Finding Hope in the Middle of Despair | Lamentations 3:1-23

Show Notes

Episode 831: 
In this episode, we delve into the Book of Lamentations, specifically focusing on the emotional turmoil expressed by the prophet Jeremiah. We discuss how Jeremiah laments the suffering of his people and the impending destruction of Jerusalem, yet he finds hope in God's faithfulness. We read several verses that illustrate the depth of his despair, followed by the powerful declaration of hope in God's mercies, which are renewed every morning.

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You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Hey, everybody, thanks for tuning in to the Bible guys. Today's Monday, somebody those mondays. Yes, we're excited to start a good week with you. And we're in the middle of the series about God's promises, and we're having a theme this week called God's Faithfulness and Unchanging Nature. Excellent, Yes, super excited. Yeah, you know remember that old hymnal, Great is Thy Faithfulness. That's a good one, A good one. Yeah, everybody's so happy that you sing. You remember what page it was on? No? I don't either. No, I don't remember thirteen. I think I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty confident. Our hymnals were different. Yeah, yeah, yeah, So when you were a worship leader, did you lead from hymnals? Set up and saying wow? Okay, So here's a thirty second answer. I started off leading with hymnos, but my goal was to bring our church out of the olden times into the more modern times. So, believe it or not, my good buddy who you know, Josh Eisenhart, we actually ready for this, we ditched the choir, we sold the organ were doing that in a small that destroy sold the organ added drums, added all band guitars and everything else, and then added change the sound system, and then added, uh, you know the screens. It it wasn't I meg, but it was like, you know, screens with the words on them. So we did that, and we did all that, and then and then and by the way. And how much time? Like a year and a half? Wow? And then how how long did you stay after that? Because there will be blood and it will be yours. During that time. During that time we went from full suits and ties down to nobody in the whole church had a suit a year later. Yeah, yeah, so you feel like that's better. At the time, Yeah, yeah, because you know, you know, it depends on your goal. So how how long were you there after you did all that? Probablybout well. I was a worship leader for three years, so I guess another year and a half and then and then I then I resigned after that. But it had nothing to do with that. In fact, I thought the church came along very nicely. Nice. I mean, it's a pretty good day when you could talk to the organists who had been playing the organ for fifteen years, and then somehow leave her house in the evening and have her say you know what, I agree? Wow, And I sold it the new song. Remember yeah, yeah, remember that? Wow? Yeah, yeah, you know the band new song. Yes, it's all about it. For our listeners who may not know, and we sold it to them. Cool. Yeah, good for you, man, because that can be brutal, making that, making that change back then. Well, you know it's actually, you know, they always say love covers the multitude of sins. So I probably loved you. They did, and I think I think I probably did it clumsily, but people knew the heart, so I think they followed because they loved me. Wow. Isn't that wonderful? Yeah, it's great. Hey, by the way, that's that that ate into our segment time. But this is thankful. This is a wild segment. This is a good one. We've never had this segment before. It's character switch. I'm not sure I feel about it. Jeff It says, you'll each take on a goofy persona like a pirate or ready for this, a Victorian schoolboy. That one's you know what that is? Monotone? Ai you know please, sir, May I have another remember that? Oh that that's from Dickens. That that that's it. It's like a Dickens character. May I have some mold? Yeah yeah, okay, and talk about something you're grateful for. So we got to talk about gratefulness right last week with Thanksgiving for us lifetime and uh and then it says, uh, we got to do it in some weird voice. So what voice you want me to do? The really the Oliver voice? Yeah, because I want to do the pirate. Okay, you want to do the fire. You got to use all the phrases. Je y yeah, well I used chat GPT. Oh good for you. I told chet GPT what I wanted it to be. Okay, all right, so let me think what am I grateful for? Okay, here we go, so you should go ahead. So you should have seen my wife and I went downtown and we stayed at a hotel called the Whitney. That's a nice hotel. It was so nice I couldn't believe it. I had a bed, some covers and some heat. There you go, that's great. I think we should just stand there. I think, no, no, no, no, no, no, yeah, yeah, you've rented us up