Lamentations - Part 4
Lamentations 3:1-66
“Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking? Your self is talking to you.” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
“Now this man’s treatment was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. ‘Why are you cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: ‘Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you…’” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
“God has no pleasure in the destruction or calamity of persons or people. He had rather they should turn and continue in peace. He is well-pleased if they forsake their evil ways, that he may not have occasion to execute his wrath upon them. He is a God that delights in mercy, and judgment is his strange work.” Jonathan Edwards
“How unspeakably wonderful to know that all our concerns are held in hands that bled for us.” John Newton
LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
When life gets hard, what is your natural instinct? Do you tend to withdraw, complain, fix things, or push through? Why?
READ LAMENTATIONS 3:1-66
In verses 1-18, Jeremiah expresses deep pain—even describing God in very hard ways. Why do you think it is important that Scripture gives us permission to pray like this? What keeps us from being this honest with God?
The turning point comes in verse 21: “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope…” What stands out to you about the fact that Jeremiah talks to himself rather than waiting for his feelings to change?
Which tends to shape you more in hard moments: your feelings, your circumstances, or your beliefs? What would it look like, practically, to “call truth to mind” this week?
Jeremiah reminds himself: 1) God’s mercy never ends (vv. 22-23); 2) God does not afflict from his heart (vv. 31-33); and 3) God is sovereign over both sorrow and blessing (vv. 37-39). Which of these truths is hardest for you to believe right now? Why?
The sermon ended with the reminder that our suffering comes from the same hands that were pierced for us. How does the cross reshape the way we view our suffering? What difference does it make to believe that God’s heart toward you is mercy—even in pain?