JMD Devotional 157 Lamentations 3 Well Thought-Out Suffering
What he had preached and prophesized about his whole life has come to pass. Jeremiah's world is destroyed; Jerusalem and the Temple are in ruins, death and misery are all around him. Rebellion and sin have taken their toll; even the prophet recognizes his own sins and just divine wrath.
1I AM [Jeremiah] the man who has seen affliction under the rod of His wrath.
2He has led me and brought me into darkness and not light.
3Surely He has turned away from me; His hand is against me all the day.
4My flesh and my skin has He worn out and made old; He has shattered my bones.
5He has built up [siege mounds] against me and surrounded me with bitterness, tribulation, and anguish.
6He has caused me to dwell in dark places like those long dead.
Note the expressions of man's helplessness under God's judgment marked by "*":
*7He walled me in so that I cannot get out; He has weighted down my chain.
*8Even when I cry and shout for help, He shuts out my prayer.
*9He has enclosed my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.
*11He has turned me off my ways and pulled me in pieces; He has made me desolate.
It is futile to struggle and fight against the Almighty; what is man's case or right or power against Him? We have all sinned and have earned God's wrath. How we respond to the Holy God and Judge of all the Earth has so much to do with our outcome. Only an idiot argues with the judge at his sentencing when the evidence is overwhelmingly against the defendant and obvious to all.
God brings suffering; but we choose whether or not to repent; whether to harden our hearts or humble ourselves. God is sovereign but we are not mere puppets.
17And You have bereaved my soul and cast it off far from peace; I have forgotten what good and happiness are.
18And I say, Perished is my strength and my expectation from the Lord.
19[O Lord] remember [earnestly] my affliction and my misery, my wandering and my outcast state, the wormwood and the gall.
20My soul has them continually in remembrance and is bowed down within me. (Sober humility).
(This is the faith that saves:) 21But this I recall and therefore have I hope and expectation:
22It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not.
23They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.
24The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.
25The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him [inquire of and for Him and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God's word].
26It is good that one should hope in and wait quietly for the salvation (the safety and ease) of the Lord.
(God does not casually interfere with our lives; He is a master surgeon who inflicts injuries to remove cancers, reset bones, to burn of diseases of the soul).
27It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke [of divine disciplinary dealings] in his youth.
28Let him sit alone uncomplaining and keeping silent [in hope], because [God] has laid [the yoke] upon him [for his benefit].
29Let him put his mouth in the dust [in abject recognition of his unworthiness]--there may yet be hope.
(Suffering is temporary medicine:) 31For the Lord will not cast off forever!
32But though He causes grief, yet will He be moved to compassion according to the multitude of His loving-kindness and tender mercy.
33For He does not willingly and from His heart afflict or grieve the children of men.
(God is not a 'cosmic sadist!) 34To trample and crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,
35To turn aside and deprive a man of his rights before the face of the Most High or a superior [acting as God's representative],
36To subvert a man in his cause--[of these things] the Lord does not approve.
37Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, if the Lord has not authorized and commanded it?
38Is it not out of the mouth of the Most High that evil and good both proceed [adversity and prosperity, physical evil or misfortune and physical good or happiness]?
39Why does a living man sigh [one who is still in this life's school of discipline]? [And why does] a man complain for the punishment of his sins?
40Let us test and examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord!
(The humble prayer, "Save me, Lord," acknowledges His authority and your need and does save you).
54The waters ran down on my head; I said, I am gone.
55I called upon Your name, O Lord, out of the depths [of the mire] of the dungeon.
56You heard my voice [then]: [Oh] hide not Your ear [now] at my prayer for relief.
57You drew near on the day I called to You; You said, Fear not.
58O Lord, You have pleaded the causes of my soul [You have managed my affairs and You have protected my person and my rights]; You have rescued and redeemed my life!
Dear God,
You are righteous in all Your ways and holy in all Your works! Though I complained against You in my heart I am now mute; I have nothing to charge you with nor would I be qualified seeing I am the transgressor, and so utterly inferior, and ignorant of the big picture. Thank You for restraining Your judgment; thank You for making me cry out to You; thank You for figuring out how to give me a hope and a future in Christ.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
1I AM [Jeremiah] the man who has seen affliction under the rod of His wrath.
