Monday, February 27: Lamentations 1- Relationship involves communication .

A word about Lamentations

Jeremiah wrote Lamentations as he mourns the fall of Jerusalem.  Jerusalem was not just any city; it was God's holy city - the seat of God's temple.  With the burning of God's city and temple and the deportation of His people, there is more than the destruction of a city.  There is the realization that God has rejected His people because of their faithlessness and sin. Lamentations consists of five poems of mourning.

 

 

Jerusalem has fallen to the Babylonians and been destroyed. After killing the army and looting the temple and important buildings the Babylonians destroyed the city. They tore down all the important buildings including the Temple. The ripped apart the protecting walls. Jerusalem lay in ruins…

Jeremiah was overcome with grief. Out of his broken heart comes Lamentations… a poem, a dirge to the destruction of Jerusalem, the city of God.

In his pain –utter pain- Jeremiah gives voice to his anguish. He allows his grief to move his pen. As I read today I tried to feel the pain he was venting…

We cannot all write like Jeremiah, but his model is a healthy model for all of us, expressing to the Lord what’s going on. Write, sing, cry, weep, speak, play music… however you can release your inner pain to the Lord, do it.

God longs for a relationship with us and relationship involves communication… communication at all levels, joy and pain, fear and strength. God can handle what’s happening in your life… so talk with Him. Jeremiah did and we have Lamentations because Jeremiah dared to share the pain of Jerusalem’s demise…

Think about it.

Lord, I bare my soul and thoughts to You. I come to You for You can give me strength and solace, love and peace in every season of my life.

I come to You in Jesus, my Saviors’ name. Amen.