:05.980 --> 00:31:07.579 but this I call to mind, 00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:08.380 Jeremiah says, 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:09.440 and therefore I have hope. 00:31:09.819 --> 00:31:11.240 The steadfast love of the Lord 00:31:11.240 --> 00:31:13.360 never, ever ceases. 00:31:13.620 --> 00:31:15.380 His mercies never come to an end. 00:31:15.819 --> 00:31:16.640 They are new every morning. 00:31:16.779 --> 00:31:17.860 Great is your faithfulness. 00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:19.200 Well, how can Jeremiah 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:20.059 declare this truth 00:31:20.059 --> 00:31:21.339 in the midst of his devastation? 00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:22.400 We need to ask that question. 00:31:22.519 --> 00:31:24.599 What has happened in these verses? 00:31:25.620 --> 00:31:26.660 What is going on here? 00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:28.400 Well, notice Jeremiah's 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:29.660 circumstances haven't changed. 00:31:30.180 --> 00:31:30.940 He and his fellow people 00:31:30.940 --> 00:31:31.799 are still in exile. 00:31:31.960 --> 00:31:33.079 They're living in a foreign land 00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:35.680 under foreign kings. 00:31:35.980 --> 00:31:38.319 away from their beloved Jerusalem. 00:31:39.079 --> 00:31:41.099 His circumstances haven't changed, 00:31:41.539 --> 00:31:43.099 but his perspective has. 00:31:43.700 --> 00:31:45.500 His mindset has. 00:31:46.059 --> 00:31:48.640 Jeremiah remembers the mercy of God. 00:31:48.740 --> 00:31:49.460 He calls to mind 00:31:49.460 --> 00:31:50.779 God's faithfulness to forgive. 00:31:51.420 --> 00:31:53.059 He remembers God's mercy. 00:31:53.980 --> 00:31:55.440 God is good and merciful. 00:31:56.180 --> 00:31:57.880 Jeremiah knows God has been faithful 00:31:57.880 --> 00:31:59.980 throughout the ages to his people. 00:32:00.279 --> 00:32:01.099 He's acquainted with 00:32:01.099 --> 00:32:02.279 the Hebrew scriptures, 00:32:02.900 --> 00:32:04.620 the prophecies that have come before him. 00:32:04.619 --> 00:32:06.239 He sees God's goodness 00:32:06.239 --> 00:32:07.619 as he remembers. 00:32:08.079 --> 00:32:09.739 His circumstances have not changed. 00:32:10.519 --> 00:32:11.819 His perspective has. 00:32:12.059 --> 00:32:14.619 He's now remembering God's mercy. 00:32:15.579 --> 00:32:17.500 Remembering and requesting God's mercy 00:32:17.500 --> 00:32:20.500 is the pathway to restoration 00:32:20.500 --> 00:32:22.319 and affliction. 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:25.700 Even in their captivity in Babylon, 00:32:25.919 --> 00:32:27.419 God showed them mercy each day. 00:32:28.019 --> 00:32:29.399 God was providing for them 00:32:29.399 --> 00:32:30.599 even in their exile. 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:33.279 We see this in Jeremiah's prophetic book 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:34.779 in Jeremiah 29. 00:32:35.740 --> 00:32:37.480 God has been so good to them. 00:32:38.359 --> 00:32:39.059 He instructs his people 00:32:39.059 --> 00:32:40.539 to seek the welfare of the city. 00:32:41.059 --> 00:32:42.839 He says in Jeremiah 29 verse 5, 00:32:42.919 --> 00:32:44.179 build houses and live in them, 00:32:44.299 --> 00:32:46.419 plant gardens and eat their produce. 00:32:46.859 --> 00:32:48.139 Seek the welfare of the city 00:32:48.139 --> 00:32:49.879 where I have sent you into exile 00:32:49.880 --> 00:32:52.140 and pray to the Lord on his behalf. 00:32:53.100 --> 00:32:53.920 For in its welfare, 00:32:54.120 --> 00:32:55.280 you will find your welfare. 00:32:55.380 --> 00:32:56.300 Just reflect on that. 00:32:57.140 --> 00:32:58.660 God has deported his people. 00:32:59.140 --> 00:33:00.440 They're in a foreign land. 00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:02.560 But notice his goodness there. 