Lamentations 4 Devotional
by Pastor Mark Hudson
If you don’t know the Bible well, you may not realize the range and the depth of emotions the Biblical authors explore. If you read the Bible as a literary expert, when you read Lamentations, Job, and the Psalms you would realize what a literary treasure this book is. This chapter is a lesson on mourning and grief.
Biblical authors take time with grief. Maybe because loss, death, tragedy was all around them. And this experience of Babylonia exile was awful. Here are some of the descriptions Jeremiah uses. Women are cruel v.3; babies are starving, children begging for food v. 4; the rich lie dead from starvation in the streets v. 5; princess’ skin is shriveled, dry as wood v. 8; better are those killed by the sword than the pain of starvation v. 9; and women resort to cannibalism v. 10. And the list goes one.
Notice the authors give vent to this grief. They linger over their loss and write it out for others to read. God must have thought these words were important enough so thousands of years later, God’s people could ponder and reflect on these descriptive phrases. It seems that Jeremiah, while not at a loss for words, is leading the mourning like a pastor leading worship.
There is a reason for the grief. “This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous.” See also, “The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished” v. 22. This exile is clearly due to their sin. But let me quickly remind you that not all tragedy is so easily explained. I spend close to an hour listening to a customer who is losing a business that this person dreamed of and was doing a great job until Covid. I remember being in the building when she bought it and I watched her business grow. Now through no fault of her own she is seeing her dream, her retirement, and remaining years seemingly go up in smoke. This is not her fault.
And your grief may be very different than God’s people in Lamentations. But God needs to be front and center. Better to get mad at God than to ignore Him while you mourn. Remember, “13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” I Cor 10:13.
This leads us to a further observation. Notice v. 16, “The LORD himself has scattered them; he will regard them no more. . . .” Many believers find great comfort in the fact that all things that happen to us come from God. Others find this distasteful and contrary to God’s nature. We teach that “1. God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass:1 yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin,2 nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.3 See also: WLC 12 | WSC 7 1 Eph. 1:11; Rom. 11:33; Heb. 6:17; Rom. 9:15,18. 2 James 1:13,17; 1 John 1:5. 3 Acts 2:23; Matt. 17:12; Acts 4:27,28; John 19:11; Prov. 16:33. WCF 3:1.
Do I understand this? Only partly. Does this doctrine make me think, question, and examine Scripture? Yes it does. And does it provide inner turmoil at times? Yes, but this truth provides deeper comfort. To know that the Lord himself has scattered them or as Peter said in Acts 2:23, “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” Here we see the definite plan and foreknowledge of God and man’s sin (you crucified and killed) in perfect harmony.
In Jeremiah 44:2, “2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah” God seem to readily take responsibility for the judgment and pain Israel endured for their sin. God does not subcontract punishment or disaster. He owns it.
Mourn, grieve, cry, and complain. But grieve in light of the cross. Jesus bore our sorrows and was described as a Man of Sorrows. That does not compute to mean that we should all be happy. I hope you are happy. But I hope your deep trust in Christ is even more precious to God and to you as you endure and do through difficult times. Rejoice even if you rejoice with a tear in your eye and a lump in your throat. Christ has given us the victory.