The book of Lamentations takes the reader on a journey of grief. In our last lesson we introduced the concept that the people of God are frequently pictured as expressing their grief. More than one-third of the Psalms are considered psalms of lament and grief. The book of Lamentations contains five poems proclaiming grief on the behalf of the people regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and the Lord’s temple. What we are doing in this series is looking at how the author of Lamentations is teaching the people how to move through the mountain of grief. In our first lesson we noticed how the author is showing that the people can proclaim their pain to God without complaining. In Lamentations 2 we are going to see the struggle that the author has and what he teaches the people to do while they struggle with their grief. Please open your copies of God’s word to Lamentations 2.
Struggling With What God Has Done (Lamentations 2:1-12)
When you read Lamentations 2 you will notice that the author is struggling with what the Lord has done. In the first 8 verses of chapter 2, I count 24 times that the author declares that the Lord has done this. Each sentence begins with the words “the Lord has” or “he has” or some other act of the Lord. After the describing the pain of what has happened in chapter 1, the author now spends his time understanding that this is what the Lord has done. It is important to notice that he does not say that those terrible Babylonians have done this. Rather, the author knows and the people are to know that at the end of the day, the Lord is responsible for the destruction that has occurred. Now I would remind us that this is what Jeremiah warned the people would happen for their disobedience. I would also like to remind us that these warnings were not only found in the mouths of the various prophets that God sent to the people, but even Moses warned in Deuteronomy that this would happen if they disobeyed the Lord. But now the people are left struggling with understanding what God has done. The shock that the people are dealing with is that God did not protect them from the Babylonians. God did not keep them from suffering at the hands of their enemies. God did not prevent the people from experiencing the horrors that are described in this chapter like in Lamentations 2:11-12, 19-21. In verse 11 we read that his eyes are worn out from weeping. This is one reason that Jeremiah is described as the weeping prophet. His eyes are hurting from crying. His guts are wrecked due to what has happened as he sees the shocking suffering and destruction of the people.
But it is important to not lose the thrust of these verses. The prophet is not crying merely because of the devastation. The prophet is crying because the devastation was personal. God did this. This becomes the tough collision for the faithful. If we believe in the sovereign powerful rule of God, then we know God can do something about what is happening. This is the whole reason we pray. We pray because we believe that God is God. He can change outcomes. He can change directions. He can defy human wisdom. His arm is not short as if there is something that he cannot do. This is the great struggle that God’s people must wrestle. We see this struggling with God in a number of places in the scriptures. Let us consider a couple of them in the New Testament.
In John 11 we read about Mary and Martha sending a message to Jesus that Lazarus, the one he loves is sick. But Jesus does not immediately go to Lazarus but waits two more days until he dies (John 11:6,14). When Jesus arrives we read that Lazarus has been in the tomb four days (John 11:17). I want you to listen to the first words Martha says to Jesus.
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” (John 11:21-22 ESV)
What is Martha wrestling with? She is struggling with the knowledge that Jesus could have done something but did not do it. Listen to what Mary says to Jesus when he gets into the house.
Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:32 ESV)
I hope that we see both Mary and Martha are wrestling with the loss of their brother and that their request did not appear to be answered. Now they did not know what Jesus was about to do. We also do not know what God is doing. But they have not wavered in their faith. “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, he will give you” (John 11:22). If you are with us in our Sunday morning series, God In The Storm, where we are looking at suffering through the book of Job, we are reading the same collision. God gave Satan permission to do what he did (cf. Job 1:12; 2:6). We even see this collision in the life of Jesus.
And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:41-44 ESV)
Jesus says in his prayer to the Father, “If you are willing.” In Mark 14:36 we read Jesus saying in this prayer to the Father, “All things are possible for you.” All things are possible. If you are willing you can do this. But Jesus still goes to the cross. The struggle of grief is grappling with when God says no. We wrestle with what God allows in our lives and in the world. The prophet here in Lamentations 2 is wrestling with what God has done. What are we to think when God is not doing what we wish he would do in our lives?
