1
00:00:00,300 --> 00:00:03,500
I am the man who has seen 
affliction. 

2
00:00:04,700 --> 00:00:07,100
By the rod of the, of the Lord's
Wrath. 

3
00:00:08,500 --> 00:00:12,100
He has driven me away and made 
me walk in darkness, rather than

4
00:00:12,100 --> 00:00:15,900
light, indeed. 
He has turned his hand against 

5
00:00:15,900 --> 00:00:19,100
me again, and again, all day 
long. 

6
00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,000
He has made my skin and my flesh
grow old in this broken, my 

7
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,300
bones. 
He has besieged me and 

8
00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:29,800
surrounded me with bitterness 
and hardship. 

9
00:00:30,500 --> 00:00:33,600
He is made me dwell in darkness 
like those long dead. 

10
00:00:35,500 --> 00:00:38,400
He's warmed me in so I cannot 
Escape. 

11
00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:43,400
He has weighed me down with 
chains. even when I call out Cry

12
00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,000
for Help, he shuts out my 
prayer, his Bard, my way with 

13
00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:53,200
blocks of stone and has made my 
past crooked Like a bear lying 

14
00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:55,200
in. 
Wait, like a like a lion in 

15
00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,600
hiding. 
He dragged me from the path and 

16
00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,200
mangled me and left me without 
help. 

17
00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,700
He drew his bow and made me the 
target for his arrows. 

18
00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:09,000
Who's my heart with arrows from 
his quiver? 

19
00:01:10,100 --> 00:01:14,500
I became a laughingstock of all 
my people, they mock me in song 

20
00:01:14,500 --> 00:01:18,100
all day long. 
He's filled me with bitter herbs

21
00:01:18,100 --> 00:01:22,800
and giving me gold to drink. 
He's broken my teeth with gravel

22
00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:27,000
and has trampled me in the dust.
I have been deprived of Peace. 

23
00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:35,300
I've forgotten what Prosperity 
is so I say, My Splendor is gone

24
00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:43,600
or I'd hoped for from the Lord. 
I remember my Affliction and my 

25
00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,600
wandering, the bitterness and 
the goal. 

26
00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:51,700
I will remember them. 
My soul is downcast within me. 

27
00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:58,200
This, I call to mind and 
therefore I have hope. 

28
00:01:59,700 --> 00:02:01,400
Because of the Lord's. 
Great love. 

29
00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:06,600
We are not consumed for his 
compassion's never fail. 

30
00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,800
They are new every morning. 
Great is your faithfulness. 

31
00:02:14,500 --> 00:02:18,900
I say to myself. 
The Lord is my portion. 

32
00:02:19,700 --> 00:02:25,100
Therefore, I will wait for him. 
The Lord is good to those whose 

33
00:02:25,100 --> 00:02:29,000
hope is in him. 
So the one who seeks him, it is 

34
00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,300
good to wait, quietly. 
For the Salvation of the Lord. 

35
00:02:32,500 --> 00:02:36,000
It is good for a man to Bear the
Yoke while he is Young. 

36
00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,800
Let him sit alone in silence for
the lord has laid it on him. 

37
00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:46,100
Let him bury his face in the 
dust and may yet be hope. 

38
00:02:47,300 --> 00:02:50,600
Let him offer his cheek to one 
who would strike him and let him

39
00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:55,500
be filled with disgrace. 
For no one is cast off by the 

40
00:02:55,500 --> 00:02:59,600
Lord forever, though. 
He brings grief, he will show 

41
00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,400
compassion. 
So great is his unfailing love. 

42
00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,900
He does not willingly bring 
Affliction or grief to anyone to

43
00:03:06,900 --> 00:03:08,500
crush Under Foot all the 
prisoners. 

44
00:03:08,500 --> 00:03:11,000
In the land, didn't either 
people their rights before the 

45
00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:15,100
most high to deprive them of 
justice but not the Lord's, see 

46
00:03:15,100 --> 00:03:18,400
such things. 
Who can speak and have it 

47
00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:21,100
happen. 
If the Lord is not degraded, it 

48
00:03:21,100 --> 00:03:22,300
is not from the mouth of the 
most. 

49
00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,300
Is it not from the mouth of the 
most high, the both calamities 

50
00:03:25,300 --> 00:03:28,800
and good things come? 
Why should the living complain 

51
00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:34,400
when punished for their sins? 
Let us examine our ways and test

52
00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:36,700
them and let us return to the 
Lord. 

53
00:03:37,100 --> 00:03:40,700
They us lift up our hearts and 
our hands to God in heaven and 

54
00:03:40,700 --> 00:03:46,600
say we have sinned and rebelled 
and you have not forgiven. 

55
00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,400
You have covered yourself with 
anger and pursuit us. 

56
00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:56,100
You have slain, Without Pity. 
You have covered yourself with a

57
00:03:56,100 --> 00:03:58,300
cloud student. 
No prayer can get through. 

58
00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,700
You have made us come and refuse
among the nation's, all the 

59
00:04:02,700 --> 00:04:05,500
enemies have opened their mouths
wide against his you've 

60
00:04:05,500 --> 00:04:07,600
suffered. 
We have suffered Terror and 

61
00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:11,600
pitfalls ruin, and destruction 
streams of Tears flow from my 

62
00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,600
eyes because of my people are 
destroyed, my eyes will flow and

63
00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,899
see something without relief 
until the Lord looks down from 

64
00:04:18,899 --> 00:04:24,000
heaven and sees. 
What I see brings grief to my 

65
00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,600
soul because of all the women of
my city. 

66
00:04:30,500 --> 00:04:34,000
Those who are my enemies without
cause Hunted Me Like a Bird. 

67
00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:39,500
They try to end my life in a pit
and first unto me the waters 

68
00:04:39,500 --> 00:04:43,000
close over my head. 
I thought I was about to perish.

69
00:04:45,300 --> 00:04:48,200
I called, on your name, not from
the depths of the pit. 

70
00:04:49,500 --> 00:04:55,200
You heard my play, close your 
eyes, your ears to My Cry for 

71
00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,900
Relief. 
You came near when I called you,

72
00:04:57,900 --> 00:05:03,000
and you said do not fear. 
Helo took up my case. 

73
00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,800
You redeem my life? 
What do you have seen the wrong 

74
00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:08,100
done to me? 
Uphold. 

75
00:05:08,100 --> 00:05:12,200
My course, you seen the depth of
the Vengeance, their plots 

76
00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:13,400
against me. 
Lord. 

77
00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,300
You seen the insult all their 
plots against me. 

