We are going to look at the final lament of this book. Please open your copies of God’s word to Lamentations 5. As you are turning to the final lamentation, I want to remind of us the grief journey Jeremiah has taken his people through. Lamentations 1 encouraged the people to honestly express to the Lord what has happened to them. Name and describe the suffering and give the hurt to the Lord. Lamentations 2 then helped the people with the struggle that they have in their grief. We looked at trying to reconcile how we can be going through what we are going through. We know that God loves his people and answers prayers. But things are not going the way we wanted or the way we expected. So our grief moves to trying to struggle with how these things could be. Lamentations 3 moves us to hope while in the darkness of grief. Lamentations 3 is not saying that everything is all better. The first 20 verses of Lamentations 3 continue describing the overwhelming pain of their circumstances. But the prophet tells us that when he is overwhelmed he sets his mind on the steadfast love of the Lord never failing. Every morning God’s faithfulness waits for us and is experienced. But the book does not end here. Lamentations 4 now moves us to accept our grief in our new circumstance. Though this is not the outcome we wanted, this is the outcome. This is the way things are going to be. Our hope is not that things must get better. Our hope is in God who will help us and deliverance through the many afflictions of this new reality. God pries the idols from our hands and compels us to trust in him alone. This sets us up for the final lamentation. How will Jeremiah end his series on grief and what will he teach the people now?
Grief Leads to Intercession (Lamentations 5:1-18)
I noted that Lamentations 4 does not contain a prayer to the Lord as he describes the way things were and the way things are now. But now in Lamentations 5 we are concluding the cry of grief with prayer. Verse 1 begins with a call to the Lord. Jeremiah leads the people in prayer, calling to the Lord to remember what has happened to them and see their disgrace. The next 17 verses recount their suffering. Jeremiah describes how they have lost their land, lost their prosperity, lost their families, and lost their security. The joy is gone and their hearts are faint (Lamentations 5:15-17).
So Jeremiah leads the people in prayer, asking God to remember. Is it that God forgets his people? Is it that God loses track of what is happening on the earth? Could it be possible that God would forget what his people have endured? Listen to how God answers that question to his people through the prophet Isaiah.
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” (Isaiah 49:15 ESV)
God wants to make clear that just as a nursing mother cannot forget her child that is actively nursing on her, so God will not and cannot forget you. So when we read about God’s people asking God to remember, it is not that God has forgotten you and God needs a reminder. Rather, asking God to remember is a call to action. The people are asking God to see what has happened to them and do something. When know you see us and we want you to do something.
Please notice that this is a forward action. The cry is not to return to the way things were. We have already moved through this. This is not a prayer to go backward. This is a prayer to move forward. Help us go forward! Help us in this new situation. See our current condition and act for us. We are weary and given no rest (Lamentations 5:5). So help us, Lord!
Grief Looks to God as the Eternal King (Lamentations 5:19)
After calling out for God to remember and help them, notice what Jeremiah says next in his prayer. Look at verse 19. “But you, O Lord, reign forever.” Lord, you rule. Lord, you are in charge. Lord, you are the only God. You, O Lord, are above it all. Verse 19 is a key verse, calling for the people to look to the Lord and see the eternal king. Set your eyes on things eternal and see that your God reigns! When Stephen was about to lose his life for proclaiming the gospel, please consider the last things that the Lord let Stephen see.
Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. (Acts 7:54-58 ESV)
What did Stephen see? God wanted him to see Jesus standing at God’s right hand. God wanted Stephen to see the rule of God. Your suffering does not nullify God’s rule. God is ruling. God is working. Please notice that Jesus was not laying down. Jesus was not taking a nap. Jesus was not away on a journey. Jesus was not even sitting. Jesus was standing, a picture that he has stood up to act. God is still on the throne, regardless of what we experience. Our hope rests in God’s unchanging kingship. Knowing that God is in control is supposed to help us through our troubles.
