Lamentations 3:21

Lamentations 3:21 says, This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.  Like Jeremiah, when things seem to be going all wrong, if we recall God in our mind, then we have hope.  Verse twenty-two adds, It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  Jeremiah said that it was because of God's mercy that they were not consumed and did not fail, and this will always be true.  Verse twenty-three continues, They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.  I believe that hope was what Jeremiah was saying was new every morning, and our hope should be new every morning as well because of the mercy of God.  Verse twenty-four states, The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.  Jeremiah said God was his portion and that he would hope in Him.  We should say the same thing as followers of Christ.  We should want no more than what God provides for us.  Verse twenty-five adds, The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.  Even in all the defeat that Judah had experienced, Jeremiah said that God was good to those who wait on and seek Him.  If we are missing the goodness of God, it may be that we aren't waiting on or seeking Him.  Verse twenty-six continues, It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.  Jeremiah said this and it still hasn't changed.  It is good to quietly hope for and wait for the salvation of the Lord, which is the only place salvation can come from.  Verse twenty-seven says, It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.  We probably don't want to hear about wearing a yoke, but Jesus said that His yoke is light, and the sooner we can come under His guidance, which is what a yoke is for, the better off we are.  Verse twenty-eight adds, He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.  I believe this means that we should neither boast or complaiin about serving God.  Verse twenty-nine continues, He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.  I believe this is another call for humility on the part of those who serve God.  Verse thirty states, He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.  This doesn't mean that we speak badly, or give cheek as we might say, to those who strike us, but that we turn the other cheek.  Verse thirty-one adds, For the Lord will not cast off for ever:  Those who had defeated Judah believed that they had defeated the God of Judah as well, but Jeremiah said that was not going to last forever.  God always has and always will be victorious over evil.  Verse thirty-two continues, But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.  When we are disobedient to God, as the people of Judah were, we may suffer punishment from God, as they did, but He prefers to show us mercy.  The choice is ours, to either accept His merciful gift of salvation or to suffer His punishment for our sins.  Verse thirty-three declares, For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.  Jeremiah tells us that it is not God's will to punish us, but He will if we don't come to Him by faith in salvation provided by Jesus Christ.  Verse thirty-four adds, To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,  God does not crush us for no reason, nor does He expect those that He might work through to correct His people to do so.  Of course, our sin gives Him a reason, but He still chooses to reach out to us in mercy.  Verse thirty-five continues, To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,  Verse thirty-six concludes, To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.  God will never endorse the oppression of people, and those who do so will merit His judgment. 

Lamentations 3:1

 Lamentations 3:1 says, I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.  Jeremiah had indeed seen the affliction of God's wrath, not because of his own disobedience, but because of the disobedience of the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  We may sometimes suffer because of the sins of others, but we will still be assured of our everlasting salvation if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse two adds, He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.  Without the light of God in the world, we like Jeremiah will be left in darkness.  Verse three continues, Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.  Jeremiah felt as though God had turned against him all day long, but it was the sin of His people that God was judging.  Verse four states, My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.  Jeremiah said that he was left physically suffering, though he had obeyed God.  We need to keep this in mind the next time that we hear the claim that God only wants us to be happy and prosperous.   Verse five adds, He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.  This was just another statement about how Jeremiah felt when he was in the midst of God's punishment of His people.  Verse six continues, He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.  Without God's light, the world is encompassed in darkness.  Verse seven says, He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.  Jeremiah said there was no way to escape God's punishment at that time, and the only way to escape it today is through faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse eight adds, Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.  Jeremiah felt that God was not hearing his prayers, but God will always hear the prayers of His people, though if we do not get the answer we want we may feel that He doesn't.  Verse nine continues, He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.  Jeremiah said that he felt that he had no way out, and the only way out of the punishment of God today is through faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse ten states, He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.  God's judgment was compared to a bear or a lion lying in wait, but it was and is even more deadly for those whom God is judging.  Verse eleven adds, He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.  Verse twelve continues, He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.  Jeremiah said that God had turned aside from him and made him a target for God's punishment.  In this world full of sin, when God is sending His judgment on certain people, we may be caught up in the consequences, but that does not mean that God has abandoned us.  Verse thirteen says, He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.  This is just a continuation of how Jeremiah felt that God was punishing him, though it was not Jeremiah himself that was being punished.  Verse fourteen adds, I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.  Though he was doing what God instructed him to do, Jeremiah said that his own people held him in derision.  Verse fifteen continues, He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.  Jeremiah said he was filled with bitterness, but no matter what happens in the world today, we as followers of Christ cannot afford to become bitter toward Him. Verse sixteen states, He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.  Verse seventeen adds, And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.  Jeremiah said that there was no peace to be found for himself, but if we are truly following Christ, then we should be at peace no matter what happens around us.  Verse eighteen continues, And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:  Verse nineteen says, Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.  Jeremiah said that his strength had failed and his hope with it, but even if our strength fails us, we can never allow our hope in God to fail.  Verse twenty adds, My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.  Jeremiah said through it all though that his soul remembered God and he was humbled by his attitude.   If we start to question God's love and protection because of what is going on in the world around us, we need to remember our salvation through Christ is everlasting and come to God in humility for questioning Him.

