Lamentations 5:1-22 "Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach. Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. Our necks are under persecution: we labor, and have no rest. We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand. We get our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honored. They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood. The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music.
The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned ! For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim. Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. THOU, O LORD, remainest forever; THY throne from generation to generation. Wherefore dost THOU forget us forever, and forsake us so long time ? Turn THOU us into THEE, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. But THOU has utterly rejected us; THOU art very wroth against us."
The first three chapters of Lamentations each conclude with a prayer to GOD; however, chapter four does not. In this fifth chapter, which may be chapter four's concluding prayer, we find Jeremiah once again reviewing the situation in the nation of Judah (vv.1-18). He begins this prayer with the word "Remember." GOD did not need reminding of what had been happening. The Babylonian invasion did not catch HIM by surprise. HE could see the condition of the people (Proverbs 15:3 pictured at top of post). So, why does Jeremiah express his thoughts this way ? The word "remember" here conveys more than simply imploring someone to recall something. Rather, it is a plea for action to be taken. Jeremiah wants GOD to do something about this situation. The prophet acknowledges that the nation had previously sought help from the wrong sources (v.6) and was now facing the consequences (vv.7-18). They were enduring a severe famine (vv.7-10). No one was able to escape this judgment (vv.11-14), and great turmoil and sorrow affected even the godly (vv.15-18). The only possible hope was in the LORD (v.19 pictured above). Jeremiah knows the state of the nation is temporary and that GOD would one day change it, but that surely appeared to be a long way off (vv.20-22).
What is your current condition in terms of your relationship with the LORD ? Are you a child of GOD ? Do you know HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST, as your personal LORD and SAVIOR ? Perhaps you are a believer and are struggling with some difficulty not knowing where to go for help or comfort. Turn to the LORD. Trust in HIM exclusively (Lamentations 3:22-25). "Turn THOU us unto THEE, O LORD" (v.21a pictured in full above). HE alone is the ultimate SOLVER of every problem ! GDF
Your servant in CHRIST,
Julie
Copyright, FEATURE: A Daily Bible Study Guide.
Used with permission. www.featoday.org
https://fivestarchristianministries.com/salvation
No comments:
Post a Comment