78
00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,200
What my enemies Whispering 
muttering against me all day 

79
00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,300
long. 
Look at them sitting or standing

80
00:05:22,300 --> 00:05:25,600
they mock me in their songs, 
hate them back for what they 

81
00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:27,600
deserve. 
Lord for, what their hands have 

82
00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:29,600
done. 
Put a veil over their hearts and

83
00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,400
may your curse be on them. 
Pursue them in anger and Destroy

84
00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:35,400
them from under the heavens of 
the Lord. 

85
00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:46,100
And this is the word of God. 
We have reached the Midway point

86
00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,700
of this book of Lamentations, 
it's not a book for the 

87
00:05:49,700 --> 00:05:53,800
faint-hearted. 
And this is the third chapter of

88
00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,700
five. 
And as Peter already said, we 

89
00:05:57,700 --> 00:06:01,500
actually come to the most famous
and most quoted section of the 

90
00:06:01,500 --> 00:06:02,800
book here. 
Then we hear these words. 

91
00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,000
We don't often think they come 
from the book of Lamentations 

92
00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:13,400
Lamentations 3:22-23 for Say 
this because of the Lord's. 

93
00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:17,300
Great love. 
We are not consumed for his 

94
00:06:17,300 --> 00:06:18,800
compassion's. 
Never feel. 

95
00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:23,200
They are new every morning. 
Great is your faithfulness. 

96
00:06:23,700 --> 00:06:26,100
I say to myself, the Lord is my 
portion. 

97
00:06:26,700 --> 00:06:32,700
Therefore, I will wait for him. 
These are quite famous words. 

98
00:06:32,700 --> 00:06:34,400
Actually and Christians have 
written hymns. 

99
00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:36,700
About these words including the 
one we started with today. 

100
00:06:36,700 --> 00:06:40,100
Grit Is Thy Faithfulness, 
inspirational posters. 

101
00:06:40,100 --> 00:06:43,300
And art pieces of art have been 
produced with these verses on 

102
00:06:43,300 --> 00:06:44,900
them. 
And we imagine the setting for 

103
00:06:44,900 --> 00:06:46,400
these verses. 
We just look at them as they are

104
00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,500
on the screen. 
There to be a time of real peace

105
00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:53,100
and serenity. 
Maybe a beautiful summer's day 

106
00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,900
someone sitting by a stream 
under the shade of a tree. 

107
00:06:56,900 --> 00:07:00,300
A moment when everything is 
right with the world. 

108
00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:05,400
Everything is as it should be. 
That is when we imagine someone 

109
00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,900
would say words like this under 
cousin that we can assume he's 

110
00:07:08,900 --> 00:07:12,000
read that in in hard times. 
In dividend, we go well that all

111
00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:16,600
sounds a bit trite. 
It's signs a bit simplistic, but

112
00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:18,500
whoever wrote these words 
doesn't know much about the 

113
00:07:18,500 --> 00:07:25,600
harsh realities of life. 
And then we read these verses in

114
00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:29,900
their original context. 
And the setting for these 

115
00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:32,800
statements couldn't be much more
different than what we imagined 

116
00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,600
them to be. 
These are words spoken out of 

117
00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:40,800
the rubble of a devastated City,
the rubble of a city destroyed 

118
00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,400
by War, whose inhabitants have 
been driven into Exile after 

119
00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:46,900
witnessing horrific scenes of 
suffering. 

120
00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,000
And as against the setting of 
the destruction of the city of 

121
00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:54,600
Jerusalem that the writer of 
lamentation says these things 

122
00:07:54,700 --> 00:07:59,100
about God. 
I just begs the question for us.

123
00:07:59,300 --> 00:08:00,800
Hi. 
Can someone who lived through 

124
00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:05,800
the destruction of Jerusalem in 
587 BC ever dare to write these 

125
00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,300
words. 
How can someone who experienced 

126
00:08:08,300 --> 00:08:11,700
such brutality at the hands of 
the Babylonian Empire? 

127
00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:15,400
Say these things about God 
because of the Lord's. 

128
00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:17,100
Great love. 
We are not consumed. 

129
00:08:17,100 --> 00:08:20,400
His compassion's never feel. 
There are new every morning. 

130
00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:22,800
Great is your faithfulness. 
We might think yourselves. 

131
00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,200
Surely those words sound about 
Halo, don't they? 

132
00:08:26,100 --> 00:08:30,100
To this writer of Lamentations. 
But meaningless after all, we've

133
00:08:30,100 --> 00:08:33,600
seen in the book so far about 
the suffering and sin of 

134
00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:36,700
Jerusalem at this point in its 
history. 

135
00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,299
The question is, what are these 
words are fear and hope and 

136
00:08:41,299 --> 00:08:44,300
prayer is doing in the middle of
a book. 

137
00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,600
That is so dark and mournful as 
Lamentations. 

138
00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:52,700
Well, to begin to explore those 
questions to go. 

139
00:08:52,700 --> 00:08:56,200
Me to remind ourselves where 
we've got to in Lamentations so 

140
00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:57,900
far. 
What have we seen in this book 

141
00:08:58,300 --> 00:09:01,300
so far, I'd say we've seen a 
number of things the last few 

142
00:09:01,300 --> 00:09:03,100
weeks, but first of all, we've 
seen that Lamentations. 

143
00:09:03,100 --> 00:09:06,400
It's a memorial to the darkest 
moment. 

144
00:09:06,700 --> 00:09:09,600
In ancient Israel's history, a 
memorial to the destruction of 

145
00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:14,800
Jerusalem in that year 587 BC. 
So we read in the Bible that 

146
00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:18,700
after a Siege lasting three 
years, Jerusalem, also known as 

147
00:09:18,700 --> 00:09:22,200
Zion or the city of God was 
Conquered by the Babylonians, 

148
00:09:22,500 --> 00:09:24,800
the Temple of the Lord was 
destroyed. 

149
00:09:25,300 --> 00:09:27,600
That was the place where people 
met with God. 

150
00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,100
And most of the survivors were 
rounded up and carried off into 

151
00:09:31,100 --> 00:09:35,000
Exile, in Babylonia, the very 
poorest were left behind to work

152
00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,300
the land. 
Is it a memorial so that God's 

153
00:09:39,300 --> 00:09:41,800
people do not forget this 
moment? 

154
00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:47,200
It's also a cry of pain. 
The Cry of pain from God's 

155
00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:52,800
suffering, sinful people. 
To bookmark by PN and grief, 

156
00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:56,000
shock and sorrow, anger, and 
questions. 

157
00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,400
As the writer records Frosty's 
cries of pain. 