Lamentations 2:10

Lamentations 2:10 says, The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.  The people of Israel were in deep mourning at this time.   Verse eleven adds, Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.  Jeremiah said that he was also in deep mourning or distress because of the state of God's chosen people.   We, as followers of Christ, should be in deep distress when we see those who are called God's people in distress, even if they have brought the suffering on themselves by disobedience.  Verse twelve continues, They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers’ bosom.  The children were crying out to their mothers asking where the food was.  We should be moved by compassion today when we see children crying out in hunger, but I believe we too often just see them as an inconvenience.  Verse thirteen states, What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?  Jeremiah asked what he could liken the suffering of the people of Judah and Israel to.  When God does pronounce His judgment on those who refuse to accept His salvation, there will be nothing to compare their suffering to.  Verse fourteen adds, Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.  Jeremiah said that the prophets had seen false things for the people and had not seen their iniquity.   If they had and had called the people to repentance, and they had responded, then the captivity might have been avoided.  We must be aware that we do not listen to false teachings or preaching today.  Verse fifteen continues, All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?  Jeremiah said that everyone who passed by laughed at what was once the city of Jerusalem, asking what had happened to the city that had called itself a city of perfection and beauty.  If we proclaim ourselves to be perfect today but are not following God's commandments and guidance, we will one day likewise fall.  Verse sixteen says,  All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.  Jeremiah said that all of the enemies of God's chosen people would think that they had defeated them by their own power.  The lost people of the world may believe that they have defeated Christians, but they will never defeat those who are God's true followers by their own power nor for good.  Even if we lose our life in the world today as we stand for God, the victory is still ours through our faith in Jesus Christ.   Verse seventeen adds, The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.  Jeremiah said that God had done what He said He would do to His people because He allowed them to be defeated since they had become His people in name only.   If we stop having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and following in obedience to God's word as what makes a person one of the family of God, then we should not be surprised if we are overcome by the world.  I know we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone, but once 2e accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord, then we will be guided by by God's word.  Verse eighteen continues, Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.  Jeremiah told the people of Judah and Israel to cry out to their God if they would find relief from their suffering.   Verse nineteen states, Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.  They were called on to sincerely seek God's forgiveness, crying out to Him from early in the morning.   When we find ourselves out of God's will, there is never time to wait to seek His forgiveness.   Verse twenty adds, Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?   There was  a  call tto God for Him to consider what He had done, but they needed to consider what they had done.  We should never feel that we have the right to attempt to question God's plan for the world.   Verse twenty-one continues, The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.  Once more, the blame seems to have been put on God for their suffering and not on their disobedience.   Verse twenty-two concludes, Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD’s anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.  Jeremiah said that there were none left of God's people, but we know there was a remnant.  We should never feel that we are the only one left who believes in salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. 