2He has led me and brought me into darkness and not light.
3Surely He has turned away from me; His hand is against me all the day.
4My flesh and my skin has He worn out and made old; He has shattered my bones.
5He has built up [siege mounds] against me and surrounded me with bitterness, tribulation, and anguish.
6He has caused me to dwell in dark places like those long dead.
Note the expressions of man's helplessness under God's judgment marked by "*":
*7He walled me in so that I cannot get out; He has weighted down my chain.
*8Even when I cry and shout for help, He shuts out my prayer.
*9He has enclosed my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.
*11He has turned me off my ways and pulled me in pieces; He has made me desolate.
It is futile to struggle and fight against the Almighty; what is man's case or right or power against Him? We have all sinned and have earned God's wrath. How we respond to the Holy God and Judge of all the Earth has so much to do with our outcome. Only an idiot argues with the judge at his sentencing when the evidence is overwhelmingly against the defendant and obvious to all.
God brings suffering; but we choose whether or not to repent; whether to harden our hearts or humble ourselves. God is sovereign but we are not mere puppets.
17And You have bereaved my soul and cast it off far from peace; I have forgotten what good and happiness are.
18And I say, Perished is my strength and my expectation from the Lord.
19[O Lord] remember [earnestly] my affliction and my misery, my wandering and my outcast state, the wormwood and the gall.
20My soul has them continually in remembrance and is bowed down within me. (Sober humility).
(This is the faith that saves:) 21But this I recall and therefore have I hope and expectation:
22It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not.
23They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.
24The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.
25The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him [inquire of and for Him and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God's word].
26It is good that one should hope in and wait quietly for the salvation (the safety and ease) of the Lord.
(God does not casually interfere with our lives; He is a master surgeon who inflicts injuries to remove cancers, reset bones, to burn of diseases of the soul).
27It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke [of divine disciplinary dealings] in his youth.
28Let him sit alone uncomplaining and keeping silent [in hope], because [God] has laid [the yoke] upon him [for his benefit].
29Let him put his mouth in the dust [in abject recognition of his unworthiness]--there may yet be hope.
(Suffering is temporary medicine:) 31For the Lord will not cast off forever!
32But though He causes grief, yet will He be moved to compassion according to the multitude of His loving-kindness and tender mercy.
33For He does not willingly and from His heart afflict or grieve the children of men.
(God is not a 'cosmic sadist!) 34To trample and crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,
35To turn aside and deprive a man of his rights before the face of the Most High or a superior [acting as God's representative],
36To subvert a man in his cause--[of these things] the Lord does not approve.
37Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, if the Lord has not authorized and commanded it?
38Is it not out of the mouth of the Most High that evil and good both proceed [adversity and prosperity, physical evil or misfortune and physical good or happiness]?
39Why does a living man sigh [one who is still in this life's school of discipline]? [And why does] a man complain for the punishment of his sins?
40Let us test and examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord!
(The humble prayer, "Save me, Lord," acknowledges His authority and your need and does save you).
54The waters ran down on my head; I said, I am gone.
55I called upon Your name, O Lord, out of the depths [of the mire] of the dungeon.
56You heard my voice [then]: [Oh] hide not Your ear [now] at my prayer for relief.
57You drew near on the day I called to You; You said, Fear not.
58O Lord, You have pleaded the causes of my soul [You have managed my affairs and You have protected my person and my rights]; You have rescued and redeemed my life!
Dear God,
You are righteous in all Your ways and holy in all Your works! Though I complained against You in my heart I am now mute; I have nothing to charge you with nor would I be qualified seeing I am the transgressor, and so utterly inferior, and ignorant of the big picture. Thank You for restraining Your judgment; thank You for making me cry out to You; thank You for figuring out how to give me a hope and a future in Christ.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
posted by James M. Dinsmore at 6:03 AM
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