158
00:09:59,100 --> 00:10:01,400
We've also seen that 
Lamentations, it's a picture of 

159
00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,500
God's devastating judgment on 
evil and sin. 

160
00:10:07,500 --> 00:10:09,400
And we've seen throughout this 
haven't we that this is not a 

161
00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:13,400
book about the suffering of the 
righteous or the innocent. 

162
00:10:14,900 --> 00:10:16,900
The Bible does speak about that 
for that we go to books like the

163
00:10:16,908 --> 00:10:20,300
Book of Job in the Old Testament
or the Psalms or the gospel 

164
00:10:20,300 --> 00:10:22,800
accounts of Jesus life and 
death. 

165
00:10:22,900 --> 00:10:25,400
No, this is a book about the 
suffering of the guilty. 

166
00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:32,000
And it's recorded for us by a 
loving God, for our Goods to act

167
00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:35,500
as a warning sign for all of us 
that God's coming judgment is 

168
00:10:35,500 --> 00:10:38,600
real and we need to be ready for
it. 

169
00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:45,700
Lamentations is a book of 
sorrowful, poetry full of pain, 

170
00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,300
full of anger, but we're going 
to see particularly in this 

171
00:10:48,300 --> 00:10:53,400
middle section full of Hope in 
the face of all that has 

172
00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,500
happened. 
So, what does this chapter 

173
00:10:56,500 --> 00:10:59,900
chapter 3? 
Add to the message of this book,

174
00:11:00,700 --> 00:11:01,800
get you some things about 
structure. 

175
00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:05,500
Again, this is an acrostic poem 
which bases like a to zed and 

176
00:11:05,500 --> 00:11:07,600
Hebrew 22 letters in the Hebrew 
alphabet. 

177
00:11:07,700 --> 00:11:10,600
So one section for each of the 
letters actually Lamentations 

178
00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:13,000
three slightly different it 
looks longer and our Bibles is 

179
00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,800
actually the same length in 
Hebrew, but there's like three 

180
00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:17,800
lines in each one that begin 
with the same letter. 

181
00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:22,000
So, it's a a,b BB CC. 
It's a really intense acrostic 

182
00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,100
structure here. 
It's like he's done these first 

183
00:11:25,100 --> 00:11:26,600
two. 
Chapters that he really goes to 

184
00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:28,500
time in chapter 3 on this 
structure. 

185
00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,700
And I'm going to say it's the 
Centerpoint of Lamentations that

186
00:11:31,700 --> 00:11:35,100
also means it's like the heart 
or the summit of the book. 

187
00:11:35,300 --> 00:11:38,200
So, when Hebrew poetry, the 
middle point is often the bit 

188
00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:40,900
that is really Central. 
Doesn't build to the finale. 

189
00:11:40,900 --> 00:11:44,900
It kind of builds to the middle 
point, and it's in this chapter,

190
00:11:44,900 --> 00:11:47,900
we hear the most words of Hope 
in the book. 

191
00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,200
I mean to be clear, this isn't 
the end of the book, we're not 

192
00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:54,900
out of the woods yet. 
We still got chapters 4 and 5 to

193
00:11:54,900 --> 00:11:57,300
come still more descriptions of 
pain and suffering and 

194
00:11:57,300 --> 00:11:59,300
questions. 
And even as more credit to us, 

195
00:11:59,300 --> 00:12:01,100
we noticed that from that middle
section. 

196
00:12:01,100 --> 00:12:04,800
Still comes with real raw 
suffering NS. 

197
00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:07,600
But there is something new going
on. 

198
00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,300
In this chapter that affects the
way. 

199
00:12:10,300 --> 00:12:14,600
We read the whole of the book. 
There's more I want to say that 

200
00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,500
Lamentations 3. 
It shows us that lament in the 

201
00:12:17,500 --> 00:12:22,200
Bible is not simply God's people
expressing their Pian as 

202
00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:26,400
necessary as that is. 
Lament is also a way for God's 

203
00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:33,200
people to come back to God. 
As we recall who God is even in 

204
00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:37,000
the darkest of times, that is 
what the writer is doing in 

205
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,000
chapter 3. 
In a sense, he's reconnecting 

206
00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:42,700
with God. 
He speaking to God out of 

207
00:12:42,700 --> 00:12:46,000
experience of suffering and sin,
and, and by doing that, it's an 

208
00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,800
Act of Faith. 
He is daring to hope that God is

209
00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:52,600
still good. 
That God is still near that. 

210
00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,700
God is not finished with his 
people yet, and he's not 

211
00:12:55,700 --> 00:13:01,300
finished with our world yet. 
Lamentations is about facing up 

212
00:13:01,300 --> 00:13:04,200
to the harsh realities that we 
live in a suffering World broken

213
00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,000
by sin and we ourselves are a 
huge part of the problem, we 

214
00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:13,100
ourselves are sinners as well as
sufferers but even as we face up

215
00:13:13,100 --> 00:13:18,300
to that lament lift our eyes to 
the God, he is our only hope in 

216
00:13:18,300 --> 00:13:24,900
the face of suffering and in the
face of sin, So let's look at 

217
00:13:24,900 --> 00:13:27,000
this. 
Middle section of limitations 

218
00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,300
together night. 
And the guide our way through, I

219
00:13:29,308 --> 00:13:32,400
want to see asking a question 
throughout really, which is who 

220
00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:35,100
do we think is the speaker of 
this poem? 

221
00:13:36,300 --> 00:13:41,000
Who is able to speak these words
to God's suffering sinful 

222
00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:42,700
people. 
And why should God's people 

223
00:13:42,700 --> 00:13:45,600
listen to? 
Why is this someone God's people

224
00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,000
need to? 
Listen to his Lamentations 

225
00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,100
research, begins with a slight 
change in the speaker, but the 

226
00:13:51,100 --> 00:13:53,200
end of chapter 2. 
We've been listening to 

227
00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,000
daughter, Zion this to 
personification of Jerusalem as 

228
00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,100
a woman. 
She's she's been crying out but 

229
00:13:58,100 --> 00:14:02,000
not as she falls silent. 
She's almost worn out in her 

230
00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:03,600
despair. 
At the end of chapter 2, she 

231
00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:05,900
doesn't speak again in the rest 
of the book. 

232
00:14:06,900 --> 00:14:09,400
So suddenly God's suffering, 
sinful people, they need a new 

233
00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:12,500
spokesperson. 
The question is, who is 

234
00:14:12,500 --> 00:14:17,700
qualified and able to speak into
the pin on Grief of this 

235
00:14:17,700 --> 00:14:21,700
suffering and sinful people who 
can speak for them as their 

236
00:14:21,700 --> 00:14:26,400
representative and who can speak
to them as someone with words of

237
00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:29,900
Hope. 
And the answer comes in verse 1.

