Learning through Lamenting.

LEARNING THROUGH LAMENTING 

By Dr. Marc S. Blackwell Sr.

Our tears and His compassions ...

In the presence of tears and one's inner anguish of soul or when a certain seemingly irresolvable life situation surround us, it is good to look in the Old Testament's book about life in the light of the human condition and its related difficulties. Lamentations, (originally this was a part of the book 'Jeremiah') is just such a book. Have you taken the time to recognize why Jeremiah felt so deeply ... or why he wrote such a prayer of anguish or such a "song of tears."  Real life circumstances and some of life’s responsibilities  (assigned by God) had just overwhelmed him! Jeremiah had been given the prophetic responsibility of declaring (preaching) a warning message of judgment. He had to be the one to give the news to Israel that God was going to judge them as a nation. 

Jeremiah was also faced with the task of having to impress individuals that they needed to face the facts of Israel’s failure and both the personal and collective results of sin. They must not let their grief or sense of loss over their nation's judgment be misused or misunderstood as an 'excuse' to go on in their sin. Often men use the overwhelming distresses of life to excuse their inactivity or irresponsibility. Many attempt to ignore God and His Word or somehow believe they can 'marginalize the Lord,'  feeling their situation provides them with their own 'unique' excuse [1 Corinthians 10:12-13]. Nonetheless, God's Word is consistent and clear that we all are expected to think right and act responsibly by turning to the Lord (3:39-41) - no mater how extreme our situation might seem to be.

At the first, Jeremiah joined those that feel their burden should somehow excuse him. He just found this task ... this burden … "as too much to handle"- after all …he argued that he too was just a normal man.  In fact, he so internalized the pain of the responsibility of having to give Israel this terrible news - that he internalized his feelings of being given an unacceptable task!  Jeremiah even attempted carrying the guilt of others as if it was his own guilt - his own fault. Jeremiah then carried this huge burden and his woeful tears to the Lord! Through the record of this prayer or song of anguish he would share his thoughts with Israel and thus by God's will through the Bible he would also share his in personal prayer. The Lamentations open for us all to see his own inner heart's anguish and confusion. The Prophet Jeremiah, under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit shares these five songs of "lamentation" – songs of inner personal anguish or tears; (or in Afrikaans as his "klagliedere." _

“I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.” The words used in chapter three begin with Jeremiah crying-out that he was the man God had chosen to see (ahead of time) what the Lord was going to do to Israel. Jeremiah felt this news so personally that he carried it deep into his heart as a type of ‘depression’ or anguish of his own soul. “Jeremiah expresses how overwhelmed he is by the destruction of Jerusalem, by the sin of the people that brought it about, and by the suffering that resulted from the destruction.“ He says: 3:2 - "He (the Lord) hath brought me into darkness, but not into light"; 3:7 - "He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy." 3:11 "He hath pulled me in pieces"; 3:15 "He hath filled me with bitterness"; 3:18 "And I said my strength and my hope is perishing from the Lord" ....then,  like any believer must, ...Jeremiah got a 'grip of reality' and overcame his emotions by using his mind to recall (3:20-21) that ... his hope - was in the Lord. “My soul hath them still in rememberance and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.”

In Lamentations (Klagliedere) 3:22, Jeremiah begins to listen to his own mind - as compared to earlier in the chapter when he was expressing his natural or human tendency to just listen to the emotional anguish of his soul. Now Jeremiah exclaims, (maybe he made a long, even languished sigh) - It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because His compassions fail not!" With this exclamation Jeremiah reminds himself (and you and I should do the same) that the Lord God may well judge the sin of nations, God is Sovereign and has every right to ‘consume” us in judgment. We are as His creation, His nations, His peoples …His, to do with as He please! Nonetheless, the Lord never forgets compassion! As His own children, we must live in a real world and we will be expected to face the results of Adamic sin. The real influence of sin on our world, on our relationships and on creation itself (Romans 8:22) is a sure influence on our own daily lives, our own health and our own hopes! Even though sin discourages us, the Lord is good and He never leaves us hopeless!  