00:33:02.900 --> 00:33:03.640 They have crops. 00:33:03.740 --> 00:33:04.200 They have food. 00:33:04.280 --> 00:33:04.800 They have clothing. 00:33:04.900 --> 00:33:05.600 They have shelter. 00:33:05.980 --> 00:33:07.380 In the midst of their pain, 00:33:07.480 --> 00:33:08.240 God is providing. 00:33:08.340 --> 00:33:09.140 Can I ask you, 00:33:09.380 --> 00:33:11.400 in the midst of your pain this morning, 00:33:11.620 --> 00:33:14.100 how is God exceedingly good to you? 00:33:14.800 --> 00:33:16.240 Did you have breakfast this morning? 00:33:16.340 --> 00:33:17.560 Do you have clothes on your back? 00:33:17.640 --> 00:33:18.980 Do you have shelter over your head? 00:33:18.980 --> 00:33:20.799 These things that we just pass by 00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:21.640 and take for granted. 00:33:22.440 --> 00:33:26.140 God is exceedingly good to his people, 00:33:26.299 --> 00:33:27.400 even in their pain, 00:33:27.579 --> 00:33:28.779 especially in their pain. 00:33:30.220 --> 00:33:32.160 Remember his mercy. 00:33:32.579 --> 00:33:34.259 They are new each day. 00:33:35.099 --> 00:33:36.960 Your circumstances may not change, 00:33:37.099 --> 00:33:38.680 but your perspective ought to 00:33:38.680 --> 00:33:40.059 when you think of God's goodness 00:33:40.059 --> 00:33:41.279 and his mercy. 00:33:41.860 --> 00:33:45.019 How has God been good to you today 00:33:45.019 --> 00:33:46.700 in the last three hours? 00:33:46.700 --> 00:33:48.740 Recount his blessings. 00:33:49.480 --> 00:33:50.960 Consider his mercy. 00:33:54.420 --> 00:33:55.360 While in exile, 00:33:55.500 --> 00:33:57.259 God communicated this promise 00:33:57.259 --> 00:33:58.620 to his people through Jeremiah. 00:33:59.380 --> 00:34:00.480 A very well-known verse 00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:01.980 that's oftentimes taken out of context, 00:34:02.160 --> 00:34:03.539 but let's read it in context. 00:34:04.100 --> 00:34:05.779 Jeremiah 29, verses 10 and 11. 00:34:06.299 --> 00:34:07.819 For thus says the Lord, 00:34:08.039 --> 00:34:10.000 when 70 years are completed for Babylon, 00:34:10.199 --> 00:34:11.179 I will visit you. 00:34:11.179 --> 00:34:13.279 I will fulfill to you my promise 00:34:13.279 --> 00:34:15.179 and bring you back to this place. 00:34:15.279 --> 00:34:16.819 For I know the plans I have for you, 00:34:16.919 --> 00:34:17.480 declares the Lord. 00:34:17.579 --> 00:34:19.359 Plans for peace and not for evil 00:34:19.359 --> 00:34:21.339 to give you a hope and a future. 00:34:22.199 --> 00:34:24.379 This was God's promise to his people 00:34:24.379 --> 00:34:26.639 in pain, in exile. 00:34:27.399 --> 00:34:29.440 Notice what they're called to cling to. 00:34:29.899 --> 00:34:31.460 The same thing we're called to cling to 00:34:31.460 --> 00:34:32.019 in our pain. 00:34:32.299 --> 00:34:33.259 The word of the Lord. 00:34:33.719 --> 00:34:35.079 It was a promise of the Lord 00:34:35.079 --> 00:34:36.659 given through his prophet Jeremiah 00:34:36.659 --> 00:34:37.899 that the people were to cling to. 00:34:37.900 --> 00:34:39.900 This too shall pass. 00:34:40.380 --> 00:34:41.680 This season will end 00:34:41.680 --> 00:34:42.840 and God will bring us 00:34:42.840 --> 00:34:44.220 to a place of restoration. 00:34:45.099 --> 00:34:47.119 They're prompted to cling 00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:48.440 to the Lord's word 00:34:48.440 --> 00:34:50.039 and so are we in the midst 00:34:50.039 --> 00:34:50.920 of our pain today. 00:34:51.380 --> 00:34:52.860 Cling to the word of the Lord. 00:34:53.220 --> 00:34:54.539 Pick up your Bible 00:34:54.539 --> 00:34:56.300 and let it sustain you, 00:34:57.200 --> 00:34:59.340 especially in the midst of affliction. 00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:01.680 They're clinging to the promise 00:35:01.680 --> 00:35:04.099 of the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah 00:35:04.099 --> 00:35:08.579 who spoke of restoration. 