October 19, Reading 2 – Lamentations 2

Reading

Audio, Visual

SAA Notes

This is not a different God. We need to respect God and not treat Him with contempt as Israel did. Verses 6 and 7 contain threads that reach from Genesis to Revelation. The Tabernacle of Jesus’ body brings this entire lament to its deepest depths. Yet this dark valley is the way to joy, the joy of resurrection.

SJA Notes

* God Above, thank You for this day. Thank You for Your word. Please teach us this day from Your word.

“The Lord has become like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel;”

“He has laid waste to his booth like a garden, laid in ruins his meeting place; the LORD has made Zion forget festival and Sabbath, and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.”

“The LORD determined to lay in ruins the wall of the daughter of Zion; he stretched out the measuring line; he did not restrain his hand from destroying;”

We are to remember that the Lord sent prophet after prophet to His people, warning them over and over – Turn back to the Lord! Seek His face, obey His laws, walk under His will.

And yet.

His people continued in disobedience, the leadership leading and the people following, walking further down the broad road into evil upon evil.

And yet, another turn.

The author of Lamentations cries out to the Lord,

“Look, O LORD, and see! With whom have you dealt thus?”

How can the author make this cry, knowing of the reason why God’s judgement has come upon them?

This is God’s word that we read. Do we spy some dissonance, some weakness, some unknown vector that says God’s word is at war with itself?

No! Of course not.

How does the author make this cry?

What else have we to do? But to cry out to our Maker, our Saviour, our Lord God Almighty.

This is what the author of Lamentations does. This is what we should do.

Let us wrestle with these truths and ask God to help us comprehend His wisdom, His majesty, His sovereignty clearly shown in this passage.

* Father of mercy,

Even though You have saved us, called us, marked us – Still we choose folly.

Please forgive us Lord today, show us Your mercy.

We throw ourselves at Your feet, as the author of Lamentations does, for what else have we to do!

Amen.

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