Jeremiah learns in the midst of his own lamentations that God's compassions fail not - that there is hope in the Lord., Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, further classifies His Father's compassions and He calls us away from listening to our troubled hearts,  away from the noise from of our battle with sin and He offers us forgiveness from sin with all of its negative influences and  frightfully serious effects! Our Savior calls us away from our troubled heart to return to our  sure belief (John 14:1) in Him and His salvation and to an obedient life and walk with Him (John 14:21).  As our truly caring Lord and comforting Savior, He will not leave us comfortless but gives us the comfort of the "Spirit of truth" - the Comforter (The Vertrooster) to abide with us during the times, or life-situations, when comfort seems truly and rationally beyond our ability and beyond our reach (John 14:16-18). In fact, Jeremiah reminds himself and us that - in the midst of the most depressing situations or the most frightening news - HIS COMPASSIONS not only "fail not," but … "They are new every morning...!" (3:23)

Increasingly, Jeremiah  learns to look away from the "bad news" that he was assigned to declare to Israel. He also learns to look away from his own inner feelings of his inner personal sadness or sorrows! Jeremiah, takes a big step, now, right now (!) he determines to deal with his false sense of guilt ... by refusing to feel sorry for himself or get lost in the trauma of his life situation! To take this step of faith Jeremiah determines to speak the truth ... to God ... to actually address God in faith about the matter by refocusing on who and how God really is … now Jeremiah speaks to the Lord, and says: "GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS!"

When we speak to the Lord about who and how He is, we will yield our self-pity, our guilt and pain. We "wake-up" to our reality. The reality of faith (Heb. 11:1-6 - see the whole chapter) ... it is a "wake-up call!"  We who have the Lord face nothing like the world faces what they face! "The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him." (3:24)  Our task or plight in life might seem unfair, unjust, or just unbelievably difficult but our "portion" being the Lord means that we, unlike the world, respond differently ... He is with us!

Are we accepting God as ...

 in fact ours - our salvation - our portion?

“The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him.” 3:25 Jeremiah simply, and clearly points out the obvious that if God is in fact our portion … our blessings amidst troubles, our compassionate and faithful ‘friend’ and our heritage in the end … we have no other choice than to wait for Him to be Who He is and do What He wills! We can do one thing other than anxiously fretting and impatiently waiting (Psalm 37)  for His will and ways to become evident … we can seek Him more truly, or in other words we can approach Him in  worship by serving Him without any fear (Philippians 1:28-29)!  

Waiting for the Lord seems right and logical but when we find ourselves living amidst howling and raging storms  waiting is sometimes not so simple. “It is good that we (a man) should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” (3:26). Jeremiah is simply adding too the truth that we should wait for God to have His Own way and will with us by saying we should do this without yielding or give-up our hope! Our belief that the Lord saves and in His own time will act is good, but those that hope do not grumble and complain, as well.  Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:21-23 that Jesus is our example … He did not “revile,” i.e. verbally abuse, nor die He fail to hope or commit Himself to His Father. Peter further points our that godly women provide an example for us in that they have a meek and quiet spirit (3:4); they have trusted in God (3:5)… they are not just accomplishing their goals by outward appearances but they have an inner peace and “are not afraid with any amazement” (3:6) …they are like Christ!  We, too, are to be like Christ! In fact we are to “Sanctify (set aside or dedicate with genuine Hope in Him) the Lord God in our hearts.” (3:15) Beware, of saying you are waiting while – in fact – you are grumbling or feeling like you are a victim of “life’s unfair circumstances” !

But most of us are prepared to admit that such “strong” faith is difficult and it even alludes us much of the time! What can a person do? How can we ignore our difficult experiences, and the anguish of a soul that is deeply troubled? How did Jeremiah know what to do? How did Jeremiah do what he “should have” done? Jeremiah knew that character itself, human or Christian character (“learn of me” Matthew 11:29), both share common ‘building blocks.’  

Learning the lessons of "bearing the yoke" ...

If we are to face difficult situations with a “charactered” response, then we will have to deal with life with four lessons (like most lessons) that are best learned when we are young. Jeremiah specifically pointed to the need that we all have to learn what it means to “bear the yoke”.-- “It is good for a man that he bears the yoke in his youth”. 3:27.

First, When we have learned the realities of life – we will have learned four valuable life-lessons:When bearing the “weight of life’s yoke” … silence is an appropriate response. Silence, without the help or encouraging words of another person can be an act of worship, it can be a special – even wordless - prayer and it can truly be a help to others who watch, a service unto God who sees and such silence can be a ministry to all around resulting totally to His Glory! 3:28 “he sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.

