Tears in Your Eyes and On the Parchment - Lamentations

Lamentations 5:17-22 (ESV)

For this our heart has become sick,

for these things our eyes have grown dim,

for Mount Zion which lies desolate;

jackals prowl over it.

But you, O LORD, reign forever;

your throne endures to all generations.

Why do you forget us forever,

why do you forsake us for so many days?

Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored!

Renew our days as of old—

unless you have utterly rejected us,

and you remain exceedingly angry with us.

A lamentation is the hardest thing to live out through a life.  You are mourning over a loss that seems unbearable to recover from in the moment of our deep pain.  In the above lines of Jeremiah’s lamentation we can read both the pain and a brief aspect of hope in his lament.   But also his despair.  Because of this book, Jeremiah is often referred to as the weeping prophet.  He is not afraid to cry over his pain and suffering.   In our world, crying is often considered a weakness.  But if you read these five chapters you can almost see the drops of tears between each line that may have dropped on the parchment paper as Jeremiah wept as he wrote.   The last lines are the scariest.   He writes about a possible hope of renewal in the last days, but then tags the entire book of Lamentations with:

“... unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us.”   

This is what despair and pain and suffering can do. It can cloud our minds and hearts from seeing the hope we once had.   Note what Jeremiah wrote on the interior of the book:

Lamentations 3:22-26 (ESV)

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,

“therefore I will hope in him.”

The LORD is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul who seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the LORD.

One of the great quotes of life is:

Don’t doubt in the dark what you believed on in the light. 

Jeremiah is hurting.  Is is doubting in the dark.   If a great man like Jeremiah can suffer this way, so, too, us.   

But God is the God of all comfort. 

Matthew 5:4 (ESV)

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Do NOT - Proverbs 2-3

Proverbs 3:25-31 (ESV)

Do not be afraid of sudden terror

or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,

for the LORD will be your confidence

and will keep your foot from being caught.

27. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,

when it is in your power to do it.

28. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,

tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.

29. Do not plan evil against your neighbor,

who dwells trustingly beside you.

30. Do not contend with a man for no reason,

when he has done you no harm.

31. Do not envy a man of violence

and do not choose any of his ways,

Psychologist and sociologist would tell us it is not healthy to tell people (especially young people) what they can’t do, but give them an alternative to what they can do.  Most would not critique that that philosophy of life.  However, in the above passages, the wisest man ever created by God, Solomon, might have a few things to add to that thinking.  In these chapters of Proverbs, Solomon is outlining the difference between wisdom and folly.   You can’t read the proverbs without that mindset.   Each line of of each proverb says something about wisdom or something about folly.  In the above six proverbs he outlines a number of do not do type passages.  He is trying to stop us from doing something foolish.   It might be nice to always tell people what they can do.  Let’s hope that can be our major goal for life.   But as Solomon has outlines, there are times we must simply tell someone do not do that.  That is wisdom, as well.   

Praising God - Psalms 66-68

Psalms 68:4-6 (ESV)

Sing to God, sing praises to his name;

lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;

his name is the LORD;

exult before him!

Father of the fatherless and protector of widows

is God in his holy habitation.

God settles the solitary in a home;

he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,

but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

The above lines are written by King David.   It is a praise song but also a song of prayer to ask God to defend him from his enemies.   In the song David recognizes that his life is in the hands of a trusting God.   He tells us:

1.  To sing praises to God.    Our main purpose in life is to offer praises to Him.   Song is a method for that purpose. The world has taken over songs as a way to sing praises to others, to things, to life, to failures, to whatever catches their eye.  But song was designed to bring praises to God. 

2. He tells us that God rides through the desert.  That means that God is not just with us in the good times of abundance but the dry times, as well.   The importance of this will be seen deeper shortly.  

3. He is the father of the fatherless and the protector of widows.   This might be one of the most comforting thoughts to those who have lost the natural protection provided in the family relationship dynamic.   God will fill the void. 

4. He is in his holy habitation and settles the solitary home is probably an extension of #3.  The home that has lost something and is experincing loneliness is now filled by the God of holiness.  

5.  He leads the prisoner to prosperity.  That is a powerful statement.   The one who was confined is now made to live in prosperity.   That is the conversion process of a new saint.  The one who was locked in sin can now rejoice in freedom in Christ.  

6.  The final line of this section states, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.  Those who trust in God have Him in the desert.  Those who don’t, live in a parched land.  That is the story of the Bible.  

We are to sing praises to God.  The above lines state, His name is the LORD!

Cover Yourself with God - 1 Kings 5-9

1 Kings 6:20-22 (ESV)

The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid an altar of cedar. And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across, in front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

1 Kings 6:28-30 (ESV)

And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms. The floor of the house he overlaid with gold in the inner and outer rooms.

1 Kings 6:32 (ESV)

He covered the two doors of olivewood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.

