God's faithfulness in troubled times
A PAPER FOR POETIC AND WISDOM LITERATURE BASED ON LAMENTATIONS 3:19-24
Jerusalem lay in ruins. At the centre, the ruins of the temple smolder. The prophet raises his voice to God, and
pours out his sorrow. In the midst of his sorrow, he is reminded that God is faithful, even in the midst of our
deepest sorrows. The book of Lamentations was written 'to effect a development and improvement in the conduct of
men in the face of suffering.' (Waltke, 864) The text under review does this by reminding us that God assures us
of His faithfulness to us when all hope is lost.
In order to fully understand the reason behind the entire book of Lamentations, we must take a short journey through the history of the Hebrew people. It is important for us to be able to see and understand just what has been lost, and why the prophet laments the way he does. Here are the highlights:
· God makes a covenant with Abraham, promising that He will make him a great nation, and will have a
great name.
· Abraham's grandson, Jacob, and his family find refuge in Egypt, where their descendants become slaves
to the Pharoah.
· God commissions Moses to lead this, now numerous people out of the bondage of the Egyptians.
· Moses leads the "Children of Israel" to the land promised by God to Abraham.
· God gives the Children of Israel His laws.
· God commissions Joshua to lead the Children of Israel into the promised land, conquering the nations already
established there.
· Conquest completed, God rules His people by appointing Judges at various times.
· God anoints Saul to be King then, after Saul's fall, Establishes a kingly dynasty through the line of
David.
· David's son Solomon builds a temple for God.
· The kingdom divides into Northern and Southern kingdoms, and both begin a religious decline.
· Northern kingdom (Israel) taken into captivity by the Assyrians. (722 BCE)
· Judah taken captive by the Babylonians over a period of time from 606-586 BCE.
· Jerusalem and the Temple destroyed (586 BCE)
In Lamentations, we see the siege of Jerusalem, and the destruction of the temple. We see the destruction that
followed the invasion of the Babylonians. Even without taking into account the later events of their history, it
is easy to see why the prophet is lamenting.
In chapter 3 Jeremiah shares the grief of Israel's afflictions. He describes himself as 'the man who has seen affliction.' (3:1) For 18 verses he describes the sorrow he feels. Then in verse 19, he talks about his hope. He begs God to remember his afflictions, and then states the source of the hope he has:
"This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord's loving-kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I have hope in Him." (La. 3:21-23)
The dictionary describes hope as 'to desire with expectation of fulfillment, to long for with expectation of obtainment, to expect with desire.' (Webster, 405) The Hebrew word Jeremiah uses for hope in this passage is yachal (yaw-chal) and means 'to wait.' It also means to be patient, stay, tarry, and trust. (Strong, 56) Even in the midst of his sorrow over the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, Jeremiah still maintains his hope in God. While the hope he sees is not one that will be fulfilled in the immediate future, Jeremiah, by using the word yachal, states his willingness to be patient as God works through the plan He has for both Jeremiah, and the restoration of Judah.
In verse 19-20, Jeremiah speaks of his afflictions. He begs God to remember them, as he does. His soul remembers the afflictions he has gone through, and is sorrowful. When he recalls how God's loving-kindnesses never fail, He has hope. Not an immediate relief from his anguish: but hope that waits for God to accomplish His plan. He recognizes the compassion of God, and sees it afresh every day. He recalls God's faithfulness. He understands that he must put God at the centre of things, for there he finds his hope.
In verses 25-26, Jeremiah speaks of the positive side of endurance. He speaks about how the Lord is good to those who wait for Him. Even in the face of all his trials, Jeremiah recognizes that it is still important to not give up on God. He realizes that he must wait for the Lord, and seeks to do His will.
The Hebrew people had lost everything. Being conquered by Babylon, they lost their land, they lost their people, they lost their law. By the desecration of the temple, they lost their God, and yet Jeremiah tells them that God is still with them, still faithful, still showing mercy and compassion. This lament must have been a difficult thing for the Hebrews to read. To be reminded of the destruction that some of them witnessed must have been unbearable.
Yet this passage forms part of the centre chapter of the book. It almost seems like Jeremiah is trying to put into the minds of his readers the reality that even in all this affliction, God assures them of His faithfulness to us when all hope seems lost. That's fine for them, but what about us? How does this passage affect us today?
God gave the assurance of His faithfulness to the Hebrews when all hope they had of being a 'great nation' was gone. There was no light at the end of the tunnel for them. But how does this speak to us today? Pretty much the same way. We sometimes go through periods in our lives where we feel that God has left our side. The tragedies of life pile up around us and we cannot see the light at the end of our tunnels.
In the midst of our trials and trials and tribulations, we too can have hope that God is going to fulfill His plan for us. In Psalm 139, God tells us that He knew us before we were born, and that all the days we live are planned before we leave our mother's womb. God has a plan, even when we can't see it. Even when the goal He has in mind for us is clouded by the fog of life.
As we try to deal with our trials and tribulations, it is good for us to remember God's plan, and His faithfulness, for in these two things, we have hope. We must remember that we need to constantly seek God, and His direction for our lives. We must wait patiently for Him to fulfill the plan He has laid out for us. We must be diligent in seeking Him, and His will, and willing to wait for the fulfillment of His plan.
I discovered this passage a year or so ago. We were in Chapel on Martin Luther King, Jr. day, and we sang the song that uses this passage as a reference. "Great is thy faithfulness, Oh God, my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me." As we sang this song, my mind wandered over the path God has led me in the last few years. I saw all the times I felt that there was no way I could go on. I saw the times I felt like I was somehow unworthy of His love and grace. I saw the times when His hand provided for my well-being. I saw how much God has really worked in my life, and I cried.
Knowing God has a plan, and is working to fulfill that plan in me is what keeps me going. Yet, there are times when the trails and tribulations of life stand in the way of our seeing this. It is at these times that God throws these little reminders from scripture into our minds. He calls to recall how He has been faithful, not only to us, but also to those in scripture who felt that all was lost.
The most significant part of this assignment for me has been to remember that even though I think that things
aren't quite going right at this time, God is still working to fulfill the plan He has laid our for me. Bringing
to mind God's faithfulness to me, this exercise has reminded me that in the times when I feel bogged down, or like
I'm drowning in the 'excitement' of life, God is there, is faithful, and in Him, I have hope.
© 2001 Eric Bicknell, All Rights Reserved