Second, ”When bearing the “weight of life’s yoke” … like an oxen who’s head is bowed, his mouth is near to and eating dust itself – knows, that only is such lowly labour and in the labours of life, that hope depends on accepting God’s own eternal plan to deal with sin and to save the world by doing what God has for us to do! To be what God wants us to be – ethically, morally, and spiritually, just like our Savior (Mt. 11:29) who was – “meek … in heart” is our goal. As He brought us salvation and hope in a way unlike the “way/s of the world” we are to glorify God by lives that reflect His ways versus our ways or our thinking. We learn, then, not to demand our rights, ask about “fairness,”  or wonder why others have or seem to have a better life but we learn to obey Him and accept His Will for us! 3:29 “He putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.” 

Third, When bearing the “weight of life’s yoke” …  the one who handles life well must decide to accept his own need to be  meek, a "meekness" like that exhibited by Jesus Christ, our Lord.   As outlined in Matthew 11:29 we need this – “meekness of … heart”.  Just as Christ  honoured His Father, we are to honour the Lord by submitting to Him and looking to His Grace or to allow His strength to operate and be seen through our voluntary meekness. (2 Cor. 4:7-12; 12:9 / 1:3-11) “He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full (Rom. 15:1-3) with reproach. 3:30”  (Mt. 5:11, 39).

When bearing the “weight of life’s yoke” … the fourth valuable lesson of living life to the glory of God is a lesson that we must learn about God’s own nature and character.  When things go “against us” we are prone to think God has forgotten us or cast off or moved away from us for good! Men, especially unsaved men, are inclined to blame God and think He is even malicious in allowing what it seems He has allowed. But, the believer, like Jeremiah, once he gets his bearings again – once he sees the realities of life … will rethink the matter. Once we use our minds, reject our blind emotions and listen to and obey God’s Word we will decide that (1.) God will return to help us, (2.) He is really not inclined to make us grieve and  (3.) He does not do what He does easily (or just willingly,) but does what He does based on principle, right and righteousness! “(3:31-32)  For the Lord will not cast off forever: But though he cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.”

To summarise, Jeremiah’s Lamentations or “songs of tears” are not shared with us to encourage us to just “bite the bullet” or just to “accept our pain” or to attempt living life through fatalism or stoical resolve. This inspired message from God is provided to each one of us to help us to re-find the “reality of our faith.”  

Regretfully, so many Christians today are "rediscovering" the mindset that hides behind St. Augustines philosophies and the vagaries of the Medieval concept of a sovereign social authority. The Dark Ages' society was one that accepted life's hardships as a fatalistic reality of an indifferent God. Rather, think of an indifferent Catholic church that was busy authorizing their  so-called "Divine Right" or their idea of a 'sovereign control' in human governance. 

This dogma of a Sovereign God, as now re-defined by Medieval Churchmen using Creeds and Traditions reframed fatalism as a divine authority of the privileged class over the 'lesser beings' of Medieval and later societies.  To be a "faithful Christian" the common man was taught to accept the sovereignty of the Church, its Popes, Arch-bishops, Bishops and those they installed to govern in God's name ... i.e. -  to hold sovereign control over the "common man" and over society at large. 

When we determine, as believers, to respond to our life-situations out of our personal faith in God we are also called upon by Scripture i. to be responsible, ii. to make right choices and iii. to obey the revealed (written) Word of God. Faith does not call us to deny reality or to deny our pain, or to falsely assume there is no suffering for the faithful! Nor do we need to found our religion in a life that 'just pretends' that all is well - all of the time or to think that a sin cursed and sin-sick world all of our life choices - good and bad - and the corresponding outcomes are somehow best explained by saying that God "is in control of every circumstance of our lives." 

If we accept that we do reap what we sow - then we can live in a real relationship with God and others. ( 1 John 1:5-9) Only when we take responsibility for our actions -- our sinful mistakes and only as we walk in the light, responding to true Truth -only then can we understand the truth that: (3:31-32)"... the Lord will not cast off forever: But though he cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.”

The obedient believer looks realistically to our God, as a God of COMPASSION, FAITHFULNESS and HOPE. We recover our thoughts and know He will not fail us! Then, we like Jeremiah … “get on with life,”  - by and with God’s Grace.

(First draft: Sept 2004, San Bernardino)