Lament

“Let all their evildoing come before you, and deal with them

As you have dealt with me because of all my transgressions;

For my groans are many and my heart is faint.”

- Lamentations 1:22

We’re going to touch a book these next few weeks that doesn’t get touched enough. It’s full of poetry and theology, and gets real about the problem of evil and sin in this world. In many ways we should be able to connect to it the most, I’ve heard people’s own hearts echo the poetry of Lamentations. In the midst of our sufferings and pains we can release a cry that echo’s back thousands and thousands of years, of people crying out for God’s mercy

Lamentations 1:

Something you wouldn’t notice about this book as much as in its English is the poetic structure in Hebrew. For us its separated verse by verse, in stanzas that we understand. Yet for the Jews they can read this and recognize that its an acrostic. The first letter of each verse in the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet. There’s order to this book. Even in their lowest points, they found an orderly way to express their suffering. This remains true for chapter 1, 2, and 4. Chapter 3 follows a slightly different pattern, but then chapter 5 cast it all aside, revealing the depth of emotion and suffering that cannot always be ordered.

The power of this poetry lies in the imagery on display. The speaker appears to be a woman, looking upon the destruction of Jerusalem following the siege by Babylon. She sees the empty streets, the baron fields, the rejoicing of their enemies and surrounding nations. All she can do is weep.

Transgression:

This women knows why all this is happening though. It’s not because of God’s anger, or even the evil of Babylon. Those are factors but they are not why. After all, what could have caused the God who is slow to get angry to become so angry?

Behind it all the woman recognizes that it is the transgressions and sins of the people of Jerusalem that have cause this to happen. God is not inherently wrathful, though He can show wrath, its not the core of who He is.

God is first, love and with that love is relational. First, within the Trinity, they share in perfect relationship with one another, then with humanity, God extends His love and relationship to us. For a while that was meant for the Jews, the descendants of Abraham. Relationship though requires faithfulness, which God has proven His faithfulness time and again, without failure. Us on the other hand, have shown our rebellion and our love of everything but God. So as this women looks out upon the fallen Jerusalem, she sees that its because of their own fallenness. She sees that they have wronged God and ruined the relationship that they had, and so she weeps.

This is not to say that all suffering is because of our own sins. Evil still exist. Evil has no relationship for which to care but only seeks to further divide humanity from God even further.

In this particular case though, Jerusalem’s fall is a result of years and years of rebellion and sin.

Perpetuated Sin:

She further recognizes that while they themselves have sinned, that sin and evil are furthered by the actions of their enemies. Jerusalem has fractured its relationship with God and the Babylon’s instill further corruption through their violence.

Lament:

Its not enough to just recognize these sins and evils though. Most of us can do that and most of us enjoy venting about it at the end of the day. Yet what is happening here in Lamentations is vastly different than just a 5 chapter vent sessions. If we bring it to the practice of Lament, and perhaps if we practiced Lament more frequently, we would understand the differences.

One of the key parts of lament is recognizing that God is still sovereign, that he still reigns, and that He still cares. If we were to only focus on the suffering, then we simply be victimizing ourselves and spiraling off in venting. But when we take all that same emotion and the depth of our pains and turn it back to focus on God, then it becomes the worshipful practice of Lament.

The keys words that show this in our verse are “deal with them as you have dealt with me.” It’s not just about naming and pointing out the evil. It’s about recognizing that God is in control. He deals with our sins and evils with an incomprehensible love, wrath, compassion, and vengeance. And for Him to do so, never slips into injustice, but if we ever take vengeance into our own hands, it easily becomes injustice. In this, is our cry for God’s mercy.

Final Blessing:

One song lately has been very helpful for me, when I too have no comfort, and all I feel is my great need for God, I have turned to this song, Kyrie Eleison. It means Lord have mercy. It’s a Psalm, it’s a Prayer, and it’s been my prayer some days as well!

I encourage you to listen to that song, find it and save it on whatever streaming platform you use. Begin to pray, “Lord have mercy on me a sinner,” every day and begin to sense the Holy Spirit’s comforting wok in your life. Even in the midst of suffering there can be enriched worship, as we bear our emotions honestly to God, and ask Him to deal with it with mercy.