Lamentations - A cry for Comfort

Lamentations 1:1-22 All around the world, people experience grief, day in, day out. Over 100 people a minute around the world breathe their final breath. Sadly one day, if you’ve not experienced it so far in life, you’ll find yourself expressing the same painful cry as you find in the book of Lamentations. Essentially it is a book that offers the A to Z of grief.

The author Jeremiah is mourning the destruction of Jerusalem. Sadly the destruction of their precious homeland wasn’t swift and sharp.  But long and drawn out.
The city was under siege.  With people running out of food, paralyzed by fear, facing death inside the city and outside.
Lam 1:20 “See, O Lord, how distressed I am! I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is only death.”

The grief is intensified for three reasons:
i) It has been mourning brought on by Israel’s sinfulness (verse 5) - The people deserve God’s judgement
ii) It is hopelessness brought on by loneliness (verse 2,7,16,19) - Everyone deserts Jerusalem, including her lovers, her friends, her priests and elders.
iii) It is destruction brought on by God’s judgment (verse 5) - The result is that God leaves her to experience her fate alone.

God has become her enemy. She has no hope.
Sadly, this is the predicament the bible casts all of mankind – we are as responsible for our plight as much as Israel.  Ultimately, the bible teaches us that we are without God, without hope in our present state (Rom 1).  This is the lament of Lamentation Chapter 1.

You may think I’m not that bad, but the reality is that even at your best, the moments in life when you absolutely nail it, when you love well, when you serve, when you’re selfless, when you help the helpless - all of that is stained with our sin (Rom 3:23; 6:23).  Therefore we face His judgement for our thoughts and actions.  We’re all guilty.

The good news however is:
If you divine justice condemns you, only divine grace can rescue.
If you can’t save yourself, you must look to someone else.

So how does God save us? We believe he sends his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to die for our sins, even though he was innocent – he would receive the punishment for our sinfulness. Jesus suffers and dies, all alone on the cross so that when we feel alone in our suffering we can know God with us.  Jesus faces death inside the city and outside the city. When Jesus cries out ‘my God my God, why have you forsaken me?’ it so we never have to utter those words.

1 Timothy 1:15, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”

There is no other religion whose diagnosis of our condition is more penetrating and true to life than Biblical Christianity. And there is no other religion that offers a remedy for real suffering, real loneliness, real rebellion, deserved alienation from God, and real, deserved fear of death. This is life, this is true life. To experience this gift of God, through Jesus Christ, you must receive it as the treasure of your life. You must accept it gladly and willingly.

Mission Group Questions:
1) Can you remember the context of the book of Lamentations?  Try to read a commentary together to understand the background to the story.
2) Why is it important to study a book like Lamentations?
3) What do you think you will find helpful?
4) Can you explain the phrase ‘If you divine justice condemns you, only divine grace can rescue’ in your own words, using other bible verses?
5) How is the message of Lamentations helpful to the World?