for the pirates. I asked it to help me. Uh say what I'm happy for in a pirate's voice. Okay, did you tell it what you were happy for? Yes? Okay, And so it says I'd be happy for the good Lord guiding me, ship, the wind at me, back me, crew by me side, and another blessed day above the waves. That sounds like SpongeBob. That's mister crabs. You literally did your best. Mister Pineapple under he's. The one that goes got that's great. Good for you now that we have three listeners left. Right, because who would want to stay tuned out? Oh man, Well, we did the best we could crazy desert. That's funny. But thank you for the challenge. Yeah, we're always up for a challenge. Talking about a challenge. You know what challenges me? The Bible? I know you're lamentations the Bible. Yeah, yeah, you know. Lamentations is a very uh under read, underpreached about, I would say, wouldn't you say, because it's all about lamenting, isn't it. Yes, jercisely people love spending time lamenting. Well, I'll tell you what people actually do lament a ton. They just don't like to read about other people's lament. Lamentations, Well, he's a little miserable in here. Oh yeah, So the book Lamentations just to kind of catch people up. The book Lamorations was written by Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, one of the wealthiest kings, one of the wealthiest humans that's ever lived, incredibly powerful, peaceful borders. Everything about his life was great, and he was miserable because he had begun trusting in his wealth, he'd begun trusting in his own wisdom. He'd begun just kind of indulging in every physical pleasure that he could, and he started feeling like life was a waste. Right, yeah, oh, I wrote in Lamentations, I'm thinking Ecclesiastes. Yes, Jeremiah wrote it. This is your opportunity to go ahead, buddy, say it. Say it. Hey, I'm the Bible guy and you're my side. Yes, there you go. Hey, you're right the wrong guy. But here's the thing. You know so much. You're so intellectual. To be honest, this is not a this is totally genuine. You have so much more knowledge than the average human that, as you said, Solomon, I know this is Jeremiah, and in my mind, I go, am I wrong? I'm like, I think this is Jeremiah. I'm starting to make you question your own reality. Yeah, it is Jeremiah. I know that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. Ecclesiastes is Solomon a written proverb, the Song of Solomon, and then Ecclesiastes. And Ecclesiastes is sort of a different kind of a book than the other two. And really, if you think about it, Lamentations is that to Jeremiah. Really? So it's like it's like sort of like the other book. Isn't it. So I'm gonna pull a Chris and go, do you think we should go back and just edit this whole thing? And then I'll say no, no, people love it. People love it. People love it. Jeff, that's what you say to me. So now you know, just be yourself. Now you know how good that feels. Don't you just eat a slice of humble pie? Okay? Yeah, So where are we starting from? I eat humble pie all the time. Well, we didn't make a decision. Well I'm not accustomed to that. We didn't make a decision about that. But honestly, I would read verses one through twenty three because really, he sort of shifts gears, right, So the first two laments of the plight of the city and then of the people, you know, it's sort of chapter one, chapter two. But then he sort of turns a corner and he talks about the hope in God's faithfulness, which is where our main promise comes from. And yeah, okay, I'll do that. So it's kind of interesting. Can I tell you one more thing I just read in the notes. I love these notes things. Yeah, it says there's sixty six verses in this chapter. Yeah. And it says in the original Hebrew text of this book, the first four chapters and Lamentations are acrostic poems. Oh, so they start off with A and they go to B and they go to see the beginning of each line of the poem. Yeah, only not in English but in Hebrew, right, So it's in their alphabet. And it says each verse in each chapter begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Lamentations three has sixty six verses rather than twenty two because it's a triple acrostic. The first three verses begin with the equivalent of A. The next three verses begin with the equivalent of B and so on, and this was a typical form of poetry. So he wrote this whole thing as a poem. Wow. The first three the first three lines being first three verses, are their equivalent of A. The next three verses. Aabbb CCC yeah, and then neat. Wow. That's kind of cool artistic. So Jeremiah no wonder he was. He's called the weeping Prophet, right, Yeah, he's kind of an emotional guy just because he's an artist. Well, are you saying that all of us artists are weepy? Well, let's go ahead and get started. Oh whatever. You don't have to be an artist to be a weepy person. I know, but I don't know many artists that aren't, is