–a brief look at a classic; The Book of Lamentations
If you miss or skip over a reading of the Book of Lamentations in the Bible, you’re really depriving yourself of a classic part of scripture which reveals not only the workings and dealings of God with those He calls His own, but insight into His very nature as well.
Without going into a lot of specifics; as this isn’t meant to be an exhaustive study of the same, the Book of Lamentations is basically a collection of poetic laments over the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple of Solomon and the subsequent exile of the Jewish people from their land by the Babylonians in about 5-600 B.C. In the Old Testament it follows the Book of Jeremiah, as the prophet Jeremiah is its traditional author.
For those who might tend to accuse God and curse their lot in the midst of personal or national difficulties, as did the people of Judah over the destruction of their city, religion, and homeland in circumstances that must have seemed chaotic, senseless, and devoid of any order, the Book of Lamentations helps connect the dots back to the real source of one’s’ difficulties, that of one’s’ own sins, proving that actions have ultimate consequences, foreseen or not.
In Lamentations chapter 1 (the first lament), we see the corrective force brought about as a direct result or consequence of sin, which is acknowledged here by the author in the two following verses:
Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up. (Lamentations 1:12, 14 KJV)
Or, it might help one to understand more readily, the same verses rendered in a more contemporary translation.
“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.
“He took note of all my sins and tied them all together; He hung them around my neck, and I grew weak beneath the weight. The Lord gave me to my foes, and I was helpless against them. [ESV]
This portion of the above passage, ‘The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck,’ greatly resonates with me. God doesn’t excuse sin.He allows sins’ full weight to return upon the sinner. This is his great cosmic corrective designed to teach people the things they won’t learn in any other way. The author here acknowledges this corrective dealing.
And in chapter 3 we have the classic passage:
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
For the Lord will not cast off for ever:
But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. (Lamentations 3:21-23 & 31-33)
The author finds his hope and strength in the remembered mercies and faithfulness of God. He knows he can count on these in the midst of the most trying circumstances, even circumstances brought about by one’s own hand.
And in his final poetic declaration he touches upon a reality that is of the very essence of the nature of God and which reveals the basis of God’s relationship and dealings with humankind. The poet writes, ‘For he (God) doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men’. You can’t have it spelled out any more clearly than that. God isn’t a monster that enjoys seeing people suffer. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the reality is just the opposite. It hurts God to have to allow us to suffer, and he only does so when every other alternative has been exhausted and He knows there is no other way that we’ll learn. Only then, because He loves us enough to allow the hurt that will lead to the healing, does he do so.
[End of article]
The Wayfaring Stranger 