Lamentations 2:1-4:22
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Perhaps Lamentations chapter 2, verses 18 & 19, give us a hint at what we should do if we realize we've hit a rock bottom place in our lives due to unchecked sin - "Cry aloud before the Lord, O walls of Jerusalem! Let your tears flow like a river. Give yourselves no rest from weeping day or night. Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to him in prayer." If you are at that place of rock bottom, or nearing it, will you cry to the Lord? Will you pour out your heart to the Lord letting him know that you need him - that you cannot do life without him? Will you pray?
Lamentations Chapter 3 today starts out quite sad and empty in verses 1-20. Of course, the reason for this sadness and emptiness in these opening verses is God's discipline toward the people of Jerusalem at this time. They had sinned greatly and thus this discipline had come upon them. I think the thing for us to remember in seasons like this in our lives is that it is typically only a season. This too shall pass - if we repent & learn & grow and return to the Lord. Indeed, we see the transition in chapter 21: "Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this..." I love this! "I still dare to hope" - even in the midst of so much sadness & emptiness. In the midst of our tough seasons in life, can we still dare to hope? Why should we still dare to hope? Will you still dare to hope?
Verses 22 to 66 in today's readings are just phenomenal. I could write on and on about probably each of these verses. There is so much here for us. I'd encourage you to read these verses at least twice and meditate on them and how they might apply to your life today. I'll jump through a couple of verses here that stood out to me. Verse 23 - "Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day." Do you experience God's mercies afresh each day? Do you believe that you can?
Verse 25 - "The LORD is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him." If you are not experiencing God now, will you wait for him? Will you seek him? (this reminds me of Jeremy Camp's tune on his worship album - "I'll wait for the Lord. My soul waits". Great tune and great reminder that we sometimes need to wait on the Lord).
Worship God: Lamentations 3:23 obviously reminded me of the wonderful worship song "Great is Thy Faithfulness." I couldn't quite find a good version of this on song on YouTube. However, I found a wonderful song called "Great is Your Mercy" with Donnie McClurkin and several other singers. This video is actually 10 minutes and 30 seconds long! But trust me, it is worth the time! Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODmHMKfD_iY
Can you sing "Great is Your Mercy" to God? Click here to sing!
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless,
Mike
p.s. Download our monthly Small Group study notes for our Chronological Bible readings at this link.
p.p.s. Download a schedule of our Chronological Bible readings for the year in PDF format at this link.
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