Lamenting Over Our Sin:

I have been doing a Bible Study on the book over Lamentations.  This has been a great study.  This study has really taken it slow by only doing a few verses a day at a time.  The author of the study wants to make sure we as the readers really understand what is happening in the text and how hurt the people of Jerusalem are after they were under great amounts of punishment and being deserted for turning their backs on God.  

The text really speaks about how our reactions should be through pointing us to another great example in the Bible in Psalm 51.  This comes from the text in the book, “Between Grief and Glory, A study on the book of Lamentations,” by Joy Woo.  This book comes from the Daily Grace Company.  This says in their text, “God tells us in Psalm 51 that He will not despise a humble heart that knows and grieves its own sin.  Psalm 51 is a beautiful example of confession.  It is King David’s prayer to the Lord after sinning by committing murder and adultery.  As Jerusalem also meditates on her sin against the Lord and does not try to hide it with self-pity, she will demonstrate humility.”

I loved this paragraph description because it showed the parallels between Jerusalem responding to sin and David’s response to sin.  David was humble, and he knew he needed mercy, love, and forgiveness from God.  However, the people in Jerusalem at this time may have known they had sinned, but they also didn’t believe they needed the extreme judgement and punishment coming from God.  

I will be honest when I say, I do not have a lot of lament over my sin.  There are many times, I actually pretend to not notice the sin I have.  There are many times I act as though I haven’t sinned or my sin is not as bad as others.  I often will compare the sins I do on a regular basis to the sins many others do.  I will believe I am somehow saved because of the good things I try to do throughout the day.  

For one example, one sin I struggle with is judging.  (as I just showed in the last paragraph) I will be honest when I say I do find myself judging myself higher than others.  I will often think of the actions others do and really believe I could never make those decisions they are making.  I will find myself judging how hard of a worker I am to others.  I will judge how much I exercise versus how much others exercise or how much I serve versus how much other people serve.  It is not good to play the comparison game, and I do find myself doing it more often than I should.  

There is a section of verses I really want to highlight from the book I have been reading of Lamentations.  Lamentations 3:16-22 says, “He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.” Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.”  

I love these verses because it shows the ups and downs the people were experiencing.  They were recently captured by Babylon, and they were made to be slaves.  They were experiencing all the consequences the Lord has bestowed on them.  However, there was also a realization that God was going to offer great blessings to his people.  He had a plan to send Jesus to the cross to die for our sins, so we could be offered eternal salvation.  

The only challenge I want to give this week is to spend time reflecting on two things.  The first thing to reflect on is any sin you have struggled with in the past.  Is there a particular sin you tend to ignore because you don’t find it a big deal?  Is there any sin you don’t want to give up because you enjoy it more than you should?  Is there something taking you away from God in a very big negative way?  Then if there is, this is the time we can remember to go to God humbly and ask simply for his forgiveness.  

One piece of encouragement I want to leave us all with is one more quote from this study book which says, “In our humble position of contrition, we must cling to what Christ accomplished on the cross to deal with all sin.  Lament is a cry of hope, rooted in God’s mercy and sovereignty, not a wallowing in despair.” This is a reminder; Jesus has died on the cross for our sins and has blessed us in the best way possible.  We have the opportunity to be with Him forever in heaven.  This means we still need to be humble over our sin, but we can also have joy in forgiveness, not be devastated by the mistakes made.