all I'm saying. Is that true? Very emotional? Yeah, you're tapping into a side of your your heart and your mind and your emotions. The rest of us don't tap into. That's where beautiful art comes from, comes from the soul. You're just like bearing your soul for us. Do you think that's why I cry like every day? Yes, because you're an Artist's all. Have we gone? Yeah? I think so. Anyways, I would not have attached to my tears to artistry. It is your beautiful soul, Chris. Everybody knows that well. Thanks Jeff. Here we go. Verse one says, I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the lord's anger. He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light, and he has turned his hand against me a and again all day long. He's made my skin and flesh grow old, and he's broken my bones, and he's besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress, and he has buried me in a dark place like those long dead. He has walled me in and I cannot escape. He's bound me in heavy chains, and though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers, and he has blocked my way with a high stone wall. He has made my road crooked. He's hidden like a bear or a lion, waiting to attack me. He's dragged me off the bath, tore me in pieces, leaving me helpless and devastated. He's drawn his bow and made me the target for his arrows. He shadows arrows deep into my heart. My own people laugh at me all day long, they sing their mocking songs. He's filled me with bitterness and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink. He's made me chew on gravel, He's rolled me in the dust. Piece has been stripped away, and I've forgotten what prosperity is. I cry out, My splendor has gone. Everything I'd hoped for from the Lord is lost. Well, I'm sure, dude, I'm super glad we started Verse one. Thought the turn was quicker than this. The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time as I grieve over my loss here it is. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this. The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness. His mercies begin afresh every morning. And I will say to myself, the Lord is my inheritance. Therefore I will hope in him. The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it's good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord. And it's good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of His discipline. I think you got to go to thirty three. Honestly, let them sit alone in silence, beneath the Lord's demands, and let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last. Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them, and accept the insults of their enemies, for no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love, for he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow. That's a good place to stand. That's a good one. So, yeah, did take a turn. I just know the turn came earlier. But wow, yeah, well there is a reason why this book's called lamentations. Yeah and uh yeah, no kidding, because that was about as lamentful as just about anything. You know what, if you were watching, by the way, on video, the lights just what it was just for lack of motion, but they turn them back on, and if you're listening, nobody cares. But you know what, I love. I've quoted this before. I remember on an Easter message. I remember I pulled this out. Goodness gracious, it was years ago. It's probably like twenty eleven or so, and I focused on the verse number twenty one yet I still dare to hope. When I remember this, well, I mean think about it. It's like it's like, think about every discouraging thought you've ever had, every really bad experience, every desperate moment that you've ever gone through where you think God has either forgotten you, abandoned you, or even punished you, and you start to question, you know, is there going to be any joy? Is there is? There? Is there ever going to be any happiness in my life? And then he says, inspite all those just really awful, lamenting thoughts, he's at you on gravel, yeah, at chew on gravel, Yeah she is. And then he says, yet I still dare to hope. I love it because I'm a dare kind of guy. Yeah, double dog dare Yeah, you know, I dare you. I dare you to hope. I dare you to still serve God. I dare you to still believe in Him and still be faithful, you know, rise up to the calling. And Jeremiah says, I dare to hope knowing this, and then he goes, I remember this, The faithful love of the Lord never ends, His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness, his mercies begin fresh every morning. Yeah, powerful, right. And of course that is another hemn. Right. Great is thy. Faithfulness such a good one. Great is thy. Faithfulness morning by morning. Oh you didn't sing it, all right, that's fine. Yeah. So it's interesting he didn't actually go through these afflictions. No, he was emotionally feeling them because the Lord let him see the