00:35:08.719 --> 00:35:09.000 But friends, 00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:10.619 it would be partial restoration. 00:35:11.579 --> 00:35:13.679 When they left their place of exile, 00:35:14.119 --> 00:35:15.779 went back to their beloved Jerusalem 00:35:15.779 --> 00:35:17.219 and began to rebuild the temple. 00:35:18.099 --> 00:35:19.400 When that temple was erected, 00:35:19.819 --> 00:35:20.759 there was great rejoicing, 00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:22.519 but there were also great tears as well 00:35:22.519 --> 00:35:23.480 from the older gentlemen 00:35:23.480 --> 00:35:25.380 who remember the glory of the old. 00:35:25.659 --> 00:35:27.179 It was partial restoration. 00:35:27.719 --> 00:35:29.460 Just one horizon of fulfillment 00:35:29.460 --> 00:35:30.179 of restoration. 00:35:30.779 --> 00:35:32.099 But we know the prophetic word 00:35:32.099 --> 00:35:33.860 has multiple horizons of fulfillment. 00:35:34.339 --> 00:35:35.519 And the greatest horizon 00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:37.799 is the restoration coming 00:35:37.799 --> 00:35:40.079 through the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:35:40.199 --> 00:35:40.940 the King of Kings 00:35:40.940 --> 00:35:41.759 and the Lord of Lords. 00:35:41.839 --> 00:35:44.139 That's where ultimate restoration happens. 00:35:44.940 --> 00:35:46.000 That's the end game 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:47.559 of God's promises. 00:35:48.039 --> 00:35:49.619 And we see the person 00:35:49.619 --> 00:35:51.960 and the work of Jesus Christ 00:35:51.960 --> 00:35:54.599 throughout this heavy lament. 00:35:55.079 --> 00:35:56.719 Let me just trace you through this 00:35:56.719 --> 00:35:57.319 really quickly 00:35:57.319 --> 00:35:59.940 to see the goodness 00:35:59.940 --> 00:36:01.360 of your Messiah 00:36:01.360 --> 00:36:03.120 of Jesus Christ. 00:36:04.059 --> 00:36:04.940 It's embedded 00:36:04.940 --> 00:36:06.400 all over Lamentations 3. 00:36:07.620 --> 00:36:08.519 The supreme display 00:36:08.519 --> 00:36:09.780 of God's steadfast love, 00:36:09.960 --> 00:36:10.840 mercy, and faithfulness 00:36:10.840 --> 00:36:12.099 is through Jesus Christ 00:36:12.099 --> 00:36:13.500 and see the echoes of it 00:36:13.500 --> 00:36:14.920 in Lamentations 3. 00:36:15.320 --> 00:36:15.840 Verse 1, 00:36:16.380 --> 00:36:17.200 I am the man 00:36:17.200 --> 00:36:18.280 who has seen affliction 00:36:18.280 --> 00:36:19.800 under the rod of his wrath. 00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:21.579 Jesus bore 00:36:21.579 --> 00:36:23.120 the full outpouring 00:36:23.120 --> 00:36:24.140 of God's wrath 00:36:24.140 --> 00:36:26.400 that was reserved for us. 00:36:26.559 --> 00:36:28.120 Jesus took it. 00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:29.460 In our place condemned, 00:36:29.579 --> 00:36:29.960 he stood. 00:36:29.960 --> 00:36:30.539 Verse 8, 00:36:31.000 --> 00:36:32.579 Though I call and cry for help, 00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:33.760 he shuts out my prayer. 00:36:34.039 --> 00:36:35.059 What was Jesus' cry 00:36:35.059 --> 00:36:35.699 at the cross? 00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:36.460 My God, 00:36:36.539 --> 00:36:37.079 my God, 00:36:37.220 --> 00:36:38.480 why have you forsaken me? 00:36:38.760 --> 00:36:40.619 Verbatim quoting Psalm 22, 00:36:40.760 --> 00:36:41.300 another lament. 00:36:41.599 --> 00:36:42.579 Jesus knows what it is 00:36:42.579 --> 00:36:43.940 to feel like his prayers 00:36:43.940 --> 00:36:44.980 are falling on deaf ears. 00:36:45.300 --> 00:36:45.920 Verse 13, 00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:47.199 He drove into my kidneys 00:36:47.199 --> 00:36:48.380 the arrow of his quiver. 