I hate flying. I hate all the sounds. I hate the turbulence. I hate not seeing what is happening. I hate not seeing where I am going. There is nothing I like about flying except that I get there quicker. But any time I feel a little bit of panic, I lean over my seat and look at the face of the flight attendant. Every time I see calm on their faces and so I can relax. One time we took off and we had a massive bang and then the smell of smoke filled the cabin. This time I wasn’t the only one of the passengers having some concern. But the captain came on the intercom and told us that there had been a bird strike in the engine, but the engine still had full power and everything is fine. So we all sat back and relaxed for the rest of the trip. Seeing the calm face of the flight attendant and hearing the calm voice of the captain that I cannot see is to cause all of us in the cabin to rest and to rest assured. Stephen gets to see what we are supposed to see. See Jesus standing at the right hand of God so that you can rest and rest assured, no matter what happens next. Grief looks to God as our eternal king.
Grief Longs For Renewal (Lamentations 5:20-22)
Now it is important to see the contrast between verse 19 and verse 20. In verse 19 we see Jeremiah in the prayer with the people affirming God’s continuing rule. But in verse 20 it seems like God has forsaken and forgotten his people. It is as if the prayer states what we can feel in our grief. I know you are near. I know you are in control. But it does not feel like it. In this, Jeremiah and the people know what they need and they pray what they need. Look at verse 21. They do not pray to return to the way things were. Rather, they pray for restoration. They pray for nearness to the Lord. Restore us to yourself, O Lord! Our deepest need in grief is not a change of circumstances, but restored and strengthened hearts. It is the time to long for the Lord, not just for comfort.
One of the messages that we will see in our current study of Job that we are presently looking at on Sunday mornings and one of the messages that is found in many New Testament books is that our suffering and grief is to push us to God.
But notice the hard stop of this final lamentation and to the book. Look at verse 22 because this leaves us with the people asking a hanging question. Restore us…unless you have completely rejected us and are going to remain angry with us. The people are left with an unresolved conclusion. There is not closure as the book ends. Rather than wrapping up grief in an easy to answer, nicely wrapped box, the book of grief leaves everything hanging in the air. The people pray the desire to be restore to God. But can they be restored? Is it possible to come back? Or is all their hope lost?
There are a lot of things in life that are left unresolved. As much as we might want closure in our lives, there are many times when that cannot be given to us. Moving forward in life and moving forward with God does not mean that we will have all the answers. This prayer ends with the people wondering what is going to happen next. We know you are on the throne. We know that you are in control, Lord. We are praying for you to see our condition and to act. So restore us to yourself. Renew us…unless you are going to completely reject us. This was their hanging question. But the resurrection of Jesus from the dead answered the question that God would not stay angry forever and would not forever reject his people. But I want to end the lesson by drawing us the hopeful words found in the book of Revelation.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:3-5 ESV)
God will restore his people to him and did restore his people to himself. But listen to the comfort given for our suffering and grief. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. All of the pain and all the hurt and all the loss we experience in this life will be comforted by our Father. There will no longer be death. There will no longer be mourning. There will no longer be crying. There will be no longer be pain. That belongs to the former things. Those are things that belong to the old heavens and earth. But we are looking forward to a new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells (cf. 2 Peter 3:13). For now, in this life, there is death, crying, pain, and sadness. But in the life to come, God can give comfort.
In Luke 16 Jesus tells about a rich man who enjoyed the blessings of this life and about a man named Lazarus who was poor and covered in sores. As Jesus tells this story he notes a reversal happening after their deaths. Listen to the words that Abraham said on the other side of death:
But Abraham said, “Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.” (Luke 16:25 ESV)
Here is the phrase I want to focus on: “but now he is comforted here.” He was not comforted in his physical life but he is now comforted here. There is restoration after grief. God restores us to himself through Jesus who is at God’s right hand, calling for us to join him, trust him, and live for him.