WWUTT 2634 Suffering by the Rod of God (Lamentations 3:1-21)

Whenever we have sinned against God and we feel the consequences of that sin. It's not just a guilty conscience that we will have. Sometimes we will feel it in our very flesh and in our bones as it weighs upon us when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the word Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. We feature New Testament study an Old Testament book on Thursday and our Q &A on Friday.

Lamentations as a Song of Mourning and Punishment for Sin

Now, here's your teacher pastor gate. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study in the book of Lamentations and we get to the center of the book today. Well, not exactly the center but close to it because we're in the middle chapter the third of five chapters now at the very center of this chapter verses 22 to 25 this is where we read of the great faithfulness of God.

It's the most famous part of Lamentations where we read about how God's Mercies are new every morning and great is his faithfulness. We won't get to that section until next week in the meantime we continue this lament over the destruction of Jerusalem and the punishment that God has brought against Israel and Judah as the name would suggest.

Lamentations this is a song of mourning. Mourning over the destruction that has come because Israel had sinned against God now. He's gonna remain faithful to Israel even though Israel has been unfaithful.

God will be faithful to his promises and we have those glimmers of hope throughout Lamentations though it is a very negative book for the most part very sorrowful and not just because of Circumstances, but because these circumstances have been brought upon this people because of their sin.

So it's not just mourning over the situation. It is also mourning over the sin that brought us here. So in the section that we look at today, which is chapter 3 verses 1 through 21. We read about suffering under The hand of God as he has brought punishment upon this people because of their rebellion against him.

Then in the next portion in chapter 3 verses 22 to 25. This is the section that we get to next week and we read about the great faithfulness of God. And then after that closing out the chapter verses 26 to 66.

It is where we read there about Submitting to the will of God. So let's read first. About the punishment that God continues to bring against this people. Because of their sin against him. I'm gonna read verses 1 through 21.

The Rod of His Wrath and the Experience of Affliction

Hear the word of the Lord Aleph. I Am the man who has seen affliction because of the rod of his wrath. He has driven me and made me walk in darkness and not in light. Surely against me. He has turned his hand repeatedly all the day.

That he has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away. He has broken my bones. He is besieged and encompassed me with gall and hardship. Dark places. He has made me in habit like those who have long been dead.

Gmail. He has walled me in so that I cannot go out. He has made my chain heavy. Even when I cry out and call for help, he shuts out my prayer. He has blocked my ways with cut stone. He has made my paths crooked.

Dalit. He is to me like a bear lying in wait like a lion in secret places. He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces. He has made me desolate. He bent his bow and set me as a target for the arrow.

Hey. He made the arrows of his quiver to enter into my inward parts. I have become a laughingstock to all my people their music of mockery all the day. He has saturated me with bitterness. He has sated me with wormwood.

Vav. He has broken my teeth with gravel. He has made me cower in the dust. My soul has been rejected from peace. I have forgotten goodness. So I say my strength is perished as well as my hopeful waiting which comes from Yahweh Zion.

Remember my affliction and my homelessness the wormwood and the gall. Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. This I will return to my heart. Therefore I will wait in hope and We'll stop there and that statement.

I just want to lead in to the next time that statement. Therefore I will wait in hope leads right into the loving kindness of Yahweh. Never cease for his compassions never fail. We have that statement of hope and that reminder of the loving kindness of God that comes right at the center of the whole.

The whole mournful song that we have here and this chapter as well. Now you may have noticed if you have been with us in the in the first couple of chapters of lamentations the first several weeks Chapters one and two you'll notice that the voice has changed a little bit here.

This is now Spoken in a first-person perspective. We've seen things kind of from the outside it's almost like we've been moving closer and closer in and now it is it is the person who has suffered here who is Singing this song of lament.

I am the man who has seen affliction as Said here in the very first verse because of the rod of his wrath. I am the one who has seen affliction. So it's as though the person who has been punished has now stepped forward and said it's me.