00:36:48.720 --> 00:36:49.460 The soldier's spear 00:36:49.460 --> 00:36:51.220 pierced the side of Jesus 00:36:51.220 --> 00:36:52.360 as he hung on the cross. 00:36:52.599 --> 00:36:53.260 Verse 14, 00:36:53.559 --> 00:36:54.139 I have become 00:36:54.139 --> 00:36:55.079 the laughing stock 00:36:55.079 --> 00:36:55.800 of all peoples, 00:36:55.900 --> 00:36:57.019 the object of their taunts 00:36:57.019 --> 00:36:57.719 all day long. 00:36:58.139 --> 00:36:59.119 Jesus was taunted 00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:00.360 by the Roman soldiers. 00:37:00.639 --> 00:37:03.440 They put that crimson robe 00:37:03.440 --> 00:37:04.539 around him 00:37:04.539 --> 00:37:07.019 and paid homage to him 00:37:07.019 --> 00:37:07.880 as a false king. 00:37:08.780 --> 00:37:10.639 The passerbys mocked him. 00:37:11.079 --> 00:37:11.780 You saved others, 00:37:11.840 --> 00:37:13.259 yet you can't even save yourself. 00:37:14.320 --> 00:37:15.960 The other criminal on his side, 00:37:16.019 --> 00:37:17.179 the one that wasn't repentant, 00:37:17.539 --> 00:37:18.639 reviled him. 00:37:19.800 --> 00:37:20.800 You saved others, 00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:22.099 yet you cannot save yourself. 00:37:22.900 --> 00:37:23.699 Verse 15, 00:37:23.699 --> 00:37:25.059 He has filled me with bitterness. 00:37:25.480 --> 00:37:26.980 He has sated me with wormwood. 00:37:27.460 --> 00:37:28.099 Verse 19, 00:37:28.219 --> 00:37:29.079 Remember my affliction 00:37:29.079 --> 00:37:29.879 and my wanderings, 00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:31.059 the wormwood and the gall. 00:37:31.460 --> 00:37:32.639 This wormwood and gall 00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:34.299 are bitter plant extracts 00:37:34.299 --> 00:37:35.419 at times used 00:37:35.419 --> 00:37:36.599 for medicinal purposes. 00:37:37.559 --> 00:37:38.779 They're symbols of bitterness 00:37:38.779 --> 00:37:39.699 and affliction 00:37:39.699 --> 00:37:41.099 and pain in the scripture. 00:37:41.539 --> 00:37:42.359 And what was held up 00:37:42.359 --> 00:37:43.319 to Jesus' lips 00:37:43.319 --> 00:37:44.719 as he hung on the cross? 00:37:45.419 --> 00:37:46.219 Bitter gall 00:37:46.219 --> 00:37:47.779 to dull his pain. 00:37:49.919 --> 00:37:51.699 Jesus Christ fully endured 00:37:51.699 --> 00:37:53.339 the affliction 00:37:53.339 --> 00:37:55.519 in verses 1 through 20 00:37:55.519 --> 00:37:56.659 so that you and I 00:37:56.659 --> 00:37:57.639 could know the mercy 00:37:57.639 --> 00:37:59.379 in verses 21 through 24. 00:37:59.659 --> 00:38:00.839 That's the reality. 00:38:01.379 --> 00:38:02.719 Just trace the steps 00:38:02.719 --> 00:38:03.539 of your Savior 00:38:03.539 --> 00:38:05.039 through 1 through 20. 00:38:05.419 --> 00:38:06.039 He knew it 00:38:06.039 --> 00:38:07.460 to its infinite degree 00:38:07.460 --> 00:38:08.539 so that you and I 00:38:08.539 --> 00:38:09.619 wouldn't have to. 00:38:10.980 --> 00:38:12.439 He endured the affliction 00:38:12.439 --> 00:38:13.839 in verses 1 through 20 00:38:13.839 --> 00:38:14.599 so that you and I 00:38:14.599 --> 00:38:15.439 could know the mercy 00:38:15.439 --> 00:38:17.139 of 21 through 24. 00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:19.699 Jesus was forsaken 00:38:19.699 --> 00:38:21.159 so that you and I 00:38:21.159 --> 00:38:22.159 would not have to be. 00:38:23.399 --> 00:38:24.399 Jesus' prayers went 00:38:24.399 --> 00:38:25.480 unanswered at the cross 00:38:25.480 --> 00:38:26.460 so that our prayers 00:38:26.460 --> 00:38:27.819 could be answered today. 00:38:28.899 --> 00:38:30.039 Jesus Christ received 00:38:30.039 --> 00:38:31.019 the full outpouring 00:38:31.019 --> 00:38:32.039 of God's wrath 00:38:32.039 --> 00:38:33.859 so that we could receive 00:38:33.859 --> 00:38:35.719 only mercy today. 