(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)
(Lamentations 2:1-22)1 How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion
With a cloud in His anger!
He has hurled
The glory of Israel from heaven to earth,
And has not remembered His footstool
In the day of His anger.
2 The Lord has destroyed; He has not spared
All the settlements of Jacob.
In His wrath He has overthrown
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah,
He has hurled them down to the ground;
He has profaned the kingdom and its leaders.
3 In fierce anger He has cut off
All the strength of Israel;
He has pulled back His right hand
From the enemy.
And He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
Consuming on all sides.
4 He has bent His bow like an enemy;
His right hand is positioned like an adversary,
And He has killed everything that was pleasant to the eye.
In the tent of the daughter of Zion
He has poured out His wrath like fire.
5 The Lord has become like an enemy.
He has engulfed Israel;
He has engulfed all its palaces,
He has destroyed its strongholds
And caused great mourning and grieving in the daughter of Judah.
6 And He has treated His tabernacle violently, like a despised garden;
He has destroyed His appointed meeting place.
The Lord has caused
The appointed feast and Sabbath in Zion to be forgotten,
And He has despised king and priest
In the indignation of His anger.
7 The Lord has rejected His altar,
He has repudiated His sanctuary;
He has handed over
The walls of her palaces to the enemy.
They have made a noise in the house of the Lord
As on the day of an appointed feast.
8 The Lord determined to destroy
The wall of the daughter of Zion.
He has stretched out a line,
He has not restrained His hand from destroying,
And He has caused rampart and wall to mourn;
They have languished together.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground,
He has destroyed and broken her bars.
Her king and her leaders are among the nations;
The Law is gone.
Her prophets, too, find
No vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
Sit on the ground and are silent.
They have thrown dust on their heads;
They have put on sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes fail because of tears,
My spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is poured out on the earth
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
When little ones and infants languish
In the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers,
“Where is grain and wine?”
As they faint like a wounded person
In the streets of the city,
As their lives are poured out
In their mothers’ arms.
13 How shall I admonish you?
What shall I compare to you,
Daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I liken to you as I comfort you,
Virgin daughter of Zion?
For your collapse is as vast as the sea;
Who can heal you?
14 Your prophets have seen for you
Worthless and deceptive visions;
And they have not exposed your wrongdoing
So as to restore you from captivity,
But they have seen for you worthless and misleading pronouncements.
15 All who pass along the way
Clap their hands in ridicule at you;
They hiss and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city of which they said,
‘Perfect in beauty,
A joy to all the earth’?”
16 All your enemies
Have opened their mouths wide against you;
They hiss and gnash their teeth.
They say, “We have engulfed her!
This certainly is the day which we awaited;
We have reached it, we have seen it!”
17 The Lord has done what He determined;
He has accomplished His word
Which He commanded from days of old.
He has torn down without sparing,
And He has helped the enemy to rejoice over you;
He has exalted the might of your adversaries.
18 Their heart cried out to the Lord:
“You wall of the daughter of Zion,
Let your tears stream down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief,
Let your eyes have no rest.
19 Arise, whimper in the night
At the beginning of the night watches;
Pour out your heart like water
Before the presence of the Lord;
Raise your hands to Him
For the life of your little ones
Who languish because of hunger
At the head of every street.
20 See, Lord, and look!
With whom have You dealt this way?
Should women really eat their children,
The little ones who were born healthy?
Should priest and prophet really be killed
In the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 On the ground in the streets
Lie young and old;
My virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the sword.
You have put them to death on the day of Your anger,
You have slaughtered, without sparing.
22 You called as on the day of an appointed feast
My terrors on every side;
And there was no one who survived or escaped
On the day of the Lord’s anger.
As for those whom I brought forth healthy and whom I raised,
My enemy annihilated them.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
I have a friend who is not a believer, who strives to be very compassionate and loving, sweet and kind, in her own strength, efforts and belief system. She believes in a god of her own design, who is "loving" in such a way that everyone will go to "heaven". And any time the discussion goes to the state of society, or the struggles that someone is going through - somehow the church and Christians are always at fault. And I don't think she hears herself saying this.
When people accomplish things, they can become more prideful and self-righteous, believing that they have the power and all the answers. Meanwhile, as it says in James 1:17, "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." And if someone sins and seems to get away with it, we can see in verse 3 how God can decide to not restrain evil.
Verse 16 shows how the enemies thought they had engulfed Israel because of their own strength. But if Israel had been obedient, the outcome would have been different. Instead, the Israelites deceived themselves with false and worthless visions in order to believe in a god of their own design.
God's desire is for Israel, as well as all believers, to be perfect in beauty and a joy to all the earth (verse 15). He can and will restrain evil to protect us, although there will be times of struggle in order to test us and/or discipline us. Whatever the reason, our response should be to search our hearts and repent when applicable, draw closer to the Lord and continue striving to abide in His will, His strength, and His truth.
(Matthew 5:43-48) “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
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