Shock and Awe

1 How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. 2 She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies. 3 Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. 4 The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly. 5 Her foes have become the head; her enemies prosper, because the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe. 6 From the daughter of Zion all her majesty has departed. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer. 7 Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wandering all the precious things that were hers from days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was none to help her, her foes gloated over her; they mocked at her downfall.

Loneliness

Loss

many people now alone

great nation now desolate

leader and proud now slave

The Cause for Lament

Lamentations 1:8–11 ESV

8 Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore she became filthy; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns her face away. 9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future; therefore her fall is terrible; she has no comforter. “O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!” 10 The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious things; for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom you forbade to enter your congregation. 11 All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. “Look, O Lord, and see, for I am despised.”

Sin

Sin brings shame

Sin brings defilement

Sin brings destruction

The Purpose of Lament

Lamentations 1:12–18 ESV

12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger. 13 “From on high he sent fire; into my bones he made it descend; he spread a net for my feet; he turned me back; he has left me stunned, faint all the day long. 14 “My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they were set upon my neck; he caused my strength to fail; the Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot withstand. 15 “The Lord rejected all my mighty men in my midst; he summoned an assembly against me to crush my young men; the Lord has trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah. 16 “For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed.” 17 Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her; the Lord has commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should be his foes; Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them. 18 “The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word; but hear, all you peoples, and see my suffering; my young women and my young men have gone into captivity.

Shock and Awe

Turn back to the Lord

Learn from this

The Plea in Lament

Lamentations 1:19–22 ESV

19 “I called to my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city, while they sought food to revive their strength. 20 “Look, O Lord, for I am in distress; my stomach churns; my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword bereaves; in the house it is like death. 21 “They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. You have brought the day you announced; now let them be as I am. 22 “Let all their evildoing come before you, and deal with them as you have dealt with me because of all my transgressions; for my groans are many, and my heart is faint.”

Look Upon Us O God

Have Mercy

Do Not Forget

Bring Justice

Close

The Lessons From Lamentations 1…

Sin is a Real Problem

Sin has real and devastating consequences

Personally

Corporately

God’s Judgement and Justice are a part of His Story

God is not your grandfather !!

Jesus is the Real Solution

Reconciliation through Jesus is miraculous

Forgiveness

Grief / Suffering is universal… Lament is Christian

Confession tunes the heart toward God

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Ecclesiastes 7:4 ESV

4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

Group Questions

How familiar are you with the book of Lamentations? Have you read it before? What is your initial impression of it from this weeks message?

As a group list some examples of brokenness around you or in that have become too common and unnoticed.

Can you give other examples from history or experience where sin brought ruin?

We know that God disciplines His children… How would you explain the difference between God’s corrective discipline and His instructive discipline?

If God forgives all sin why does He not also immediately reverse the natural consequences of our decisions?

What are some ways that lament can reorient your thinking about the world and yourself?

How would this reorientation affect your view of your own suffering or the suffering of others?

Do you agree that we tend to over individualize suffering? Why is that the case? How does Lamentations help us to change that?

What are some practical steps—like confession—that you could take to allow lament to remind you what lies underneath our lives?

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