Lamentations 2:1

Lamentations 2:1 says, How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!   Jeremiah said that God was the One Who had covered the people of Israel with His anger.  God was angry at the sin of the people of Israel.  We need to realize that God will always hate sin and that He has provided a way to escape the power of sin, so if someone feels the wrath of God it is their own rebellion that is responsible.  Verse two adds, The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.  God brought down the kingdom of Israel,  no matter what country may have defeated it.  As long as we are under God's protection, we will not be defeated, but if we give in to sin and idolatry it will be God Who defeats or punishes us.  Verse three continues, He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round.  Though God is a God of love, He also is a God Who judges and punishes sin, and Judah and Israel, God's chosen people, had turned their backs on Him.  Therefore, they suffered His punishment for their sins.  Verse four states, He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire.  God had brought good things to those who were supposed to be His people, but since they refused to obey Him, they now were feeling His punishment.   We need to realize that God does not just overlook sin.  Verse five adds, The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.  God was an enemy of Israel because Israel had started to worship idols and deny His word.  If we, who call ourselves followers of Christ, begin to worship idols, which can be anything placed before God, then we should not be surprised that God will be angry with us.  Verse six continues, And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.  God had done away with all the places associated with worship of Him, since they had been polluted, and had also done away with the king and priests who were supposed to represent Him.  Verse seven says, The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.  The people of Israel and Judah had believed that as long as 5hey went through to motions of worshipping God that He would have to accept what they did as worship, but He destroyed their houses of worship.   We need to make sure that what we do today in the name of worshipping God is accountable in His eyes.  Verse eight adds, The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.  Matthew Henry says that this means that God set a limit on His punishment.  Not all of the people of Israel and Judah were destroyed, because there was a remnant that still believed in and followed God.  We as followers of Christ need to be a part of that remnant no matter what happens in the world.   Verse nine continues, Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.  The people of Israel and Judah were now captives of the gentiles and their cities were destroyed.   As followers of Christ, we must be obedient to Him if we are not to suffer defeat from the powers of the world. 

Lamentations 1:12

Lamentations 1:12 says, Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.  Jeremiah asked if anyone cared about his sorrow, which he attributed to the fierce anger of God.  Jeremiah was not speaking of himself alone, but of the nation of Judah.  Jeremiah's distress was due to his concern for the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  Verse thirteen adds, From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate and faint all the day.   Jeremiah recognized the grief and distress of the people of Judah as coming from God, and this was because of their rebellion against Him.   We as the church today must realize that if we stray away from God that He will bring His judgment on us.  Verse fourteen continues, The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.  Jeremiah said that God hand bound the sins of the people of Judah like a yoke upon their neck.  Sin will always weigh us down and control us, whether we realize it or not.  Verse fifteen states, The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.  Once more, God is seen as the One behind the defeat of Judah.  As long as the people of Judah followed God and lived by their part of the covenant relationship with Him, He protected them, but when they started following false gods, He removed His protection.   We cannot expect God to protect us in the world today if we do not follow His guidance.  Verse sixteen adds, For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.  Jeremiah said that the people were weeping because of the fact that the Comforter had left them.  The Holy Spirit is our Comforter today, and even though as Christians, He will never leave us, if we turn away from God and chase after the things or this world, we will lose His protection.  Verse seventeen continues, Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the LORD hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.  Jeremiah said that the people of Judah spread out their hand to God but that they could find no comfort.  I believe this was because they were still reaching out to God for Him to endorse their actions and not in real repentance.   Verse eighteen declares, The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.  Here, Jeremiah acknowledges that it is because of sin that the people have been led away captive.  If we are suffering today as Christians, we need to make sure that it is not because of sin in our life.  Verse nineteen adds, I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls.  Jeremiah said that the false gods, who had been followed even by the priests, had failed them, as false gods and false priests will always do.  Veree twenty continues, Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.  Jeremiah said that the people asked God to recognize their distress, but He already knew about it, and they were in distress because of their failure to be faithful to Him in the first place.   Verse twenty-one says, They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.  Jeremiah said that even though the enemies of the people of Judah rejoiced that one day their judgment would come as well.  Verse twenty-two adds, Let all their wickedness come before thee; and do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions: for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.  Jeremiah said the people of Judah asked God to punish their enemies as He had punished them, and we can be certain that there is coming a day when everyone will be judged for their sins, and the only hope anyone has is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Lamentations 1:1