238
00:14:32,700 --> 00:14:36,600
But this speaker who describes 
himself, introduces himself, I 

239
00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,900
am the man who has seen 
Affliction by the rod of the 

240
00:14:40,900 --> 00:14:46,000
Lord's Wrath. 
Now, he's not named anywhere in 

241
00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,300
the book, so we don't know 
exactly who this man is. 

242
00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,500
He could be the Prophet Jeremiah
who traditionally Associated as 

243
00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,500
as the author of this book or 
someone else who was there? 

244
00:14:55,500 --> 00:14:58,800
When Jerusalem fell, he could be
like a job like figure crying I 

245
00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,300
in his suffering but actually 
think it's significant that he 

246
00:15:01,300 --> 00:15:05,600
isn't named because then forced 
to do some work that we listen 

247
00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:06,800
to him. 
Who is this man? 

248
00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:13,200
And is he worth listening to? 
And the first thing we learn 

249
00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:19,000
about this speaker, if he's a 
man who has suffered, As God's 

250
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,900
people have suffered its first 
as 1218. 

251
00:15:21,900 --> 00:15:26,300
His suffered as God's people 
have suffered, let me read 

252
00:15:26,300 --> 00:15:30,500
verses 1 to 3 for us. 
I'm the man who's seen 

253
00:15:30,500 --> 00:15:33,800
Affliction by the rod of the 
Lord's wrath. 

254
00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,500
He has driven me away and made 
me walk in darkness, rather than

255
00:15:37,500 --> 00:15:38,400
light. 
Indeed. 

256
00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:42,600
He has turned his hand against 
me again, and again, all day 

257
00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:47,000
long. 
Speaker, he is a fellow sufferer

258
00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,300
with God's people, he's someone 
who's also experience the wrath 

259
00:15:50,300 --> 00:15:54,400
of God against sin. 
He's been struck by the rod of 

260
00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:58,900
the Lord's wrath. 
First one, That word for Rod is 

261
00:15:58,900 --> 00:16:02,000
the Hebrew word said that and 
it's the same word actually used

262
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:03,800
in that famous. 
Sam, Sam 23. 

263
00:16:04,300 --> 00:16:08,200
If you know the Lord is my 
shepherd and back in Psalm 23 

264
00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:12,700
The the fact that the Lord has a
rod is really good news, David's

265
00:16:12,700 --> 00:16:15,200
rights and that some even though
I walk through the darkest 

266
00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,100
Valley, Your Rod and your staff 
they comfort me. 

267
00:16:19,300 --> 00:16:20,700
Davis, says actually cuz you've 
got a rod. 

268
00:16:20,700 --> 00:16:23,700
Lord, You're Going to protect me
from my enemies. 

269
00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:31,200
And Lamentations. 
God uses his Rod to strike this 

270
00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:35,400
man. 
This is like an Auntie Psalm 23.

271
00:16:37,300 --> 00:16:39,100
It's like he's a Shepherd 
punishing. 

272
00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:43,100
His sheep. 
You look forward to verse 10 to 

273
00:16:43,100 --> 00:16:45,900
12 instead of protecting them 
from bears and lions. 

274
00:16:45,900 --> 00:16:51,100
The Lord is like a bear or a 
lion attacking them instead of 

275
00:16:51,100 --> 00:16:53,000
using his bow to protect his 
sheep. 

276
00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,700
He's making them a target for 
his arrows. 

277
00:16:56,900 --> 00:17:00,300
It's really uncomfortable. 
Disturbing picture here. 

278
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:03,300
And he goes on. 
Look at the references to 

279
00:17:03,300 --> 00:17:06,900
Darkness and these opening 
verses verse 2, he's driven 

280
00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,400
driven me away. 
Made me walk in darkness, rather

281
00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:12,800
than light verse 6. 
He has made me dwell in darkness

282
00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,500
like those long-dead darkness in
the Bible. 

283
00:17:15,500 --> 00:17:17,700
It's a sign of God's anger 
against sin. 

284
00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:20,900
For example, see the plague of 
Darkness on the land of Egypt 

285
00:17:20,900 --> 00:17:23,500
and the Book of Exodus, it's a 
sign of being cut off and 

286
00:17:23,500 --> 00:17:25,900
separated from the God, who is 
light. 

287
00:17:28,300 --> 00:17:31,000
And then to add to the speaker 
talks about being under siege 

288
00:17:31,500 --> 00:17:35,100
from God, verse 5, he has 
besieged me and surrounded me 

289
00:17:35,108 --> 00:17:39,400
with bitterness and hardship, 
47, he's walled me in so that I 

290
00:17:39,408 --> 00:17:42,500
cannot Escape verse 9. 
He's barred my way with blocks 

291
00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:46,600
of stone Basics, because if 
there is no escape from this, 

292
00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:50,400
God no escape from this 
punishment. 

293
00:17:52,900 --> 00:17:54,800
Verses 1318 make it clear, 
demand? 

294
00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:58,400
Speaking in this chapter, he has
suffered like, the people of 

295
00:17:58,408 --> 00:18:00,400
Jerusalem. 
He's experience. 

296
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,500
The wrath of God against his 
people's sin. 

297
00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,500
He is a fellow. 
Sufferer like them. 

298
00:18:07,100 --> 00:18:08,200
He's not speaking about 
suffering with. 

299
00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,200
That's an interesting idea. 
No, he doesn't stand aloof from 

300
00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,300
it. 
He says I have experienced this 

301
00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,900
I am a sufferer like you you can
listen to me. 

302
00:18:19,300 --> 00:18:22,100
That's how the man introduces 
himself to us. 

303
00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:26,300
But the second thing we learned 
about this man, is the thing 

304
00:18:26,300 --> 00:18:27,900
that makes this chapter so 
different. 

305
00:18:27,900 --> 00:18:29,900
It's the ones that have gone 
before because the middle 

306
00:18:29,900 --> 00:18:34,100
section of this poem, we learned
that this is a man who clings to

307
00:18:34,100 --> 00:18:40,700
the God, who keeps his promises,
he clings to the Lord, the god 

308
00:18:40,700 --> 00:18:44,100
of the Covenant. 
So versus one day at Team, 

309
00:18:44,100 --> 00:18:46,800
descends into deeper and deeper 
Darkness, as they go on to reach

310
00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:50,300
their low point in verse 18. 
So I say my Splendor is gone. 

311
00:18:50,300 --> 00:18:52,800
He says and all that I had hoped
for from the Lord. 