00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:37.539 Friend, 00:38:38.159 --> 00:38:40.559 you never ever have to wonder 00:38:40.559 --> 00:38:42.319 if God's going to give you mercy 00:38:42.319 --> 00:38:44.539 because that question 00:38:44.539 --> 00:38:46.119 has been forever answered 00:38:46.119 --> 00:38:47.299 at the cross 00:38:47.299 --> 00:38:49.839 where mercy poured out 00:38:49.839 --> 00:38:51.880 in its most abundant measure. 00:38:52.699 --> 00:38:54.039 So in the midst of your pain, 00:38:54.339 --> 00:38:55.239 look to the cross. 00:38:55.500 --> 00:38:56.400 That's the source 00:38:56.400 --> 00:38:57.559 of God's mercy, 00:38:57.679 --> 00:38:58.920 the source of his faithfulness, 00:38:59.199 --> 00:39:00.579 the source that says 00:39:00.579 --> 00:39:01.719 he'll never leave you. 00:39:02.980 --> 00:39:04.059 Look to the cross 00:39:04.059 --> 00:39:06.219 where mercy poured out, 00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:07.920 paid your debt, 00:39:08.039 --> 00:39:09.019 the mountain of your debt 00:39:09.019 --> 00:39:09.539 and mine, 00:39:10.659 --> 00:39:11.659 died for our sin 00:39:11.659 --> 00:39:13.019 and for anyone 00:39:13.019 --> 00:39:14.299 who would trust in him, 00:39:14.420 --> 00:39:15.159 repent of their sin, 00:39:16.059 --> 00:39:18.279 he grants them forgiveness 00:39:18.279 --> 00:39:19.319 and everlasting life. 00:39:19.399 --> 00:39:20.359 There's no greater message. 00:39:20.500 --> 00:39:21.379 There's no greater hope. 00:39:21.899 --> 00:39:22.339 Believe it, 00:39:22.879 --> 00:39:23.539 trust in it, 00:39:23.940 --> 00:39:24.619 cling to it 00:39:24.619 --> 00:39:25.759 all your days. 00:39:27.159 --> 00:39:28.179 The steadfast love 00:39:28.179 --> 00:39:28.699 of the Lord 00:39:28.699 --> 00:39:29.960 never ceases. 00:39:30.940 --> 00:39:31.719 His mercies 00:39:31.719 --> 00:39:33.519 never come to an end. 00:39:34.099 --> 00:39:34.940 They're new every morning. 00:39:35.779 --> 00:39:36.859 Great is your faithfulness. 00:39:37.159 --> 00:39:37.379 Amen. 00:39:37.639 --> 00:39:38.319 Let's pray together. 00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:42.180 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 00:39:42.300 --> 00:39:43.059 we praise you 00:39:43.059 --> 00:39:44.480 for the gift of your word 00:39:44.480 --> 00:39:45.460 that you've preserved 00:39:45.460 --> 00:39:46.720 throughout the millennia 00:39:46.720 --> 00:39:48.900 and given to us 00:39:48.900 --> 00:39:49.620 as a treasure, 00:39:50.539 --> 00:39:51.780 as a support to us 00:39:51.780 --> 00:39:53.000 in the midst of heartache. 00:39:53.620 --> 00:39:54.920 Thank you for the gift 00:39:54.920 --> 00:39:56.320 of lament in the Bible 00:39:56.320 --> 00:39:57.840 where we confess 00:39:57.840 --> 00:39:59.280 we wish we didn't have 00:39:59.280 --> 00:40:00.000 to use it, 00:40:00.120 --> 00:40:00.880 but in reality, 00:40:01.059 --> 00:40:02.000 in a fallen world, 00:40:02.600 --> 00:40:03.700 in our own sinful hearts, 00:40:03.700 --> 00:40:05.260 we will need this resource 00:40:05.260 --> 00:40:05.900 routinely. 00:40:07.140 --> 00:40:08.300 Guard us from prayer 00:40:08.300 --> 00:40:08.820 from helplessness, 00:40:08.920 --> 00:40:09.860 from growing bitter. 00:40:10.620 --> 00:40:12.360 Help us to voice 00:40:12.360 --> 00:40:14.840 the full content 00:40:14.840 --> 00:40:15.980 of our hearts to you 00:40:15.980 --> 00:40:17.140 no matter what. 00:40:17.900 --> 00:40:19.380 Draw us ever nearer to you. 00:40:19.580 --> 00:40:20.600 Thank you for the cross 00:40:20.600 --> 00:40:22.320 that forever answers 00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:23.380 the question of whether 00:40:23.380 --> 00:40:24.320 or not you'll be merciful. 00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:25.560 You are. 00:40:26.519 --> 00:40:27.700 Great is your faithfulness. 00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:29.200 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:40:29.500 --> 00:40:29.700 Amen.