1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,160 Father God, thank you so much that you love us. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,120 You created us, Lord, You love us so much. 3 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:09,160 You do not abandon us when we have rejected you. 4 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:12,760 But you entered our world in the person of your son, and you 5 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:14,840 rescued us through His death and resurrection. 6 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:16,960 You give us Your Holy Spirit to live in us. 7 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,960 Lord, we are as near to you as it's possible to be. 8 00:00:20,790 --> 00:00:23,310 In other words, thank you that you speak to us words we need to 9 00:00:23,310 --> 00:00:27,030 hear for our and love of you and trusting in you and worship of 10 00:00:27,030 --> 00:00:29,350 you in this world. And we want to trust that this 11 00:00:29,350 --> 00:00:32,549 bit of your word of lamentations is a gift from you as well. 12 00:00:32,549 --> 00:00:34,710 Or help us as we think it through today as we bring this 13 00:00:34,710 --> 00:00:38,110 series to a close and as we have a time of discussing together, 14 00:00:38,750 --> 00:00:40,350 asking questions, sharing reflections. 15 00:00:40,390 --> 00:00:42,670 Or please, would you build us up on our love for you? 16 00:00:43,430 --> 00:00:46,550 And would you give each of us a sense of confidence even as we 17 00:00:46,550 --> 00:00:49,010 leave this place? That that you have, you've 18 00:00:49,010 --> 00:00:53,010 spoken words that we needed to hear and words that are for 19 00:00:53,010 --> 00:00:55,370 argued in Jesus name. We ask it. 20 00:00:55,890 --> 00:01:01,530 Amen. So in the New Testament letter 21 00:01:01,610 --> 00:01:05,650 of to Timothy and the Apostle, Paul is writing to his friend 22 00:01:06,170 --> 00:01:09,890 and fellow church leader Timothy to encourage Timothy as a leader 23 00:01:10,250 --> 00:01:11,370 and a Christian. He writes this. 24 00:01:11,370 --> 00:01:13,890 The words are on the screen from to Timothy 315. 25 00:01:14,490 --> 00:01:18,090 To 17 He writes from infancy. Timothy, you have known the Holy 26 00:01:18,090 --> 00:01:21,770 Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation 27 00:01:21,770 --> 00:01:27,130 through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God breathed 28 00:01:27,450 --> 00:01:30,970 and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and 29 00:01:30,970 --> 00:01:33,970 training and righteousness, so that the servant of God may be 30 00:01:33,970 --> 00:01:37,370 thoroughly equipped for every good work. 31 00:01:38,170 --> 00:01:41,130 That statement, all scripture, is God. 32 00:01:41,130 --> 00:01:42,610 Breathe. It's an astonishing statement, 33 00:01:42,610 --> 00:01:44,780 actually. The all Scripture that that the 34 00:01:44,860 --> 00:01:48,300 the words we have in the Bible. It is the Word of God breathed 35 00:01:48,380 --> 00:01:51,940 out by God. Christians believe that every 36 00:01:51,940 --> 00:01:55,540 one of the 66 books in the Bible written by human authors, but 37 00:01:55,580 --> 00:01:58,700 every one of those authors was inspired by the Holy Spirit. 38 00:01:58,820 --> 00:02:03,060 So they speak not just human words but the Word of God to us. 39 00:02:03,180 --> 00:02:06,100 And more than that, they do that we have the Word of God because 40 00:02:06,100 --> 00:02:10,139 a loving God wants us to be thoroughly equipped for every 41 00:02:10,139 --> 00:02:12,980 good work, to know him and live for him. 42 00:02:13,490 --> 00:02:16,290 In this world, those are our convictions about the Bible, the 43 00:02:16,290 --> 00:02:20,410 word of God as a church at Ave. and the scriptures that Paul 44 00:02:20,410 --> 00:02:23,130 refers to that are actually primarily the Old Testament 45 00:02:23,490 --> 00:02:26,850 scriptures. So the whole Bible, both Old and 46 00:02:26,850 --> 00:02:30,410 New Testament, is able to make us wise for salvation through 47 00:02:30,410 --> 00:02:33,050 faith in Jesus. They're written to lead us to 48 00:02:33,050 --> 00:02:38,010 trust in Jesus and to experience the new life that he alone can 49 00:02:38,010 --> 00:02:40,530 give to us. And I want to say this morning 50 00:02:40,530 --> 00:02:42,610 that that includes this difficult. 51 00:02:43,190 --> 00:02:47,550 Dark Book of Lamentations that we're preparing to finish this 52 00:02:47,550 --> 00:02:51,830 morning. And again, I wonder how have you 53 00:02:51,830 --> 00:02:54,310 find our time in this book and Lamentations? 54 00:02:54,310 --> 00:02:56,710 Dan asked that last week we've been looking at it on Sunday 55 00:02:56,710 --> 00:02:58,790 mornings, looking at our home groups. 56 00:02:58,790 --> 00:03:01,870 Actually, if you're if you're a teenager or 11 plus at Ave. 57 00:03:01,870 --> 00:03:03,350 you've been looking at even more than the rest of us. 58 00:03:03,350 --> 00:03:05,190 You've been doing it in source as well. 59 00:03:05,630 --> 00:03:08,830 It's been a thorough dive into this book and there's no doubt 60 00:03:08,830 --> 00:03:10,510 about it, this is a challenging book. 61 00:03:11,150 --> 00:03:14,430 To read together. It's not a light or uplifting 62 00:03:14,710 --> 00:03:17,710 book. Among other things, it's a book 63 00:03:17,710 --> 00:03:21,270 that looks at God judging sin, and so it shouldn't feel like 64 00:03:21,270 --> 00:03:23,910 fun. I was sent to the other day off 65 00:03:23,910 --> 00:03:25,990 and we choose to do maybe a slightly more difficult bit of 66 00:03:25,990 --> 00:03:28,670 the Bible in January, February. I'm actually really glad we 67 00:03:28,670 --> 00:03:30,790 didn't do that with Lamentations, if the darkness of 68 00:03:30,790 --> 00:03:33,190 winter and lamentation might have felt a bit. 69 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:35,840 Too much. It's an unfamiliar book. 70 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:37,160 So as well. Actually many people who have 71 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:39,640 been Christians many years don't know this book very well, 72 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:44,840 including me, Lamentations. It is dark and it's heavy and 73 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,360 it's emotionally draining to read. 74 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,240 I've been struck by that Every week we've had people read from 75 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:51,240 the book. Dan is going to read in a 76 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,000 moment, but but it's emotionally draining to listen to. 77 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,080 But the main reason we're looking at Lamentations that we 78 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:00,960 do it at 5 weeks to camping out in this bit of the Bible. 