312
00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,100
But it's at this point where God
seems most far-off and opposed 

313
00:18:57,100 --> 00:19:00,500
to the man that God suddenly 
becomes the main topic of the 

314
00:19:00,500 --> 00:19:03,500
poem. 
In the original Hebrew. 

315
00:19:03,500 --> 00:19:06,900
This is the first time, the name
of the Lord is mentioned. 

316
00:19:06,900 --> 00:19:10,300
In chapter 3. 
The Lord that is Yahweh, the god

317
00:19:10,300 --> 00:19:12,900
of the Covenant. 
With Abraham with Moses with 

318
00:19:12,900 --> 00:19:16,400
David, the god of relationship 
with his people, the God, who 

319
00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:22,100
saves his people from their sin,
And it's almost at the mention 

320
00:19:22,100 --> 00:19:24,900
of his name, the Lord in verse 
18. 

321
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,400
Actually, the speaker begins to 
make his way back to him. 

322
00:19:30,500 --> 00:19:33,300
It's a turning point in the 
chapter, we shift from 

323
00:19:33,300 --> 00:19:38,100
descriptions of his suffering. 
To remind himself of the truth 

324
00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:44,800
of who the Lord really is. 
He starts clinging so the God 

325
00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:50,700
who keeps his promises. 
Now if you were here last week, 

326
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,200
Dan, let us three chapter 2 and 
you'll remember actually hide 

327
00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:56,300
that idea. 
That God is the god, he keeps 

328
00:19:56,300 --> 00:20:00,500
his promises that actually 
haunted the people of Jerusalem.

329
00:20:01,700 --> 00:20:04,200
Because with the destruction of 
Jerusalem, that's what God was 

330
00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,300
doing. 
He was keeping his promises. 

331
00:20:06,900 --> 00:20:09,900
He had worn them again and 
again, over centuries that if 

332
00:20:09,900 --> 00:20:13,100
they didn't put him first, 
didn't trust in him one day, he 

333
00:20:13,100 --> 00:20:15,600
would punish them for their sin 
and they didn't listen and 

334
00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:21,300
eventually he has done it. 
Your 587 BC God, kept his 

335
00:20:21,300 --> 00:20:24,600
promise. 
It's a haunting Truth for the 

336
00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:28,900
man. 
But in chapter 3, we get the 

337
00:20:28,900 --> 00:20:33,100
flip side of that truth. 
The good news of who, the Lord 

338
00:20:33,100 --> 00:20:36,900
is the god, who punishes evil 
and sin is the same God who 

339
00:20:36,900 --> 00:20:40,200
promises his people back. 
In Jitter on me. 31, never, will

340
00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,700
I leave, you never will I 
forsake, you And so the speaker 

341
00:20:44,700 --> 00:20:48,300
here begins to take hold of 
truths about God which he knows 

342
00:20:48,300 --> 00:20:52,000
our true in spite of all the 
suffering and the Judgment he 

343
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,500
sees around him. 
Verse 21. 

344
00:20:55,500 --> 00:20:58,900
Look at that for a second. 
He was yet this, I call to mind 

345
00:20:59,500 --> 00:21:03,700
and therefore I have hope. 
Now, the original Hebrew is 

346
00:21:03,700 --> 00:21:06,000
stronger than English. 
The monster it says this, I 

347
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,300
caused to return to my heart. 
It's like he grabs hold of these

348
00:21:09,300 --> 00:21:11,500
truths about God in the midst of
his suffering. 

349
00:21:11,500 --> 00:21:15,600
He's grabbing them desperately 
The New Living Translation 

350
00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:19,400
transistor like this. 
He says, yet I still dare to 

351
00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:24,000
hope when I remember this. 
And that's what the man is 

352
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:27,500
doing. 
He is daring to Hope in the love

353
00:21:27,500 --> 00:21:30,700
and goodness of God. 
Even at this dark moment in 

354
00:21:30,700 --> 00:21:35,000
Israel's history. 
And at that point we come to the

355
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:39,400
famous verses we began with 
today and we learned these 

356
00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:43,200
truths aren't trite or shallow 
or blind to the harsh realities 

357
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:47,100
of Life know, their tricks that 
God's people can cling to even 

358
00:21:47,100 --> 00:21:50,300
in the rubble. 
Even in the rubble of everything

359
00:21:50,300 --> 00:21:55,000
having gone. 
Verse 22. 

360
00:21:55,700 --> 00:21:57,200
Because of the Lord's. 
Great love. 

361
00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:00,800
We are not consumed for his 
compassion's never fail. 

362
00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:05,500
They are new every morning. 
Great is your faithfulness. 

363
00:22:08,300 --> 00:22:11,800
Well, difference to these 
truths, make to God's suffering,

364
00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:17,000
sinful people. 
Well, if the Lord really is the 

365
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,000
Lord, if he is Yahweh, the god 
of relationship that God. 

366
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:26,100
He Delights to save his people 
then maybe just maybe God of 

367
00:22:26,100 --> 00:22:28,000
Greece. 
Isn't finished with them yet. 

368
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:31,400
May be in the midst of the 
Judgment that this man has a 

369
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,500
actually. 
Maybe there's more to come. 

370
00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,200
Maybe this isn't the end of the 
story. 

371
00:22:37,500 --> 00:22:39,100
Look at verse 22 because of the 
Lord's. 

372
00:22:39,100 --> 00:22:41,300
Great love. 
We are not consumed. 

373
00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:44,700
He said, in spite of the 
Judgment that we've experienced 

374
00:22:44,700 --> 00:22:48,100
actually were still here. 
We haven't been consumed by 

375
00:22:48,100 --> 00:22:50,400
God's judgment in Jerusalem 
isn't final. 

376
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:52,300
Maybe he still has purposes for 
us. 

377
00:22:52,500 --> 00:22:55,200
Maybe there is a way back to 
him. 

378
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,600
As the called, as man is making 
in the middle of this chapter. 

379
00:23:01,500 --> 00:23:04,200
I'm just in passing history, 
proved the speaker right here. 

380
00:23:05,700 --> 00:23:07,500
Even though we see that the 
destruction of Jerusalem is a 

381
00:23:07,500 --> 00:23:11,800
picture of God's final judgment.
It wasn't God's final judgment. 

382
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:15,300
70 years later, a large number 
of the Exile has returned. 

383
00:23:15,300 --> 00:23:17,900
Jerusalem was rebuilt, the 
temple was rebuilt. 

384
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,300
God's people return to the land,
ready for the coming of Jesus a 

385
00:23:22,308 --> 00:23:27,900
few centuries later. 
Actually, the man is reminding 

386
00:23:27,900 --> 00:23:31,500
himself of God's character in 
the midst of the rubble and more

387
00:23:31,500 --> 00:23:33,800
than that. 
He starts speaking to God. 

388
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:39,900
You, look at that in verse 23. 
He says your compassion's. 

389
00:23:39,900 --> 00:23:42,500
Your mercies are new every 
morning and then suddenly he 

390
00:23:42,500 --> 00:23:45,700
addresses God directly for the 
first time. 

391
00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:51,400
Great is your faithfulness. 
He says, He's not just talking 

392
00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:55,200
about God, he starts talking to 
God. 

393
00:23:55,300 --> 00:23:59,800
And that's a necessary step for 
God's people to make as we 

394
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,200
lament over our suffering, and 
our sin. 

395
00:24:03,500 --> 00:24:05,100
It's not enough to talk about 
God. 

396
00:24:05,100 --> 00:24:06,700
All your God is like this. 
He's like that. 

397
00:24:06,700 --> 00:24:10,200
It's not like to think truths 
about God, we need to talk to 

398
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:12,300
him. 
That's what the man does, he 

399
00:24:12,300 --> 00:24:14,300
agree? 
It is, you're fearful as he 

400
00:24:14,308 --> 00:24:22,300
turns it into a prayer. 
Remember chance your friend a 

401
00:24:22,308 --> 00:24:24,500
few years ago. 
But another friend who'd given 

402
00:24:24,500 --> 00:24:29,700
up being a Christian, he'd given
up following Jesus, and never 

403
00:24:29,700 --> 00:24:32,000
forget how my friend described 
him, he was a really bright guy,

404
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,300
this guy. 
And he said, I just think in the

405
00:24:34,300 --> 00:24:38,700
end, he loved ideas about God 
more than he loved God. 

406
00:24:40,700 --> 00:24:43,300
He was very happy talking about 
God. 

407
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:49,300
He was never lie talking to him,
he's never really loving him. 

408
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:54,100
The man who writes Lamentations 
to recess. 

409
00:24:54,700 --> 00:24:58,500
Come on, grit is your favorite. 
We're going to talk to this God 

410
00:24:58,500 --> 00:25:01,100
of compassion and mercy. 
We're going to say thank you. 

411
00:25:01,100 --> 00:25:03,700
We're going to say sorry. 
We're going to say please to 

412
00:25:03,700 --> 00:25:07,900
him. 
And it's not enough to talk 

413
00:25:07,900 --> 00:25:11,600
about God and a third person are
we are we willing to Humble 

414
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,800
ourselves and cry out to him? 
Great is your faithfulness, 

415
00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,300
you're our only hope cling to 
you. 

416
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:25,200
Verse 24. 
I say to myself, the Lord is my 

417
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,900
portion. 
Therefore I will wit for him. 

418
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:35,300
With me to wait on the Lord. 
He's to place your hope in him 

419
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,900
and him alone. 
Again a man could have said that

420
00:25:40,100 --> 00:25:42,300
the Lord is my portion. 
Therefore let's get rebuilding. 

421
00:25:43,300 --> 00:25:44,900
Let's let's Shore up our 
defenses. 

422
00:25:44,900 --> 00:25:48,100
The problems might be back, but 
sitting in the rubble of 

423
00:25:48,100 --> 00:25:50,500
Jerusalem he says actually I'm 
powerless to fix this. 

424
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:55,800
I'm powerless to see if myself 
or God's people and so he puts 

425
00:25:55,800 --> 00:26:00,000
his hope in the Lord, he asked 
God to be at work, he admits 

426
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,200
openly, he cannot save himself, 
and therefore, he puts his hope 

427
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:08,100
in the Lord And that's a big 
part of lament in the Bible. 

428
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,900
It's acknowledging. 
We need God, we can't do 

429
00:26:11,900 --> 00:26:13,500
ourselves. 
We've got beyond the point where

430
00:26:13,500 --> 00:26:18,700
able to fix things ourselves. 
So we cry out to God, help us 

431
00:26:18,700 --> 00:26:27,300
Lord, we wit for him. 
And the hope this man has is 

432
00:26:27,300 --> 00:26:30,300
remarkable because you think 
about verses 1318. 

433
00:26:30,300 --> 00:26:31,700
You think about chapters 1 and 
2. 

434
00:26:31,900 --> 00:26:34,300
How can the Speaker of 
confidence that God's purposes 

435
00:26:34,300 --> 00:26:37,300
for as people are good when God 
actually has punished his 

436
00:26:37,300 --> 00:26:41,200
people? 
So severely Bronze that we come 

437
00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,300
to the middle section of the 
Pullman middle section of the 

438
00:26:43,308 --> 00:26:48,600
whole book, verses 31 to 33, an 
amazing statement of faith about

439
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,100
God. 
He says for no one is cast off 

440
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,700
by the Lord forever, though. 
He brings grief, he will show 

441
00:26:54,700 --> 00:26:57,200
compassion. 
So great is his unfailing love 

442
00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,300
for doesn't willingly bring 
Affliction or grief to anyone. 

443
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,600
An astonishing for a book that 
deals so much with God's 

444
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:08,000
judgment against human evil and 
sin Lamentations. 

445
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,600
Also adamant that God gets no 
pleasure from judging evil and 

446
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,900
sin punishing human beings is 
something God does reluctantly. 

447
00:27:16,100 --> 00:27:19,200
And after numerous warnings 
judgment is not the way God 

448
00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:24,600
wants to relate to humanity. 
And that the speaker, he clings 

449
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,700
on to the character of God, to 
his unfailing commitment, to 

450
00:27:28,700 --> 00:27:33,800
keep his promises and to love 
his people, He cries out to all 

451
00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:35,700
of us got he is a god of 
unfailing love. 

452
00:27:35,700 --> 00:27:38,900
He is always good and all the 
suffering we experience in this 

453
00:27:38,900 --> 00:27:42,200
world has limits and there is a 
purpose behind it. 

454
00:27:43,500 --> 00:27:44,800
Not. 
Now remember the speaker doesn't

455
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,200
claim to know exactly what that 
purpose is at this point. 

456
00:27:48,300 --> 00:27:52,900
But he does choose to wait for 
the Lord and to trust him in the

457
00:27:52,900 --> 00:27:57,400
midst of the rubble. 
He does that. 

458
00:27:58,500 --> 00:28:02,500
He then wants to lead the people
in Repentance and Faith, finally

459
00:28:02,500 --> 00:28:09,700
versus 4266. again, we've seen 
as she wanted, most challenging 

460
00:28:09,700 --> 00:28:14,600
B of this book is, It describes 
the suffering of the guilty, not

461
00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:17,200
the suffering of the innocent of
God's people, rightly being 

462
00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,400
punished for their sin, the 
destruction of Jerusalem in 587 

463
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:22,700
BC. 
It was it was not unjust. 

464
00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,000
Actually at the heart of this as
well, this book has so much to 

465
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,100
tell us about repentance and 
Faith, but what it means to 

466
00:28:31,700 --> 00:28:35,000
acknowledge our sin, to turn 
away from, and to turn to God 

467
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:39,200
for his forgiveness. 
And his restoration, this is a 

468
00:28:39,208 --> 00:28:43,400
book all about, or the New 
Testament calls Godly sorrow. 

469
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:46,600
That's a term. 
We get in 2 Corinthians, 7. 

470
00:28:47,100 --> 00:28:49,400
He had to 10. 
This is the Apostle Paul writing

471
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,000
to the Christians. 
In Corinth, he's writing about a

472
00:28:52,008 --> 00:28:54,200
letter, he wrote to him that 
really convicted them of their 

473
00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,800
sin, that showed them what was 
wrong in their lives. 

474
00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,300
He says, even if I cause you 
Sorrow by a letter, I do not 

475
00:28:59,300 --> 00:29:01,600
regret it. 
Because your sorrow LED you to 

476
00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,800
repentance you became sorrowful 
as God intended. 

477
00:29:04,900 --> 00:29:08,700
And so we're not harmed in any 
way by us, Godly sorrow, brings 

478
00:29:08,700 --> 00:29:12,400
repentance, that leads to 
Salvation and leaves, no regret.

479
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:19,200
Worldly sorrow brings death. 
And we might read Lamentations 

480
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:21,000
and I just think it's just so 
grin. 

481
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,400
It's just so dark and mournful. 
It's just what point, what 

482
00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:28,000
purpose is there here. 
But the purpose for the speaker 

483
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,300
here is Let Us return to the 
Lord. 

484
00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:37,400
Verse 40. 
Let us examine our ways and test

485
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,500
them, and let us return to the 
Lord. 

486
00:29:40,900 --> 00:29:44,000
Let us lift up our hearts and 
our hands to God and Heaven and 

487
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:50,200
say we have sinned on rebelled. 
Actually what the writer is 

488
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,400
trying to show us, his 
repentance is a gift from God. 

489
00:29:55,300 --> 00:29:57,400
I said a little while ago maybe 
that I've always struggled. 

490
00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,800
Repentance always feel so grim 
and so depressing. 

491
00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:01,300
Why would I want to think about 
my sin? 

492
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:03,600
I just want to move on and 
forget about it. 

493
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:08,300
But I see repentance is all 
about telling the truth about 

494
00:30:08,300 --> 00:30:11,200
ourselves. 
Not hiding anymore. 

495
00:30:12,500 --> 00:30:16,500
It's about taking the wit, off 
our shoulders on, just dropping 

496
00:30:16,500 --> 00:30:20,800
it at the foot of the cross. 
It's about letting go of that 

497
00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:26,000
hot cool of our guilt, just 
dropping it saying, Lord, please

498
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,900
take it. 
Please forgive me. 

499
00:30:28,900 --> 00:30:34,000
Please wash me clean. 
That's what the writer here is 

500
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,500
urging God's people to do and it
was his corporate repent. 

501
00:30:37,500 --> 00:30:41,800
This is we us I can so easily 
repentance very much, an 

502
00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,000
individual thing, the leases 
kind of introspection and 

503
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,300
despair odds messed up again and
we just turn more and more into 

504
00:30:47,300 --> 00:30:48,800
our cells. 
But actual repentance is some, 

505
00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,300
we can do together as Christians
in a little minute. 

506
00:30:52,300 --> 00:30:55,000
We're gonna be taking the Lord's
Supper Bread and Wine part of 

507
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,500
what we do with that. 
Is we examine ourselves. 

508
00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:01,000
We say, sorry for our sin. 
We say thank you to Jesus for 

509
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:02,700
his death and Resurrection are 
place. 

510
00:31:02,900 --> 00:31:07,100
It's a corporate thing. 
Depends is just something so 

511
00:31:07,100 --> 00:31:11,700
guilty, you do on your own, we 
do it together as God's people. 

512
00:31:16,100 --> 00:31:20,500
so, back to this chapters, we 
finish again, I think we heard 

513
00:31:20,500 --> 00:31:24,300
when Mark read it. 
I'd love to say that after this 

514
00:31:24,300 --> 00:31:29,000
middle section, the book. 
Everything looks up. but we saw 

515
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:33,000
actually the paean of the Exile 
is still raw and the speaker and

516
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,700
the people he speaks to you are 
still hurting Verse 40 years, he

517
00:31:37,700 --> 00:31:42,300
says streams of Tears flow from 
my eyes because my people are 

518
00:31:42,300 --> 00:31:46,000
destroyed. 
There's no a new to Victory or 

519
00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:47,900
peaceful restoration for God's 
people here. 

520
00:31:47,900 --> 00:31:52,500
They're still hurting on the 
speaker weeps with them. there's

521
00:31:52,500 --> 00:31:56,200
a longing for God, to judge his 
enemies, rid the world of sin 

522
00:31:56,200 --> 00:32:01,400
and suffering once and for all I
didn't that Lamentations 3 is 

523
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:06,700
looking Beyond itself. 
It's looking Beyond itself for 

524
00:32:06,700 --> 00:32:10,400
hope. 
Because I hope isn't here and I 

525
00:32:11,100 --> 00:32:15,100
it's in the future. 
Lamentations 3 alongside the 

526
00:32:15,100 --> 00:32:19,100
rest of the book. 
For to find answers to its 

527
00:32:19,100 --> 00:32:22,300
questions. 
It needs more. 

528
00:32:24,700 --> 00:32:27,000
Because there's a tension at a 
wrestle at the heart of this 

529
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,000
book. 
And it's between two truths 

530
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:34,400
about God. 
He's a God of Justice, who must 

531
00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:39,800
punish human sin and Evil? 
And he's a god of unfeeling love

532
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:45,200
who promises to save a people 
for himself and hugging that 

533
00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:49,400
tension ever be revealed. 
Lamentations doesn't give us an 

534
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:51,800
answer. 
For that. 

535
00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:57,400
We need, Jesus. 
We need to be prepared for Jesus

536
00:32:57,500 --> 00:33:03,000
to enter the scene for Jesus to 
speak to us. 