Lamentations 1:1 says, How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!  This book is credited to Jeremiah, so I will refer to him as the one writing what is said in the book.  Jeremiah was lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem and asking how it could be true.  Of course,  I believe he knew why, and that was because of the judgment of God against the sins of the people of Jerusalem and all of Judah.  Verse two adds, She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.  Jeremiah said that those who had been friends of the people of Jerusalem had dealt treacherously with her.  We should realize that we like the people of Jerusalem and Judah can never depend on those who do not believe in God and may even be doing everything they can to discredit Him to stand by us in times of trouble if we are followers of Christ.  Verse three continues, Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.  Jeremiah was troubled because Judah had been taken away captive and now was in great servitude to the heathen.  The people of Judah had begun to worship the false gods of the heathen, those who were not God's people, and now they were enslaved by them.  As Christians, if we allow some false gods to come into our lives, we should not be surprised if we are soon imprisoned by them.  Verse four states, The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.  Jeremiah said that no one in Judah was coming to worship God.  They had already abandoned worshipping God even before they were taken away captive, and now there was no one left to worship Him.  Verse five adds, Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.  Jeremiah then acknowledged that this happened because of the multitude of transgressions by the people of Judah.   If we suffer the punishment of God, it will be because of our sins and not simply because God has arbitrarily chosen to punish us.  Verse six continues, And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer.  The beauty of the daughter of Zion had been her relationship with God, and once that was gone, so was her beauty.  As Christians, it is our relationship to Christ that gives us beauty in the world, and if we abandon His calling and do not follow His guidance, then we lose the beauty of that relationship.  Verse seven declares, Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.  Jeremiah said the people of Judah remembered the days when they enjoyed the pleasant things of life before God allowed them to be defeated and enslaved.  If we are followers of Christ and find ourselves imprisoned by the things of this world, we need to remember that God is the One Who brings us joy.  Verse eight adds, Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.  Again Jeremiah said it was because of the sins of the people of Judah that she was suffering.  Sin will always ultimately bring suffering.  Verse nine continues, Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.  Jeremiah said that because of the sins of Judah, she had no Comforter, which was God Himself I believe.  We need to look to the Comforter, Jesus Christ, today to find forgiveness for sins and restoration with God.  Verse ten states, The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.  The places of worship, which should have been set aside for God and His people, were desecrated by the people of the world, those who did not believe in God.  We need to be careful that we do not allow the things of this world to desecrate the places of God today, and that means more than the church buildings.  We must keep every aspect of our life set aside for God.   Verse eleven adds, All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O LORD, and consider; for I am become vile.  Jeremiah said that the people of Judah were willing to give up everything simply for bread to eat.  We can never afford to turn away from God simply to meet material or physical needs.

Jeremiah Lessons Continued

 We also see that Jeremiah was often called on by God that to do some things that seemed strange,  but he did them because he had faith in God.  Today,  God calls on us to do some things that seem strange to the people of the world, such as loving our enemies for example.  This may not be as graphic as the things that Jeremiah was called on to do, but like him, we must do them out of faith.  The people who defeated Judah believed that they had defeated the God of Judah as well and destroyed all the things associated with Him.  In some countries today, the leaders attempt to remove all references to God, and they really think that they have defeated Him.  Leaders in America likewise attempt to remove references to God, but God will always be just as real as He always has, even if no one believes in Him.  Some of the people of Judah, a very few, continued to have faith in God or returned to faith in Him, and they were eventually restored to the promised land.  We may suffer at the hands of the people of the world today, but if we remain faithful to God,  we will one day be restored to a perfect relationship with Him in our promised land, which is Heaven.  One more thing, Jeremiah also teaches us that God will not allow idols in the lives of His people without their being consequences, so if we have allowed anything to become more important to us than our relationship with God is, then we need to repent and put our total faith in Him again.  Since we have been studying Jeremiah,  we will now look at his book of Lamentations.