Year 2, Week 17, Day 3 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 17, Day 3

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Lamentations 3-5.

Today’s reading completes the Book of Lamentations. Each chapter of the Book of Lamentations is  a response to the fall of Jerusalem, which occurred around 586 BC. Four of the five chapters are twenty-two verses a piece (chapters 1,2,4, and 5), and of these four, three use an acrostic format (chapters 1,2, and 4) in which each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Jeremiah 5 is sixty-six verses long and also uses an acrostic format, however, three verses are used for each successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each chapter from the Book of Lamentation expresses the elements of a lament, that is, a verbalization of sorrow, confession of sin, and/or a prayer to the LORD. Lamentation 3 describes the calamity from the point of view of the grieving Jew: “I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long” (Lamentation 3:1-3). Lamentations 4 describes the defilement of Jerusalem: “The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished; he will keep you in exile no longer; but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish; he will uncover your sins” (Lamentation 3:22). Lamentations 5 is a prayer from the people: “Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace!…Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us” (Lamentation 5:1,21-22).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading is the abrupt change of perception that Jeremiah (presumably) expressed in the midst of his deep lament: “Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope” (Lamentations 3:19-21). The declared recovery of hope comes shortly after a confession of a void of hope: "my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD” (Lamentation 3:17-18). Lamentations 3 provides a intimately personal portrait of all the he has experience through the seizure of Jerusalem and its complete destruction: “He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago” (Lamentation 3:4-6). As these verses show, all of the sorrow and terror that has been poured upon Jerusalem, ultimately came from the LORD himself: "He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes” (Lamentation 3:16). Thus, hope had perished.

But hope returned. Jeremiah has asked the LORD to remember the bitterness that has been experienced: “Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!.” Jeremiah declares that he most certainly remembers his bitterness-constantly: “My soul continually remembers it.” But bitterness is not the only thing remembered: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him” (Lamentation 3:22-24). Hope is renewed as the never-ending character of God is remembered. The terms that Jeremiah recalls to his mind is reminiscent of what the LORD revealed to Moses: “The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7a). The mercies of the LORD are not old distant realities that Moses experienced; they are fresh every morning.

Jeremiah’s soul had been “bowed down” and his hope had “perished.” But now, Jeremiah’s soul speaks out “therefore I will hope in him,” for “the LORD is my portion.” The term portion can mean possession of one’s material items, but it is also used to speak of the fullness of a relationship with the LORD: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26), and: “The LORD is my portion; I promise to keep your words” (Psalm 119:57). Jeremiah has recalled that the LORD is enough for him. In the pit of his despair Jeremiah realizes that, because the Lord was all he had, the Lord was all he needed. Therefore, he had hope. Jeremiah knew that he could wait for the LORD to vindicate him at the time the LORD deemed proper: “The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth” (Lamentation 3:25-27). Therefore, the LORD could be trusted: “Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven” (Lamentation 3:40-41).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe