Job is an example of the man who's talking in Lamentations 3. He cries out to the Lord in his affliction. Job cries about how he's suffering the wrath of God, just as the man in Lamentations 3:3-54 is doing. The author in Lamentations says, "Surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy; though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked.”
“He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding; he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate; he bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow. He drove into my kidneys the arrows of his quiver; I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long. He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood. 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.”
This man has clearly been afflicted by great pain and suffering in his life. I have had the same done to me. Surely it can feel like the Lord is doing this to us and is against us. This man feels this way. I believe, however, that this is a sort of poetry, a sort of crying out to God. I believe in the literal truth of the Bible, but I believe it is prophetic poetry. We haven't read the whole section yet, so let's continue to where it gets a little (or a lot) better:
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; 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.
There we have it: he said the Lord was against him and did not hear his prayers, but here he says that the Lord is good to those who wait. This is a great representation of how we feel during tribulation and struggle and after it's over. I know I've felt that way a lot during my trying times. But the second part of the story is more accurate for believers and Christ-followers: the Lord's mercies are new every day.
Sometimes, the Lord's hand is against us when we turn into a proud person, or a mocker. This is when we may see rebuke, even as Christ-followers. I suffered from abuse as a child, and I felt like the Lord's hand was against me because of that. Really for my whole life, I felt like I "did something wrong" and because of my bad morality, the Lord was punishing me. That is how the author of Lamentations feels. It's really a misunderstood concept in the scriptures - Lamentations in general.
The whole book is never really talked about, except the good phrases that we can glean from it (His mercies are new every morning). But what about the other parts, the not-so-nice (or even nasty) parts? What is their purpose? Well, let me give an example. Jesus quotes Psalm 22 when He cries out "Eloi, Eloi, lamech sabacthani," on the cross. It means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" That was how He felt. Did God really leave Him and forsake Him? No, I don't believe so. But the process of dying on the cross made Him feel like He was abandoned. Now, the Lord says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you," (Deuteronomy 31:16, along with many other citations in scripture) so we know that even though God was still FOR Jesus, He cried out using scripture for God to come close. He just felt abandoned. Jesus Christ Himself, at one point, felt abandoned. This is why, when we cry out, "Eloi, Eloi, lamech sabacthani," we are strengthened.
When we use scriptural prayers, such as the prayer in Lamentations 3, we cry out to God and give away our grief. When we express our grief to Him, He takes it away. But we must express the grief and admit that we are grieved. I've found this to be true at the moment of healing in prayer: I cry. I cry and weep about what was done to me as a child, then my cry of sorrow turns to a cry of relief and respite: the sorrow leaves. I can live again. I've only recently noticed this; the Lord had me cry out, "Eloi, Eloi, lamech sabacthani," when I was in a bad place, and crying out this scriptural prayer is what made me feel better. I felt the prayer was accepted by the Lord. So ironically enough, when we cry out to God that we feel forsaken, He bundles us up like a warm ball in the blanket of His Spirit. He gives our eyes peace from the crying, and the lamenting.
That's what Lamentations is about, I believe. That's what this piece of scripture is meant for - its purpose. To cry out to the Lord in our suffering, when we feel His hand is against us, try cry out these true emotions in this prophetic poetry and to receive mercy from God as a result - the wrapping up in the warm blanket of the Holy Spirit.
I still have a hard time adjusting to this perspective. Because of the nature of the abuse I endured, I believed that if I cried out to God that He would count it as sin and hurt me. I believed that I may be lost forever, God forbid, because He would leave me. But I am learning it is okay to cry out to God, even in anguish. It is okay to express to God that we feel He has left us or is not hearing our prayers, even if He really hasn't left us and really is hearing our prayers. This is the designated prayer style for * us * as Christians when we're feeling sad or abandoned, not just me. We can cry out to God, even in anguish, and He will not punish us - as long as we are talking to Him, He will answer us. When we complain to others or to ourselves, that is what we want to avoid. We can take our lawsuits to the judge, even if they're against the judge Himself. But we should do it scripturally, because there is extra power packed into these prayers. The scriptural aspect of it is what keeps it from being simple complaining.
When we pray scripture, no matter what it says, it is good. Therefore, I say to you, PRAY LAMENTATIONS when you are feeling down, specifically this chapter. PRAY "Eloi, Eloi, lamech sabacthani," when you are feeling abandoned, and He will rescue you from that feeling. This is the first installment of studying the book of Lamentations that I will hopefully bring to you, God willing. You want peace in your life? Pray Lamentations. You want to escape from the feeling of abandonment? Pray, "Eloi, Eloi, lamech sabacthani." Feeling down and depressed with no place to go and no one to turn to? Pray this scripture in Lamentations and watch what happens. God Bless you, God Love you, and God Save you! Peace be with you!
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