537
00:33:05,700 --> 00:33:09,100
We began our time asking, who is
the man speaking in Lamentations

538
00:33:09,100 --> 00:33:11,400
3. 
Learned a lot about and he's a 

539
00:33:11,408 --> 00:33:15,100
man who suffered like them. 
Like God's people, a man who 

540
00:33:15,100 --> 00:33:17,000
clings to the God, he keeps his 
promises. 

541
00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:20,700
A man who leads the people in 
Repentance and faith. 

542
00:33:20,900 --> 00:33:22,800
I want to suggest is more. 
This is one of those bits in the

543
00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:24,700
Old Testament. 
That is pointing us. 

544
00:33:25,100 --> 00:33:30,900
So powerfully to Jesus. 
The man who suffered like us 

545
00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:36,100
money, clings to the God, who 
keeps his promises in the midst 

546
00:33:36,100 --> 00:33:38,900
of his suffering and the money 
leads us in Repentance and 

547
00:33:38,900 --> 00:33:43,600
faith. 
In the Risen Jesus, speaking to 

548
00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:46,200
his disciples at the end of 
Luke's gospel, we hear, I'm 

549
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:48,000
beginning with Moses and all the
prophets. 

550
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:51,100
Jesus explained to them what was
said and all the scriptures 

551
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:54,900
concerning himself. 
The every part of the Bible, 

552
00:33:54,900 --> 00:33:58,200
whether old or New Testament is 
written to lead us ultimately to

553
00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:01,300
Jesus as the lit. 
Tim Keller used to say the 

554
00:34:01,300 --> 00:34:05,700
Bible's not about you, it's 
about Jesus and I want to 

555
00:34:05,700 --> 00:34:08,800
suggest we finish this morning 
that Jesus is the true and 

556
00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:12,600
better speaker of Lamentations 
3, the one who alone can speak 

557
00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:16,199
words of Hope to suffering 
sinful people like those in 

558
00:34:16,199 --> 00:34:21,300
Jerusalem. 
Unlike us today Can we read that

559
00:34:21,300 --> 00:34:24,100
this chapter again, with with 
Jesus as your focus and it just 

560
00:34:24,100 --> 00:34:29,000
resonates so much? 
Jesus has suffered like us just 

561
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:30,300
think of how the Bible describes
him. 

562
00:34:30,300 --> 00:34:34,100
A Man of Sorrows familiar with 
suffering, the book of Hebrews 

563
00:34:34,100 --> 00:34:36,900
because he himself suffered when
he was tempted, what he's able 

564
00:34:36,900 --> 00:34:38,800
to help those who are being 
tempted. 

565
00:34:39,900 --> 00:34:43,300
Think if I jesus connect with 
the detail of Lamentations 3, 

566
00:34:43,300 --> 00:34:46,500
like the speaker, he took the 
full force of the rod of the 

567
00:34:46,500 --> 00:34:49,100
Lord's wrath for us and for our 
sin. 

568
00:34:49,699 --> 00:34:52,199
He dwelt in darkness went on the
cross. 

569
00:34:52,199 --> 00:34:55,900
It was three hours of darkness 
in the hottest time of the day. 

570
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:59,600
Like the speaker, here, streams 
of Tears flowed from Jesus eyes.

571
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:03,000
As he wept for his people. 
As he wept over the city of 

572
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,100
Jerusalem. 
As he wept at the tomb of 

573
00:35:05,100 --> 00:35:08,900
Lazarus as he weeps. 
As he sees the damage that sin 

574
00:35:08,900 --> 00:35:10,800
and death has done, One to his 
world. 

575
00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:14,000
He is a man who suffered like us
and therefore is able to speak 

576
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,600
into our experiences of 
suffering. 

577
00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:21,000
He's a man who took that the 
full penalty for sin on himself.

578
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:25,000
Therefore, we can bring our sin 
to him and know that he is the 

579
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:29,100
part of forgive us. 
Jesus, clung. 

580
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:30,900
So the God who keeps his 
promises. 

581
00:35:30,900 --> 00:35:34,500
He trusted his father in the 
darkest of times, if ceremony, 

582
00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:37,700
not my will, but yours be done. 
Lord, on the cross. 

583
00:35:37,700 --> 00:35:39,600
My God. 
My God, why have you forsaken 

584
00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:43,500
me? 
And then father into your hands.

585
00:35:43,900 --> 00:35:48,800
I commit my spirit. 
Jesus clung to the father in 

586
00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,700
suffering and he urges us to do 
the same. 

587
00:35:53,300 --> 00:35:55,900
And now risen from the dead 
Ascend into heaven, as our great

588
00:35:55,900 --> 00:35:59,900
high priest, he leads us in 
Repentance and Faith. 

589
00:35:59,900 --> 00:36:03,900
He prays for us, he intercedes 
for us, he meets with us in our 

590
00:36:03,900 --> 00:36:06,500
weakness and he forgives us our 
sin. 

591
00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:13,100
When we take the Lord's supper 
and a few moments, we're 

592
00:36:13,100 --> 00:36:15,500
remembering Jesus victory over 
our sin. 

593
00:36:16,100 --> 00:36:18,900
That he's taken the full force 
of our punishment on himself. 

594
00:36:19,300 --> 00:36:23,300
I remember Jesus presence with 
us in a suffering world, as we 

595
00:36:23,300 --> 00:36:28,300
wait for him to return. none of 
us walked through this 

596
00:36:28,300 --> 00:36:35,000
suffering, sinful world alone, 
because of Jesus So, how do we 

597
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:36,700
apply lamentation 3, what do we 
make of? 

598
00:36:36,700 --> 00:36:40,800
It was our takeaway from it. 
I'm very simply it's this, that 

599
00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:44,000
Jesus is the one who can speak 
into our suffering, our sin. 

600
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:47,500
So let's listen to him. 
Listen to his words in 

601
00:36:47,500 --> 00:36:52,200
scripture, and then let's go to 
him from mercy and Grace, to 

602
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:56,000
help us in our suffering, and 
our sin. 

603
00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,400
He knows what it's like to 
suffer to grieve in this world, 

604
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:05,300
so go to him. 
We do have to hide our sin from 

605
00:37:05,300 --> 00:37:09,000
him because he's paid the price 
for it. 

606
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:12,500
He's been struck by the rod of 
God's Wrath. 

607
00:37:12,500 --> 00:37:14,300
That's we remember when we took 
Bread and Wine. 

608
00:37:14,700 --> 00:37:18,100
Why did Jesus die? 
She was taking the punishment we

609
00:37:18,100 --> 00:37:21,800
deserve on himself. 
So we don't have to