God Has Carried Out His Plan (Lamentations 2:13-18)
Verse 17 is an important resolution for the people to grasp. In verse 13 we see the prophet addressing the people of Jerusalem. This address carries through verse 19 until the prophet turns his address back to the Lord. Listen to what the prophet says in verse 17. “The Lord has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago.” What happened to the city of Jerusalem was what God said he would do. As we study the book of Job we are watching the purposes of God being accomplished. Listen to what James says about the message of Job:
Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. (James 5:11 ESV)
We will study this verse in connection to Job, Lord willing, in our morning series. But I want us to see that James says you have heard of Job’s steadfastness and you have seen the purpose of the Lord. The Lord is carrying out his will. In fact, this is what Jesus prayed after asking for his cup of suffering to be removed. He prayed for God’s will to be accomplished. Please remember what Isaiah said about our Savior.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (Isaiah 53:10 ESV)
God’s will was carried out through the suffering of Christ. We struggle with the idea that God’s will can be carried out through trials and suffering. But this is the weight of the scriptures. We look at suffering, sin, evil, and all the messes of life and think that there is no way that God’s plans and purposes could ever be accomplished. But this kind of thinking means that we think our wisdom is the only way and that our wisdom and our ways are greater than God’s wisdom and God’s ways. What is going on in our lives and whatever pain we are experiencing, we believe that God is with us in this space and has us here in this moment. So what are we to do in our struggle with grief? The prophet gives us three directions in chapter 2 that we will consider.
How To Struggle In Grief (Lamentations 2:19-22)
First, pour out your heart to God. Listen to what the prophet says in verse 19. Cry out in the night! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Whether you are suffering because of your sins like these people are in Lamentations 2 or you are suffering due to the hardships of life, pour out your heart like water to God. Let your heart flow to him. Bring him your tears. Give him your hurt. Tell him your pain. When Hannah was barren, we are told that she was pouring out her soul before the Lord (1 Samuel 1:15). People thought she was troubled or drunk. But she was just baring her soul to the Lord. To pour out your heart like water means that you do not have to hold back your feelings. Your heart being like water is an image of losing all strength before the Lord. Your insides are no longer holding it together and you just gush it all out in the presence of the Lord. Ask God why. Ask him how. Tell him how much you hurt. Tell him how much you do not understand. Tell him about your emptiness. Express your confusion to him.
Second, plead with God. In verse 19 the prophet tell the people to lift up their hands for the lives of their children who are faint from hunger. Plead your case. Plead for God to act for whatever it is that is going on in your life. In verses 20-22 we see the prophet himself plead to the Lord on behalf of the people. He says to the Lord in verse 20 to look and consider what is going on with the hope that he will act. Friends, we pray and plead because we know that God is powerful and can do anything. There is nothing too difficult for God. Even when God has said no in the past does not mean that we stop praying and pleading. As our circumstances evolve, we do not give up with our requests. Jeremiah does not say that the destruction has come and so everyone stop praying. No, even though destruction has come and they are suffering, they are now to plead this situation to God. Even though your life may be going through the same long trial, each day is a different day of challenges. Plead to the Lord today about today. Ask God to see your condition today and act.
Finally, our hope that can give us rest in the night is to know the Lord is accomplishing his will. Rather than resisting where we are in our lives, we must consider what the Lord is accomplishing in this new direction of life. Mary and Martha did not know what Jesus’ purpose was. But they still believed that even now the Father would do as he asked. Job did not know what God’s purpose was but James tells us that there was a purpose. Jesus knew the purpose of the Father and entrusted himself to God’s painful work. Going an unexpected direction does not mean that it is not God’s direction and that God has failed us. Rather, God is going to accomplish his work. Do not resist the work God is doing. Do not resist the direction God is taking you. Pour out your heart. Plead with God. Then rest, knowing that you have been heard and God is at work.