W ILL THEY SURVIVE? In the aftermath of Babylonian invasions of Jerusalem, leading families have been deported; the king’s palace, the temple and the city walls have been razed. The long siege of the city left many dead — young and old lie in the dust of the streets. Folks are ill. People of all ages die from starvation. Everything is laid to waste. Mourning and lamentation ring throughout the city.
Where was the God who promised to dwell with them in Zion, to be with the house of David forever? Where was the God who brought them to the land of promise? Those are also the struggles expressed in these melancholy poems mourning the destruction of Jerusalem.
Lamentations is a difficult book because the five poems are passionate expressions of grief or sorrow. Devastation at the time of the Babylonian invasion and exile. But these laments can illuminate many different situations of intense pain and suffering. Your life-shifting pain and anguish. Your questions of how God can allow such ruin.
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WE LOOK AROUND AND WONDER how we got in this situation. How our world collapsed. And again for us the aching questions of God. Where was God? Why did God allow this? How do we continue amidst such desolation?
We may think that something is wrong with us — that our faith is defective. We hear talk of the “victorious Christian experience” and we wonder why we are so broken. We think that we are the only ones who battle these feelings — that no one else understands … or even cares.
And we even jump to conclusions about the LORD — maybe He doesn’t love us. Maybe he is punishing us. Maybe he doesn’t really hear us when we pray or care about us like we thought. Yes, that’s something like the pain and sorrow of Lamentations.
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BUT, HIDDEN AWAY in the third poem is a word of hope. A word of God’s faithfulness.
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.” (21–24)
“Therefore I have hope.” There’s nothing going on to offer hope. Construction crews are not rebuilding Jerusalem. Grocery stores have not popped up. There is no FEMA. There are no communities from other areas driving in with supplies. Death and dying. Famine. Defeat all around. There is nothing visually or physically going on to offer even a glimpse of hope. But there is movement beyond what can be seen; what can be known; what can be witnessed — the promises of God. I “call to mind,” I remember and therefore I have hope.
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WHAT IS REMEMBERED? God’s compassions never fail. God is faithful.
When Moses climbs the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments, God comes to Moses and declares God’s name and character:
Exodus 34:5–6
And [God] passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
Over and again the eternal God reveals himself to be a God of grace, God of mercy, God of compassion and God of faithfulness. All these express God’s great love for the human world. God’s great love for us. God revealed himself then to Moses. God will reveal himself to us in caring and loving ways. As our Advent candle reading reminds us: For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
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IN OUR CONFIRMATION CLASS, we struggle with why things happen in our lives. Why did May run off the road and hit a tree? Where was God in that? Did God put the icy patch on the road? Why were the Hebrews made slaves to begin with? If God can free them from slavery, why couldn’t God prevent them from being slaves?
We wrestle with similar questions in our lives. Why me? Why you? Why her? Why this? Why that? I’m not sure there are answers to those questions.
Lamentations gives us no answers either. Just a glimpse of hope. I believe the Lord who was faithful in the past will be faithful now. I believe the God of our mothers and fathers will be compassionate toward me. I am reminded. I remember. I believe in God’s steadfast and abiding love. I affirm God’s faithfulness even when it is not evident.
Therefore, I have hope. I have hope that God’s compassion and faithfulness will shower over me. Each day will bring new mercies. With this confident hope, this promised assurance, I will wait on the Lord!
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DOES THAT NEGATE ALL that has happened? No. Death is still death. People are still hungry. Destruction is still destruction. Yet, God is present. Even in devastation God is present and faithful. God is able to inspire fresh faith in our hearts, even in moments when we least expect it. We can count on his faithfulness to us. God has promised, “I will never leave you nor will I forsake you. “
So, we wait. We wait on the Lord. That’s hard. The freed Hebrew slaves couldn’t wait while Moses was on the mountain with the Lord. They were impatient. They took their jewelry and molded a golden bull to worship. They quickly forgot God’s faithfulness to hearing their cries as slaves. They forgot God’s compassion that freed them. They forgot. They lost hope and they couldn’t wait.
We wait impatiently. We want relief. We long for peace. We desire resolution. We cry for freedom. We pray and pray and pray without ceasing for justice to roll down like rivers. Waiting as we trust God’s faithfulness.
God’s compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is God’s faithfulness.
therefore I will wait for him.”
— Keith Cardwell
