Lamentations 4: Learning Lament

Listen along as we go through Lamentations chapter 4 and see how sin impacted every aspect of society and the hope for God's people then and now.

Notes//Quotes:

Lamentations 4:11-22 - Larry and Jorgen Reading

Lamentations 4 breakdown:
4:1-11 - Sin and Society
4:12-16 - Sin and Leadership
4:17-22 - Sin and Hope

“No English word quite captures it, though the older ‘Alas!’ came close. ‘Oh!’ and ‘Ah!’ are too trivial. The common rendering, ‘How …!’ treats it as an exclamation, but the word also contains an element of questioning: ‘How? Why?’ It stands at the head of the three darkest chapters in the book (1, 2 and 4), and it carries a sense of ‘How come? How can this possibly have happened?’ This is baffled pain, astonished suffering, lament mingled with protest, disbelief and questions.” - Chris Wright

Jeremiah 2:1-3

Jeremiah 2:11-13

"On this rock we can be destroyed: but it is rock, not quicksand. There is the chance to build.” - Derek Kidner

Jeremiah 6:13-15

Rejoice and be glad! That’s the first surprise. Could there be any human being capable of rejoicing in the midst of the horrors described in this whole chapter? The words shock us, until we see to whom they are addressed—Lady Edom. And then we perceive their sharp irony. From the prophet Obadiah and others we know that Edom not only refused to help Judah when Nebuchadnezzar invaded, but rejoiced in the downfall of Jerusalem, took advantage of it to seize some of Judah’s wealth, and assisted in the capture of the fleeing population. ‘Go ahead then,’ says the Poet. ‘Enjoy your treachery while you can, but know that God’s judgment is coming your way soon.’ The cup was a standard metaphor for the wrath of God—metaphorically filled with a wine that would lead to drunkenness and exposure. And then, out of the blue, a single line of assurance to Lady Zion herself. While Edom’s judgment is yet to come, Judah’s is ‘completed’. - Chris Wright

“At their best, the prophets, priests, and kings of the Old Testament foreshadowed Christ’s coming. At their worst, they showed why his coming was so necessary.” - Philip Ryken

“Out of the miry clay
We will rise up someday
Sorrow won't always last
The dark will surely pass
Woe to the wicked ones
For what their hands have done
God is our righteous judge
And He will raise us up” 
The Porter’s Gate - Daughters of Zion