79 00:04:01,910 --> 00:04:05,350 Is we believe that we need to listen to God's word, all of it. 80 00:04:06,070 --> 00:04:10,350 If we're to know God, we need the Book of Lamentations. 81 00:04:10,830 --> 00:04:16,390 If we're to know the Lord Jesus and right the beginning of our 82 00:04:16,390 --> 00:04:18,630 time in this book, I suggest there's a big question. 83 00:04:18,950 --> 00:04:33,330 So at the heart of it, which is. 587 BC and Jerusalem has just 84 00:04:33,330 --> 00:04:36,010 been destroyed by the Babylonian Empire. 85 00:04:36,130 --> 00:04:39,290 The temple has been destroyed, the place where God's people met 86 00:04:39,290 --> 00:04:41,210 with God. The King has been carried off 87 00:04:41,210 --> 00:04:44,890 into exile along with most of the people, and only the poorest 88 00:04:44,890 --> 00:04:49,170 people remain in the rubble of the city to work the land. 89 00:04:49,170 --> 00:04:53,010 This book records for us the darkest, bleakest moment in the 90 00:04:53,010 --> 00:04:57,530 history of ancient Israel and what makes the suffering of the 91 00:04:57,530 --> 00:05:01,340 people of Jerusalem even worse. Is as the book unfolds. 92 00:05:01,340 --> 00:05:05,420 We learned that they had brought the destruction of Jerusalem on 93 00:05:05,420 --> 00:05:09,820 themselves, the people who dress on their being judged by God for 94 00:05:09,820 --> 00:05:14,100 their consistent repeated centuries long refusal to trust 95 00:05:14,100 --> 00:05:18,100 him and worship him alone. And because of that, 96 00:05:18,220 --> 00:05:21,340 Lamentations is a dark and painful book for that 97 00:05:21,340 --> 00:05:23,540 generation. It's a dark and painful book for 98 00:05:23,540 --> 00:05:27,770 anyone to read. But I want to suggest that at 99 00:05:27,770 --> 00:05:29,970 the end of this book, the book we're looking at this morning, 100 00:05:29,970 --> 00:05:32,850 Lamentations, Chapter 5, the 5th poem. 101 00:05:33,450 --> 00:05:37,330 In this book we do arrive at an answer to the question the poet 102 00:05:37,330 --> 00:05:41,730 and the people have been asking Where do we turn when our world 103 00:05:41,730 --> 00:05:44,690 falls apart? The answer is we turn to the 104 00:05:44,690 --> 00:05:58,720 living God who is. The message lamentations to that 105 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,080 generation, but I want to suggest it's also vital part of 106 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,240 the message this book to every generation of believers. 107 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,480 Whatever is going on in our lives, however hard or difficult 108 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:14,040 our lives become, the living God is always our greatest need. 109 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,760 Knowing Him, being right with him through faith in Jesus, 110 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:23,520 living with Him as our God and our King is always what we need 111 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:29,630 above all. Including part of Lamentations 112 00:06:30,270 --> 00:06:33,630 today. Now just to sort of recap where 113 00:06:33,630 --> 00:06:35,790 we've been, and as we've seen throughout the series, actually 114 00:06:35,790 --> 00:06:39,470 very clearly Lamentations, it's a book of five distinct poems. 115 00:06:39,470 --> 00:06:41,630 Even without our chapter divisions in the English Bible, 116 00:06:41,750 --> 00:06:43,870 it's really clear in the original Hebrew, there are five 117 00:06:43,870 --> 00:06:46,750 separate poems here. And just to kind of summarize 118 00:06:46,750 --> 00:06:49,470 where we've been to poem one began just with a just 119 00:06:49,550 --> 00:07:03,690 outpouring of grief, see. To punish sin and evil. 120 00:07:04,290 --> 00:07:06,450 Again, it's a really sobering chapter but it's got you saying 121 00:07:06,810 --> 00:07:09,850 God, you promised this and you've kept your promise. 122 00:07:10,730 --> 00:07:13,570 But then then poem #3, there's there's light comes through in 123 00:07:13,570 --> 00:07:16,090 the midst of the rubble. They say let's cling to God's 124 00:07:16,090 --> 00:07:19,770 love and compassion and faithfulness and then last week 125 00:07:19,770 --> 00:07:21,770 poem four that that what it adds really is it. 126 00:07:32,550 --> 00:07:34,430 Wishness of what they've been doing. 127 00:07:35,710 --> 00:07:39,990 And so this morning we come to Poll #5, Lamentations, Chapter 128 00:07:39,990 --> 00:07:42,870 5, and Danny is going to come and read that for us. 129 00:07:42,870 --> 00:07:44,550 Lamentations. Chapter 5. 130 00:07:51,550 --> 00:07:53,750 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us? 131 00:07:54,110 --> 00:07:59,080 Look and see our disgrace. Our inheritance has been turned 132 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:01,880 over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. 133 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,360 We have become fatherless. Our mothers are widows. 134 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:11,240 We must buy the water we drink. Our wood can be had only at a 135 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,480 price. Those who pursue us are at our 136 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:18,360 heels. We are weary and find no rest. 137 00:08:39,049 --> 00:08:42,169 Our skin is as hot as an oven, feverish from hunger. 138 00:08:43,169 --> 00:08:48,010 Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns 139 00:08:48,010 --> 00:08:51,490 of Judah. Princess have been hung up by 140 00:08:51,490 --> 00:08:54,330 their hands. Elders are shown no respect. 141 00:09:04,820 --> 00:09:08,660 Music, joy is gone from our hearts. 142 00:09:09,220 --> 00:09:11,420 Our dancing has turned to mourning. 143 00:09:12,750 --> 00:09:14,590 The crown has fallen from our head. 144 00:09:14,590 --> 00:09:19,630 Woe to us, for we have sinned. Because of this, our hearts are 145 00:09:19,630 --> 00:09:22,430 faint. Because of these things, our 146 00:09:22,430 --> 00:09:27,390 eyes grow dim for Mount Zion, which lies desolate with jackals 147 00:09:27,390 --> 00:09:31,350 prowling over it. You, Lord, rain forever. 148 00:09:32,230 --> 00:09:35,670 Your throne endures from generation to generation. 149 00:09:35,990 --> 00:09:41,670 Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? 150 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,920 Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return. 151 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:52,720 Renew our days as of old, unless you have utterly rejected us and 152 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:54,800 are angry with us beyond measure. 153 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:05,360 Thanks, Danny. Well, hope you can see actually 154 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:08,680 that even in our English translations, Lamentations 5 155 00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:11,350 feels a bit different. To the rest of the book, it's 156 00:10:11,350 --> 00:10:13,870 much shorter than the previous poems. 157 00:10:14,310 --> 00:10:17,870 It's about half the length of chapter 4, about 1/3 of the 158 00:10:17,870 --> 00:10:20,710 length of chapters one to three. There's still 22 lines in it, 159 00:10:20,710 --> 00:10:22,870 but it's no longer an acrostic poem. 160 00:10:23,270 --> 00:10:27,110 That's what that A-Z in Hebrew. So the lines are shorter, more 161 00:10:27,110 --> 00:10:31,190 sort of staccato, and you just get the sense at the end of this 162 00:10:31,190 --> 00:10:34,430 book and maybe the poet is feeling like maybe how some of 163 00:10:34,430 --> 00:10:37,950 us have felt. The poet is just weary and he's 164 00:10:37,950 --> 00:10:39,790 exhausted. He's worn out. 165 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:44,600 By the suffering of his people, the Up tonight he's been 166 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,120 searching for order in the chaos of the Exile. 167 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,160 That's why he's been using this acrostic structure. 168 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:51,960 But by this chapter, it's like he no longer has the mental 169 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,800 strength to do it anymore. He's just exhausted. 170 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:01,320 So what are we meant to do with a passage in Scripture that just 171 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:05,720 seems exhausted? Well, we have to remember that 172 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:07,200 bit of too Timothy we opened with. 173 00:11:08,090 --> 00:11:11,450 This is God, breathed the Holy. Spirit is. 174 00:11:11,450 --> 00:11:14,530 Guiding the poet here. The Holy Spirit has. 175 00:11:14,530 --> 00:11:20,370 Breathed out this weary, exhausted song, and I think 176 00:11:20,370 --> 00:11:22,010 there's good news for God's people here. 177 00:11:23,370 --> 00:11:27,250 See, we see here that we trust in a God who enters into the 178 00:11:27,250 --> 00:11:32,250 sorrow and sadness and weariness of the poet's experience, and he 179 00:11:32,250 --> 00:11:35,250 gives him the words to express those feelings. 180 00:11:36,390 --> 00:11:40,630 We trust in a God who is full of compassion, and this section of 181 00:11:40,630 --> 00:11:45,030 his word shows us just how deeply He gets us and empathizes 182 00:11:45,030 --> 00:11:49,350 with us when we are weary and exhausted and weeping. 183 00:11:51,990 --> 00:11:54,030 The other big difference to notice about Lamentations 184 00:11:54,030 --> 00:11:59,430 chapter 5 is this is a prayer. Now there have been short 185 00:11:59,430 --> 00:12:00,990 outbursts of prayer earlier in the book. 186 00:12:01,670 --> 00:12:04,270 In chapters one and two, Daughter Zion praise. 187 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:07,080 In chapter 3 the. Speaker leads the people. 188 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:09,400 In prayer. But up to this point, prayers 189 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:13,560 and lamentations have been brief, desperate and mainly 190 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:17,640 complaints to God. But here the poet leads the 191 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:19,000 people. In a sustained. 192 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:26,000 Act of prayer to finish the book and notice this is a communal 193 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:30,540 prayer, a corporate prayer. So just look at all the 194 00:12:30,540 --> 00:12:32,420 corporate language US. Are. 195 00:12:32,420 --> 00:12:36,060 We and so on, see the writer speaking for the whole community 196 00:12:36,060 --> 00:12:39,020 here. The whole people of God are 197 00:12:39,020 --> 00:12:42,940 crying out to God here they're turning to God and repentance 198 00:12:42,940 --> 00:12:46,380 and faith, and they're doing it together. 199 00:12:48,500 --> 00:12:52,420 And why is that significant? Well, I think this chapter is a 200 00:12:52,420 --> 00:12:56,620 powerful picture of God's people suffering together. 201 00:12:57,490 --> 00:13:02,090 Experiencing loss together and praying together. 202 00:13:04,490 --> 00:13:07,330 Someone wants to put it to me like this when people in the 203 00:13:07,330 --> 00:13:10,050 Bible. Weep they weep. 204 00:13:10,050 --> 00:13:14,010 With their friends, they weep with one another. 205 00:13:15,970 --> 00:13:17,930 And why does corporate? Prayer matter so much. 206 00:13:18,090 --> 00:13:21,090 Well, because in the New Testament Romans 12 verse 15, we 207 00:13:21,090 --> 00:13:23,450 are called to weep with those who. 208 00:13:23,450 --> 00:13:26,080 Weep. As well as rejoice with those 209 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:30,600 who rejoice, we're called to lament together as God's people, 210 00:13:31,560 --> 00:13:33,000 because as we do. That. 211 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,560 That we take suffering seriously together. 212 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:41,040 We learn compassion as we suffer together. 213 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:44,560 And we help one. Another turn to God when we 214 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:47,320 might not feel we have the strength or even the desire to 215 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:52,640 do so on our own. See as a church family at Ave. 216 00:13:53,350 --> 00:13:57,390 We're not meant to suffer alone, in silence, isolated from each 217 00:13:57,390 --> 00:13:59,910 other. Yes, we need to pray 218 00:13:59,910 --> 00:14:03,590 individually, just me and God alone, But we also. 219 00:14:03,590 --> 00:14:07,190 Need to pray corporately in our home groups at A. 220 00:14:07,190 --> 00:14:09,950 Family meeting after a church service during the week. 221 00:14:11,150 --> 00:14:13,910 See in Lamentations 5. God's people are praying 222 00:14:13,910 --> 00:14:17,190 together. They're suffering alongside each 223 00:14:17,190 --> 00:14:20,230 other. They're turning to God together. 224 00:14:21,250 --> 00:14:24,450 It's a powerful picture of corporate prayer, and I think 225 00:14:24,450 --> 00:14:28,010 it's here in God's word to encourage us to do the same, to 226 00:14:28,010 --> 00:14:35,210 grow as a church family that prays together now at the heart 227 00:14:35,210 --> 00:14:37,330 of this. Communal prayer is verses 2. 228 00:14:37,810 --> 00:14:42,130 To 18 So as the poet prepares to end his book, he gives us one 229 00:14:42,130 --> 00:14:46,050 more time as verse one puts it, a record of the people's 230 00:14:46,050 --> 00:14:50,730 disgrace, the story of the survivors in Jerusalem. 231 00:14:51,950 --> 00:14:54,830 And it acts as a recap of all that the book has been telling 232 00:14:54,830 --> 00:14:56,910 us so far. And the picture it paints for us 233 00:14:56,910 --> 00:15:02,150 leaves us in no doubt. Without God, his people are 234 00:15:02,270 --> 00:15:07,070 lost. Without God, his people are 235 00:15:07,070 --> 00:15:09,230 lost. That's versus 2 to 18. 236 00:15:10,550 --> 00:15:12,470 See, this is a prayer. All about the. 237 00:15:12,470 --> 00:15:16,710 Experience of loss after the destruction of Jerusalem in 238 00:15:16,710 --> 00:15:20,160 587BC. And it quickly becomes clear, if 239 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:21,680 it hasn't been clear already in the book. 240 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:24,920 The people of Jerusalem have lost everything. 241 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:27,920 Just a few examples from this chapter. 242 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:31,480 Verses 2 to 3, the people of Jerusalem have lost their homes 243 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,000 and families. Let me read verses two to three 244 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,880 again. Our inheritance has been turned 245 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:41,520 over to strangers, our homes to foreigners we have become. 246 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:46,320 Fatherless. Our mothers are widows, families 247 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:48,280 have been cut off. There's there's little hope for 248 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,110 the future. Or verse 7, they've lost their 249 00:15:51,110 --> 00:15:53,310 freedom. Again. 250 00:15:53,310 --> 00:15:55,950 Remember, in the Old Testament, the Israelites always look back 251 00:15:56,230 --> 00:15:57,990 to their origin story. How God? 252 00:15:57,990 --> 00:16:01,150 Formed them as a people to the time when they were slaves in 253 00:16:01,150 --> 00:16:03,430 Egypt, and the Lord set them free from. 254 00:16:03,430 --> 00:16:06,110 Slavery through Moses. And give them a land of their 255 00:16:06,110 --> 00:16:09,990 own, a city of their own Jerusalem, but now because of 256 00:16:09,990 --> 00:16:12,230 their turning away from God. Verse 7. 257 00:16:12,510 --> 00:16:16,150 Slaves rule over. Us and there is. 258 00:16:16,150 --> 00:16:18,710 No one to. Free us from their hands. 259 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:24,040 And verses 11 to 14. The people of Jerusalem, they've 260 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:27,600 lost their dignity. Just look at those painful 261 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,840 verses 11 to 14 again. Women have been violated in 262 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,200 Zion. They're not safe in Jerusalem 263 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:38,640 anymore. Princes and old men are put to 264 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:41,320 work. Elders are shown no respect. 265 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:44,040 Young men are treated like slaves. 266 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:49,000 It's a picture of oppression and humiliation at the hands of an 267 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,720 occupying force, at the hands of the Babylonians. 268 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:58,000 And the result of all this? They've lost their joy. 1st 15 269 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:03,280 Joy is gone from our hearts. Our dancing has turned to 270 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:08,160 mourning. And we're just exhausted as the 271 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:12,560 poet is exhausted, as he lists all these things that they have 272 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,950 lost. But it's at this point in the 273 00:17:15,950 --> 00:17:19,750 poem and the book as a whole, that they come to the clearest 274 00:17:19,750 --> 00:17:22,349 expression of repentance and fear. 275 00:17:22,869 --> 00:17:25,670 In the book of Lamentations versus 16 to 18. 276 00:17:25,670 --> 00:17:31,230 Let me read that for us, or 16 wool to us, for we have sinned. 277 00:17:32,150 --> 00:17:33,950 Because of this, our hearts are fint. 278 00:17:34,150 --> 00:17:37,190 Because of these things, our eyes grow dim from Mount Zion, 279 00:17:37,310 --> 00:17:40,630 which lies desolate with jackals prawling over it. 280 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,080 It's if at this point in the book, all the people can do is 281 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:51,240 just collapse onto God, admit just how much they need him to 282 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,800 intervene to save them, I just cry out to God to do that. 283 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,520 And with these words, I think the poet is describing for us 284 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:04,080 what repentance and faith looks like. 285 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:08,160 Then a couple years ago I came across this definition. 286 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:10,840 Of repentance and faith I just find so helpful. 287 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:14,240 Repentance and faith basically means that we collapse on Jesus. 288 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:18,440 We acknowledge our need and we receive His grace. 289 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:22,320 Repentance basically means I I know I can't do it on my own. 290 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:27,320 I know I can't see it myself. I believe that when the gospel 291 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:29,720 says that night, and maybe I maybe I didn't used to believe 292 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:33,600 it, but now I do believe it. That's what the people of 293 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,560 Jerusalem are doing here. They're collapsing on God. 294 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:38,040 They know they can't go on like this. 295 00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:41,400 They're admitting their need. They know they cannot save 296 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:43,680 themselves and they cry it to God to save them because they 297 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:46,760 realize only God can't and Idol can't do that. 298 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:49,040 People can't do that. Things can't do that. 299 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:53,160 Lamentations 5. It's a powerful prayer of 300 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:57,640 repentance and faith of turning to the living God who is our 301 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:04,690 greatest need and our only hope. And with that at its heart there 302 00:19:04,930 --> 00:19:07,690 there's three prayers that the writer makes here we'll look up 303 00:19:07,690 --> 00:19:11,370 briefly 3 prayers in this book. Remember Lord verse one. 304 00:19:12,410 --> 00:19:15,250 You Lord reign forever. Verse 19 and restore us to 305 00:19:15,250 --> 00:19:17,410 yourself. Lord verse 21. 306 00:19:19,050 --> 00:19:24,490 First of all remember Lords and there's there's this tension in 307 00:19:24,490 --> 00:19:26,970 Lamentations 5. As there is to write the book. 308 00:19:27,090 --> 00:19:29,690 They call on God to remember all that has happened to them. 309 00:19:29,690 --> 00:19:32,690 Verse one, because it feels to them. 310 00:19:33,340 --> 00:19:37,700 Like God's forgotten them verse 21 and look again at verse 21 311 00:19:37,700 --> 00:19:38,940 for a moment. They just cry. 312 00:19:38,940 --> 00:19:43,900 Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? 313 00:19:45,540 --> 00:19:47,340 And what it feels like the people of Jerusalem is that 314 00:19:47,340 --> 00:19:50,180 God's forgotten them, their sufferings hidden from God. 315 00:19:50,180 --> 00:19:53,300 He doesn't care about it. And that's a feeling expressed 316 00:19:53,300 --> 00:19:58,990 in lots of biblical laments. But actually, even though it 317 00:19:58,990 --> 00:20:01,630 feels like that in verse 21, actually the existence of the 318 00:20:01,630 --> 00:20:03,550 Book of Lamentation shows that's not true. 319 00:20:04,990 --> 00:20:06,350 We said regularly for the series. 320 00:20:06,350 --> 00:20:10,590 The Book of Lamentations is a memorial, and at the living God 321 00:20:10,590 --> 00:20:13,190 shows His people. He has seen the suffering of his 322 00:20:13,190 --> 00:20:17,350 people in 587-B, C He sees their disgrace, their loss, and he 323 00:20:17,350 --> 00:20:20,830 remembers it. He records it for future 324 00:20:20,830 --> 00:20:24,270 generations in his word, including this generation today. 325 00:20:24,270 --> 00:20:28,710 We are looking at this morning. The Lord did remember all that 326 00:20:28,710 --> 00:20:31,310 happened to Jerusalem. He recorded their suffering in 327 00:20:31,310 --> 00:20:33,950 His word and He lamented with them. 328 00:20:35,630 --> 00:20:43,630 It's an amazing moment. Remember, Lord, I'm 56. 329 00:20:43,630 --> 00:20:47,870 Verse 8 puts it like this. Record my misery. 330 00:20:48,590 --> 00:20:52,750 List my tears on your scroll. Are they not in your record? 331 00:20:55,550 --> 00:21:01,710 Lamentations is the record of the tears of God's people right 332 00:21:01,710 --> 00:21:06,790 there in his word. God has shown himself to be a 333 00:21:06,790 --> 00:21:11,750 God who knows and understands the sorrows of his people, even 334 00:21:12,190 --> 00:21:15,190 his sinful people. Yeah, we might get it if it's 335 00:21:15,190 --> 00:21:16,750 someone like Job. If you know the book of Job in 336 00:21:16,750 --> 00:21:18,110 the Old Testament, he's a righteous man. 337 00:21:18,110 --> 00:21:19,990 The suffering coming on him, He doesn't deserve it. 338 00:21:19,990 --> 00:21:22,230 We get, Oh yeah, I get why God might might listen to him. 339 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:26,560 Actually, even this generation of God's people who deserved it, 340 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:31,480 God knows and understands their sorrows. 341 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:38,720 He takes them seriously. But also actually that that 342 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:43,440 request to remember, that's actually quite a key prayer in 343 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:45,710 the Old Testament. Because. 344 00:21:45,750 --> 00:21:49,190 Because when God's people ask God to remember they're actually 345 00:21:49,190 --> 00:21:52,430 what they're doing is they're asking God to act according to 346 00:21:52,430 --> 00:21:57,190 his love and promises. So when God remembers something 347 00:21:57,190 --> 00:21:59,190 in the Old Testament, it's not as if he suddenly forgot it and 348 00:21:59,190 --> 00:22:01,870 it comes back to his mind. The what it means is he's about 349 00:22:01,870 --> 00:22:07,310 to act on behalf of his people. Are some examples here Genesis 8 350 00:22:07,310 --> 00:22:10,150 verse one when Noah and his family are in the ark after the 351 00:22:10,150 --> 00:22:14,510 flood, God remembered Noah and the livestock that were with him 352 00:22:14,510 --> 00:22:16,950 in the ark. I love that God even cares about 353 00:22:16,950 --> 00:22:19,910 the livestock. It's it's it's crazy and he 354 00:22:19,910 --> 00:22:23,430 acted to save them. Or Exodus 224 when the people of 355 00:22:23,430 --> 00:22:27,390 Israel are suffering as slaves in Egypt, God remembered his 356 00:22:27,390 --> 00:22:30,830 covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and then he called on 357 00:22:30,830 --> 00:22:35,140 Moses to rescue them. So this prayer to remember, it's 358 00:22:35,140 --> 00:22:38,100 a call for God to act, to save his people. 359 00:22:38,180 --> 00:22:41,740 It's a cry of faith. It's daring to hope that God can 360 00:22:41,740 --> 00:22:46,220 still step in and save them even at this dark moment. 361 00:22:46,220 --> 00:22:51,860 And then after they list all the things they have lost before 362 00:22:51,860 --> 00:22:53,500 God, they come to the end of this poem. 363 00:22:53,940 --> 00:22:56,260 Then they remind themselves just who it is. 364 00:22:56,540 --> 00:23:00,980 They're crying out to just who the living God really is. 365 00:23:00,980 --> 00:23:05,580 They say you, Lord. Reign forever, you're thrown 366 00:23:05,580 --> 00:23:10,460 endures from generation to generation again. 367 00:23:10,460 --> 00:23:13,420 No matter how lost we are, no matter how powerless we are, the 368 00:23:13,420 --> 00:23:16,220 people of Jerusalem are saying the God we're crying to He's the 369 00:23:16,220 --> 00:23:22,380 eternal king over all creation. It's an amazing moment that the 370 00:23:22,380 --> 00:23:27,700 people of God are choosing to trust in God's sovereignty, even 371 00:23:27,700 --> 00:23:31,100 over their pain, even when it feels like God's enemies of 1. 372 00:23:31,870 --> 00:23:33,830 The Babylonians think, well, well, we're clearly stronger 373 00:23:33,830 --> 00:23:35,950 than the God of Israel because we've just conquered Jerusalem 374 00:23:35,950 --> 00:23:40,710 and that's what it feels like. But they say no, you Lord rain 375 00:23:40,910 --> 00:23:45,430 forever. And they say that as this cry of 376 00:23:45,430 --> 00:23:49,030 faith, even when God feels distant from them. 377 00:23:49,030 --> 00:23:55,230 And there are lots of reasons why Lamentations is a painful 378 00:23:55,230 --> 00:23:58,190 book to read. The detail is is harrowing, but 379 00:23:58,190 --> 00:24:01,550 I want to say it's one of the most painful parts of the book. 380 00:24:02,930 --> 00:24:07,610 Is the silence of God. Actually, when you read over the 381 00:24:07,610 --> 00:24:10,410 book, God is silent. You write the book. 382 00:24:10,890 --> 00:24:12,330 He doesn't speak directly anywhere. 383 00:24:13,650 --> 00:24:15,130 There's one point in chapter three. 384 00:24:15,810 --> 00:24:19,210 Look at chapter 3, verse 57. The poet remembers words God has 385 00:24:19,210 --> 00:24:22,770 spoken to him in the past when God said to him, do not fear 386 00:24:22,770 --> 00:24:26,290 that that wonderful promise command. 387 00:24:27,730 --> 00:24:30,530 But apart from that one moment, God is silent. 388 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,920 Who wrote the book? I'm going to say the people of 389 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:38,240 Jerusalem in 587BC. They're not the only generation 390 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,240 of believers who've experienced the silence of God. 391 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,720 Many Christians have experienced that over the centuries. 392 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:49,720 Even up to today, in the midst of suffering just feels like God 393 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:56,800 is silent. And yet, verse 19. 394 00:24:58,700 --> 00:25:03,420 Literally, it begins with with. But you, Lord rain forever. 395 00:25:04,100 --> 00:25:07,780 They still cry out to God. They still dare to hope that God 396 00:25:07,780 --> 00:25:10,140 is still in control. God is still good. 397 00:25:10,140 --> 00:25:13,740 And even through this darkest moment, God is working for their 398 00:25:14,020 --> 00:25:16,540 good. And they do that not because 399 00:25:16,540 --> 00:25:18,060 it's wishful thinking. They do that because they know 400 00:25:18,060 --> 00:25:21,910 the character of the King. The character of the God. 401 00:25:22,110 --> 00:25:23,910 They trust him. Think back to the that the 402 00:25:23,910 --> 00:25:26,310 center point of the whole book, that the center point of chapter 403 00:25:26,310 --> 00:25:29,750 3, and indeed the whole of it, versus 31 to 33. 404 00:25:29,950 --> 00:25:33,030 For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. 405 00:25:33,670 --> 00:25:36,070 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion. 406 00:25:36,190 --> 00:25:40,270 So great is his unfailing love, for he doesn't willingly bring 407 00:25:40,270 --> 00:25:46,230 affliction or grief to anyone. They hold on to his character. 408 00:25:47,150 --> 00:25:49,310 They say, God, we know this isn't the sum total of who you 409 00:25:49,310 --> 00:25:53,230 are. They ask Him to remember them 410 00:25:53,230 --> 00:25:55,310 and to act. It's a cry of faith. 411 00:25:55,910 --> 00:26:00,390 They turn to the living God, and they dare to hope in him even 412 00:26:00,390 --> 00:26:03,150 when it hurts, even when things feel so uncertain. 413 00:26:04,990 --> 00:26:09,270 And in the final prayer in this section, they ask God to restore 414 00:26:09,670 --> 00:26:13,470 them. Restore us to yourself, Lord. 415 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:17,680 And this is the longest lament anywhere in the Bible. 416 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:20,160 There are psalms of lament. Lamentations is the longest. 417 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,160 But it ends with a prayer for restoration. 418 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:29,040 Restore us Lord that brings with the idea of return. 419 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,160 Turn back and it's repentance again. 420 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:35,640 They're asking God to help them repent and come back to him. 421 00:26:37,360 --> 00:26:39,440 I want to see that actually they could have played a really 422 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:43,200 different prayer here. Verse 21 could have read Restore 423 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,910 our City, Lord. Restore Jerusalem. 424 00:26:47,070 --> 00:26:50,030 Restore things to what they used to be, Lords. 425 00:26:50,990 --> 00:26:56,950 Take the pen away, Lords, But instead they say this. 426 00:26:57,190 --> 00:27:02,070 Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return. 427 00:27:04,110 --> 00:27:05,710 What they see in the midst of everything is that their 428 00:27:05,710 --> 00:27:12,340 greatest need is God himself. Their greatest need is to be 429 00:27:12,340 --> 00:27:17,220 right with God, to be restored with God, to know God and live 430 00:27:17,220 --> 00:27:20,700 with him as their God. And only then their days will be 431 00:27:20,700 --> 00:27:22,820 renewed. Only them will their hearts be 432 00:27:22,820 --> 00:27:24,260 renewed. Actually, what they need more, 433 00:27:24,260 --> 00:27:27,140 they don't just need the removal of their pain and an amazing 434 00:27:27,140 --> 00:27:28,260 way. They don't even just need the 435 00:27:28,260 --> 00:27:31,020 removal of their sin. They need the living God. 436 00:27:31,940 --> 00:27:35,300 They need him. He is the only one who can meet 437 00:27:35,580 --> 00:27:38,020 their needs. He alone can save them and 438 00:27:38,020 --> 00:27:44,780 transform them and satisfy them. Out of this rubble, why do God's 439 00:27:44,780 --> 00:27:46,500 people turn when their world falls apart? 440 00:27:46,940 --> 00:27:50,620 The people in Lamentations, they turn to the living God as He is 441 00:27:50,620 --> 00:27:57,420 their greatest need. It's a prayer for restoration. 442 00:27:59,220 --> 00:28:02,340 They're asking God to act in accordance with His love and 443 00:28:02,340 --> 00:28:05,980 promises. Remember, Lord, that they're 444 00:28:05,980 --> 00:28:09,980 trusting in God's sovereignty. You, Lord, reign forever. 445 00:28:11,310 --> 00:28:14,150 They're asking God to rescue them from their lostness. 446 00:28:14,390 --> 00:28:23,430 Restore us to yourself, Lord. It's a prayer of hope, but 447 00:28:23,430 --> 00:28:26,070 actually hope. You can see the very last verse 448 00:28:26,070 --> 00:28:27,910 of Lamentations. It's also a prayer marked by 449 00:28:27,910 --> 00:28:31,550 massive uncertainty for the verse 22. 450 00:28:33,350 --> 00:28:35,670 Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return. 451 00:28:35,670 --> 00:28:40,210 Renew our days as of old. Unless you have utterly rejected 452 00:28:40,210 --> 00:28:47,890 us and are angry with us beyond measure, it's not a happy 453 00:28:47,890 --> 00:28:52,250 ending. The book ends with questions 454 00:28:52,250 --> 00:28:57,090 still lingering for the poet and the people because the original 455 00:28:57,090 --> 00:28:59,410 audience lamentations the people of Jerusalem in exile. 456 00:28:59,410 --> 00:29:03,810 They are living their lives in the middle of the story and they 457 00:29:03,810 --> 00:29:05,170 don't know how the story is going to end. 458 00:29:07,110 --> 00:29:08,590 Will the excel ever come to an end? 459 00:29:08,590 --> 00:29:11,190 They ask themselves. Will God ever allow us to come 460 00:29:11,270 --> 00:29:13,790 home, our God's promises for his people over? 461 00:29:13,790 --> 00:29:18,510 Or is there more to come? I don't know. 462 00:29:19,590 --> 00:29:23,510 So it ends here in uncertainty and questions. 463 00:29:26,550 --> 00:29:31,430 But by contrast, we know that Jerusalem's story wasn't over at 464 00:29:31,430 --> 00:29:35,280 this point. 70 years after the destruction of Jerusalem, the 465 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:39,400 people came home from exile. The city walls and the temple 466 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:42,800 were rebuilt, the worship of the Lord in Jerusalem was resumed, 467 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,360 and the story of Jerusalem was not yet over as the people 468 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,280 feared. Here all we need to ask is what? 469 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,280 Why is Jerusalem so central to God's purpose and salvation at 470 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,240 this point? Well, the answer is because 471 00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:59,880 Jerusalem was the city where nearly 500 years later. 472 00:30:00,500 --> 00:30:03,660 Jesus, the Son of God would be glorified. 473 00:30:04,900 --> 00:30:09,580 Jerusalem is restored to the Son of God outside the walls of that 474 00:30:09,580 --> 00:30:13,500 city could give his life as a ransom for many. 475 00:30:14,220 --> 00:30:17,180 So the Son of God could take the punishment that our sin 476 00:30:17,180 --> 00:30:20,460 deserves, the punishment foreshadowed in Lamentations and 477 00:30:20,460 --> 00:30:23,580 defeat, sin and death, and the devil once and for all. 478 00:30:23,740 --> 00:30:27,420 He'd save a people for himself and reconcile us to the God. 479 00:30:27,420 --> 00:30:32,230 He is our greatest need. Jerusalem is the city where 480 00:30:32,230 --> 00:30:34,750 Jesus lived and died and rose again. 481 00:30:36,710 --> 00:30:38,750 And so we read the end. Lamentations, we can say 482 00:30:38,750 --> 00:30:41,150 actually no poet, he's not finished with you yet. 483 00:30:41,870 --> 00:30:48,190 There is more to come. But even though we maybe don't 484 00:30:48,190 --> 00:30:51,910 get the force of that question because we live later than the 485 00:30:51,910 --> 00:30:53,790 people in Jerusalem, I think there's still a truth that 486 00:30:53,790 --> 00:30:57,150 applies to us from this ending, the Lamentations. 487 00:30:59,470 --> 00:31:03,270 Because we each live our lives in the middle of the story. 488 00:31:04,630 --> 00:31:06,870 We live our lives between the comings of Jesus. 489 00:31:07,950 --> 00:31:10,470 We live our lives now gloriously, wonderfully after 490 00:31:10,470 --> 00:31:14,190 Jesus came in the 1st place to die and rise again for us. 491 00:31:14,430 --> 00:31:17,070 And the Bible tells us certainty, Jesus is coming back 492 00:31:17,270 --> 00:31:21,870 to restore a new creation, free from sin and death and suffering 493 00:31:21,870 --> 00:31:24,790 and pain. But the Christian life today is 494 00:31:24,790 --> 00:31:28,930 lived between those two comings. We're in the middle of the 495 00:31:28,930 --> 00:31:32,330 story. We're not at our happy ending, 496 00:31:32,890 --> 00:31:37,970 yet we live in a fallen world, a cursed world where we experience 497 00:31:37,970 --> 00:31:42,490 questions and struggles. We live by fifth, not by sight. 