1 Kings 6:35 (ESV)

On them he carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work.

Imagine coming home and your spouse has made the decision to cover all your floors and many of the fixtures of your home with pure gold.   Imagine a house such as this.   That is what is being described in the above passage about the Temple Solomon was building for God.   Everything was made in a way to magnify God in all His glory.    Gold was the best way to do that.   We have to recall that when Babylon would eventually raid Jerusalem because of Israel’s disobedience, they would tear out all this gold.    Yet, at this point in time the nation was obedient and Solomon was building something to show the splendor of God.   We don’t use such artifacts today.  Our temple is our bodies.  The Holy Spirit dwells within us and guides us and seals us for Christ.  But our lives ought to reflect that truth the same way that Solomon reflected God’s glory in the gold.   God can’t be contained in a temple, no matter how much splendor it portrays.   Nor can God be contained in our bodies.  But we are His Temple and we ought to reflect the same truth and thoughts that Solomon was trying to convey when he covered everything with gold.   

1 Corinthians 6:19 (ESV)

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

We belong to the God of heaven and ought to display His glory in our bodies.   

We Are The Tabernacle - Exodus 37-40

 Exodus 40:1-8 (ESV)

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “On the first day of the first month you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. And you shall put in it the ark of the testimony, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. And you shall bring in the table and arrange it, and you shall bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. And you shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the screen for the door of the tabernacle. You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. And you shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court.

Per God’s instructions through Moses, the nation of Israel constructed the elements of the Tabernacle.   We are not told how long it took but in the preceding chapters we are told, in detail, how each individual part was constructed.   Those who made these pieces of the Tabernacle brought them to Moses.   In the verses just before the above section there are almost 50 pieces they brought to Moses.   It was now time to construct the Tabernacle.   We can read in the above section some of those elements that were made and had to now be placed together.   This is not a one time construction project.  Every time the nation of Israel moved from one place to another they would take down the Tabernacle and carry each piece to the next place they were to settle.   They would then re-construct the Tabernacle again.   This is the place they would approach God. This is the way they would conduct worship.   Today we sit in our bath robes, in our easy chairs and take out a copy of God’s Word on our phone to worship.  We open an app to hear worship music.    When Jesus gave His life for our sins He opened a way for us to worship His Father through Him without all these elements.   We no longer have the form and function of the Tabernacle because we are now the tabernacle of God through the sacrifice of the Son and from the indwelling of the Spirit.  

Hebrews 4:14-16 (ESV)

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Protect The Doctrine! Galatians 1-3

 Galatians 1:6-9 (ESV)

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

This passage probably does not need to be commented upon.   Paul is writing to the churches in the region of Galatia.    This is one of the first letters written.   The book of James was first and this letter was second.   Even then it is almost 20 years after Christ’s death.  Despite that brief time frame there were already people distorting the Gospel.   Paul is setting out to make sure that the main truth of the church is not misrepresented:  Faith without works justifies you.   He wants people to realize that he is not the most known and or respected Apostle, but that does not limit him in his standing up for the faith.   He is bold in this defense.   He tells us that those who twist the doctrine of faith are accursed.   Wouldn’t it be great if we were so bod today regarding the protection of the faith?  

Jesus Turns the Insignificant Into Significance - Luke 7-8

Luke 7:11-17 (ESV)

Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

There are parts of stories in the Gospel writings that tell us one main thing but still contain minor nuances that can teach us further good truth.  In the above passage we read about a man who died and was being buried.  Jesus arrives to this town, just as the burial procession is walking by (there is a good truth about the sovereignty of Jesus’ work on this earth ... always in the right place at the right time as orchestrated by the Father and the Spirit).   The name of the town was Nain.   If you gave a very good theologian a chance to name the cities Jesus visited, it is probably a sure bet that Nain would be at the bottom of their list, if even recalled at all.   The word means beautiful in the Greek. It was a small city on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.   It is, by anyone’s definition, an insignificant city.    Until this story.    Jesus is moved with compassion on the widow of the man.   We don’t know why this caught Jesus’ attention but it did. In this small insignificant town an unnamed widow is reunited in life with her also unnamed but formerly deceased husband.   Whatever the reason Jesus stopped here and performed this miracle, it accomplished His goal.   The last verse of the story states that this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.   Here is a great truth buried deeper in this short narrative:   Jesus can make turn the most insignificant into something significant.    Jesus shows up in a little unknown town and makes it now known in all the region.   We don’t have the man’s name or the widow’s name, but Luke gives us the cities name.   When God visits a people, place or situation it becomes significant.   Our significance is tied up in our relationship with Jesus.  Without Him we are just another person walking on this spinning planet.   But when Jesus shows up in our lives we are now not only significant in the world but a child of God.   God makes us significant.   He can make the unknown, known!!