destruction that was coming to Judah. So he's one of the prophets. He's one of the major prophets. God used him and a few others to warn Judah that if you keep going down the same path the nation of Israel is going down, you're going to suffer the same consequences. They had abandoned the true God in heaven and they began worshiping idols. They'd begun going through all of the horrible, sadistic rituals and things that they were doing, and they were God. Finally he warned them a bunch of times, and then finally sent judgment and the Assyrians came in and wiped them out. So now Judah is going down the same path, and so God's using these prophets like Jeremiah to say, don't do to turn around, and God let Jeremiah see what was going to happen to Jerusalem, and so it's the agony of just knowing, you know, what's what's coming next, that this is what just puts him into this horrible depression. But even then he says, you know, I know God's not going to give up on us. Even then, God's God's mercies, you know, never cease. And in the same way that he offers mercy to everybody who's sinning, even when there's consequences, he does the same for Judah. And that's why he felt so confident to be able to turn. It's not always going to be horrible. And this is the difference, quite honestly, between those who are believers and those who are not, is we have the hope that people who don't know God don't have, and that is his mercy's doing endure forever, that he's not going to give up on us, that if we turn from our sin and we turn to him, he will restore us. And that's exactly the hope that Jeremiah had for Israel at the time. So, yeah, well, I love the idea that every morning when you wake up, your mercies began afresh. Yeah, you know, that. God has a brand new day for you, but also a brand new bucket of blessings, a brand new list of mercies. And I think that you know the idea that God never changes too, right, because this this week's theme is not only his faithfulness but his unchanging nature. Right. So when it says great is his faithfulness, his love never ends, his mercies never cease. That is true back then, but it's also true now. So thousands of years later, the Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So just know that the promises even way back then can be claimed now. Right. Jesus quoted the Old Testament and claimed the promises of the Old Testament. The apostle Paul quoted the Old Testament. There were several other writers of the New Testament who quoted these promises, especially when it comes to the nature of God. So God will never ever run out of mercies and will give us his mercies fresh every morning. Yeah. Life Applications Study Bible note says, each day when we wake up, God's mercy greets us. No other faith has a fresh outpouring of grace each day. God always willingly responds with help when we. Ask think about that. Think about that. No other what does it say another faith. No other faith has has a fresh outpouring of grace each day. Yeah, think about that. Yeah, you know it is It is interesting, isn't it? Because when people talk about the different faces of the world, and they also they say, you know, hey, don't all roads lead to heaven? And Jesus made the claim right in John fourteen six, I'm the way the truth in the life. No one gets to the Father except through me. And and if you think about all the different ways that you know, different faith communicate getting to heaven. And some faiths say, oh, you got to jump through hoops. Yeah, you got to be part of a special group. You got to be selected, you have to be uh, you have to perform right. And but but God says, no, no, no, no, no, like everybody's falls short. I'm going to pay the price for everyone. Yeah, and he says Romans ten thirteen, for for all who call up on the name of the Lord, she'll be saved. So everyone is invited. Everybody gets in, and then he says He's gonna give us mercy. And so it says ours is the only faith. Christianity's the only faith. Yeah. My wife and I were talking about this the other day that we were making a joke. She helps oversee my calendar, both my office calendar and our home calendar. She works in our office, and so she mentioned something and I said, I don't know. I didn't even look at my calendar for tomorrow. She sai, why didn't you look at calendar? I said, I never look at my calendar until the day of. She's like, why, and I said, because tomorrow's problems are tomorrow's problems. Let me just I spend all my time. Do you ever see the boy? Here's a callback. Do you remember the Carol Burnett show? Oh wow, yes, okay. Do you remember at the end of the show there was like that little cartoon ending and there's a big parade going and the elephants are there, and then there's a guy behind and he's just got the little shovel. And he's the big can, he's got the big mustag he's. Got to be, and he's just shoveling up all the mess that those eleph