498 00:31:44,410 --> 00:31:47,970 We don't yet experience the fullness of Jesus, victory over 499 00:31:47,970 --> 00:31:50,290 sin and death. And we see that all around us 500 00:31:50,290 --> 00:31:55,290 see it when we suffer and sin. When the people around us suffer 501 00:31:55,290 --> 00:31:56,770 and sin. We see loved ones. 502 00:31:57,570 --> 00:32:01,610 Suffer and die. We ourselves suffer and die. 503 00:32:03,450 --> 00:32:05,850 How do we live for Jesus and keep trusting in Him in the 504 00:32:05,850 --> 00:32:10,490 middle of the story? Well, I think actually here's 505 00:32:10,530 --> 00:32:14,210 where the ending of Lamentations is such a gift to us from a 506 00:32:14,210 --> 00:32:19,770 loving God as we turn to the living God in the middle of the 507 00:32:19,770 --> 00:32:23,570 story with our questions and our struggles, and we bring our 508 00:32:23,570 --> 00:32:26,370 sins, our sufferings, everything to Him. 509 00:32:27,750 --> 00:32:31,030 And we remember who he is. We remember he is sovereign. 510 00:32:31,150 --> 00:32:35,150 And we asked him to restore us to himself day by day by day. 511 00:32:35,150 --> 00:32:36,630 Why? Because just like the people in 512 00:32:36,630 --> 00:32:40,270 Lamentations, our greatest need is the Living God. 513 00:32:42,110 --> 00:32:43,910 And who is living God in Lamentations? 514 00:32:44,630 --> 00:32:46,070 Well, hope we've seen it if you've been here the last few 515 00:32:46,070 --> 00:32:49,870 weeks, Living God. He is the God who sees and 516 00:32:49,870 --> 00:32:54,510 understands our suffering. It's it's such detail in this 517 00:32:54,510 --> 00:32:56,590 book. He doesn't want to forget it. 518 00:32:56,590 --> 00:33:01,550 He doesn't want us to forget it. He's a God who punishes evil. 519 00:33:01,670 --> 00:33:04,950 He's a God of justice. God cares more about justice 520 00:33:04,950 --> 00:33:09,910 than any of us do, and that is good news in this unjust world. 521 00:33:11,550 --> 00:33:13,750 And he's a God. He doesn't give up on his people 522 00:33:13,750 --> 00:33:19,430 or his promises, even when his people prove so faithless. 523 00:33:21,150 --> 00:33:26,330 This is the God we can turn to. When our world falls apart, this 524 00:33:26,330 --> 00:33:30,610 is all we can turn to at any point through faith in Jesus. 525 00:33:33,290 --> 00:33:36,890 That is part of the message that the gift of lamentations to us. 526 00:33:41,610 --> 00:33:44,090 I don't know how many people have noticed the title we give 527 00:33:44,090 --> 00:33:48,810 to this series. Blessed are those who mourn. 528 00:33:51,140 --> 00:33:53,420 Those are the words of Jesus. You may be may sound familiar. 529 00:33:53,420 --> 00:33:55,980 He spoke them to his disciples. They're recorded for us in 530 00:33:55,980 --> 00:33:58,740 Matthew chapter 5, verse four. It's the part of the sermon on 531 00:33:58,740 --> 00:34:01,940 the mind, as it's called. And the full saying, saying is 532 00:34:01,940 --> 00:34:04,700 this. Blessed are those who mourn, for 533 00:34:04,700 --> 00:34:10,060 they will be comforted. And it's a weird blessing. 534 00:34:10,060 --> 00:34:12,219 It's just there's no other way to say it's a strange blessing. 535 00:34:12,219 --> 00:34:15,980 High is mourning ever a blessing a good thing? 536 00:34:16,620 --> 00:34:19,739 Surely it's a bad thing. Who would ever want to mourn? 537 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:24,239 But I hope our time in the book of Lamentations helps us 538 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:27,120 understand these words of Jesus a little bit more. 539 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,040 Why do followers of Jesus mourn in this world? 540 00:34:31,159 --> 00:34:34,639 Because we know there is something wrong, terribly wrong 541 00:34:34,639 --> 00:34:38,719 in this world, and there's something wrong in our hearts. 542 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:43,000 And we long for Jesus to put things right. 543 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,840 We mourn because we don't believe that the solutions our 544 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:49,600 world gives us actually will satisfy. 545 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:53,639 We grieve and mourn over the consequences of sin and death 546 00:34:53,639 --> 00:34:56,120 because we should. It's not how it should be. 547 00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:00,280 And then we cry out. Lord your Kingdom come. 548 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:04,600 We long for God's Kingdom to come in all its fullness when 549 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:09,560 Jesus comes again. And so we turn to Him and we 550 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:15,280 collapse on him and we admit our need and we receive by faith the 551 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:22,600 grace He has won for us. Blessed are those who mourn, for 552 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:27,720 they will be comforted. Who's going to comfort us? 553 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,040 Living God. The living God who the people of 554 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:37,320 Lamentations cry out to is our greatest need, our only hope, 555 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:39,840 and the God who has come near to us. 556 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:52,780 In Jesus, let me pray. Father God, we ask that in Your 557 00:35:52,780 --> 00:35:55,820 mercy, by Your grace and by the work of Your Holy Spirit, you 558 00:35:55,820 --> 00:35:59,620 would help each one of us here today to hear what you want to 559 00:35:59,620 --> 00:36:01,580 say to us through this bit of lamentations. 560 00:36:03,260 --> 00:36:05,820 And Father, as we take some time now to reflect on this whole 561 00:36:05,820 --> 00:36:08,940 message of this book, lead us to yourself. 562 00:36:10,140 --> 00:36:14,460 Help us to be honest And Lord, please help us to hear Your 563 00:36:14,460 --> 00:36:17,580 voice. In your word breathed out by you 564 00:36:18,380 --> 00:36:23,580 for our good and for your glory, in Jesus name we ask you Amen.