left. The parade was amazing, right and it was, but somebody's got to clean up the mess. I feel like that's my most of my life is I just walk around to shovel right behind all these elephants in the big parade. And so what I love about this his mercies are new every day is I don't need God to solve all of my tomorrows, right because I'm not living in tomorrow. I'm living today. And there's a lot of peace in that when you just go, okay, God, you're in charge of today, and then when tomorrow is today, you'll be in charge of today again, because his mercies are new every morning. And then the fact that I know this, my past is gone. He says, what sin are you talking about? Right? My sin is as far as the east is from the west, it says, deep as the deepest sea. God says, he chooses not to remember my sin anymore. Right, So, anything that I regret in my past, it's over. It's in the past. I don't need mercy free Yesterday. He forgave me yesterday when I asked, And then today his mercy is good enough for me. Today it's all I need. And then when tomorrow is today, he'll give me his mercies again. It's every day refreshed. I'm not relying on yesterday's mercy, And I'm not hoping for tomorrow's mercy. I just need today's mercy. I love it. Yeah, and keep in mind too, the technical definition of the word mercy is God not giving us what we deserve. That's right, right, So, if we deserve punishment, if we deserve judgment, if we deserve hell, if we deserve eternal separation, if we deserve you know, whatever it is, right chastisement. God chooses not to do those things and his you know, he spares us because he loves us. And oftentimes in the scripture it says he spares us because Jesus paid the full price in the weight of our sin. So because that price has been paid, God spares us from that punishment. Right. So yeah, I mean there's a difference in grace and mercy. Grace actually gives us what we don't deserve, right, which is God's love, God's faithless. It's the first half of that, right, God's God's love and his faithfulness endures. What does it say. It says it's faithful. The faithful love of the Lord never ends. So he gives us what we don't deserve. That's called mercy. But that he doesn't give us what we do deserve. Oh, I messed that up. Good gravy, I said, hang on, said, he gives us what we don't deserve. That's called grace, and that he doesn't give us what we deserve, and that's called mercy. So it's grace that nailors us and mercy that spares us. That's correct. Yeah, yeah, yeah, good job, that's the that's it. No, it was good. So then it's interesting because it says the Lord's good to those who depend on him and to those who search for him. And so a lot of times what we feel like is God's good to those people who are particularly good boys and good girls, the church kids. Right, And that's not the threshold God puts in place. God says, are you depending on me? And are you searching for me? And so we can all qualify that, regardless of what our past is, regardless of our current mistakes, we can all be searching God for God. We can all be depending on God. And see, he says, so it's good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord. And I think there's something too that. A lot of times when life is getting full of pressure, when we're feeling guilty or when we're feeling stressed or when we're feeling like we can't cope, what we want to do is rush in make a whole bunch of big decisions. Just go riping and tear and trying to solve a thing. And Jeremiah saying, hey, when you're under a tremendous amount of pressure, whether it's pressure from yourself or pressure from God, pressure your circumstances, he says, it's good to wait. And I've always cautioned I just had conversations with some family members about this. Don't make a decision while your decision maker is broken. It's okay to wait. God's mercies are new again today. He'll take care of you today. He'll protect you. His faithfulness is great. He's not going to forget you. Don't go rushing in to make some decision that doesn't have to be made today. If your decision maker is broken, don't make it. Just wait on the Lord. And then the Lord will close the doors that need to be closed. He'll open the doors that need to be opened if you're depending on him and searching for him and instead. Most of the time people make mistakes, and they ruin family relationships, or they ruin business opportunities because they're in a hurry. They feel like they got to do something right now. A salesman saying, you got it, you got to buy it right now, do it right now. And we just feel this instant pressure to do something right now. But if you're depending on him and you're searching for him and you're waiting quietly for him, he'll give you the solutions that every time. That's great, Hey, that is our time. So that's a great thought to wrap up with, I think, and so hopefully we will see you tomorrow. All the Bible, gosh,