I'm the one I did this. And the rod of his punishment has come upon me. I Have seen affliction. But as I said in the beginning this circumstance this hardship that this person is going through is not just because.

Well, you know things happen. And so now this is this just a bad period. I'm going through a rut or something like that. That's not the reason why This person has entered into these troubled circumstances it's because they sinned against God.

Every time we go through something hard, it doesn't automatically mean we're going through something hard because God is punishing me. Maybe that is what God is doing. That's not always the case. In this case it is the difficulty that Jerusalem that the people of God are going through is because they sinned against him and This affliction is the rod of his wrath.

We see it over and over again in the scriptures this reference to the rod being an instrument that is used to punish. Proverbs 10 13 a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense. Proverbs 13 24 whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him and Proverbs 2215 this is the famous one folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him and that can be taken literally it can be taken as an Endorsement a lesson in corporal punishment spanking that is the way that that can be taken.

Parents should spank their child on occasion. Afflicting physical punishment so that the child will learn not to rebel not to be disobedient and So the Lord treats us this way. Hebrews chapter 12 even talks about this.

We experience the rod of his Judgment upon us not in the sense that we are condemned or permanently cut off from him. That's not what Hebrews 12 means when it says that God will strike us with a rod. It's in the sense of a parent loving their child enough to discipline them.

So to set them on the right path and as Hebrews 12 says if God did not discipline us. Then we would be illegitimate sons and daughters and we would not be the sons and daughters of God. So here in this particular case the rod of his wrath has come upon Jerusalem and and that's a pretty serious thing to say.

It's not just the rod of his punishment. It's the rod of his wrath. Because it was pretty severe what it was that came upon Jerusalem and there were many who perished who would perish forever. But as far as God's affection for the collective of his people the Jews themselves He did not abandon them.

He did not forget his covenant promise to them to the seed of Abraham. He did not forget what he was gonna bring about through them. And that was the coming of the Savior who would save not just the Jews, but even the whole world.

God has not forgotten his promise. So in context the rod of his wrath. It was great wrath that came upon his people. But he has not forgotten them and his mercies are new every morning as we will hear later on.

So verse 2 he has driven me and made me walk in darkness and not in light. I can't see God. I can't see what he's doing here. I don't know my way. I don't know my future. Everything seems bleak and to the person that has gone through this it feels like he's cut me off and I'm never gonna come out of this again.

Surely against me. He has turned his hand repeatedly all the day. How can I recover from this? That is the lament coming from the one who has been punished here at the beginning of chapter 3 and we continue on verse.

He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away. He has broken my bones. He has besieged and encompassed me with gall and hardship Dark places. He has made me in habit like those who have long been dead.

It is almost a statement here of saying that I am going down to Sheol. I am cut off for eternity. That's kind of the level of the despair that the person has sunk into here because Knowing who they who they've sinned against and what it is that they deserve.

This is a good posture to have When it comes to seeking the Lord with a heart of repentance so far We're on the right track a lot of the things that are said here Sound very similar to Psalms that we read in the in the 30s like Psalm 31 Psalm 32 Psalm 38.

Psalm 31 10 says my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing my strength fails Because of my iniquity and my bones waste away. So the psalmist is saying there I am experiencing this sorrow even physically in my body.

It feels like I'm wasting away and it's because of my sin against God. Psalm 32 verse 3 when I kept silent my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long rather than Taking this before the Lord in confessing sin.

Psalm 38. Oh Lord rebuke me not in your anger nor discipline me in your wrath for your arrows have sunk into me and your hand Has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation.

There is no health in my bones. Because of my sin a lot of people try to deal with their depression the sorrow the things that they feel with Therapy, or maybe they need some sort of prescription or they have some other substance that they will turn to In order to deal with this feeling that they have when the reality is that their depression is probably a result of their sin.

Again, as I said in the beginning, that doesn't mean everybody that goes through depression is is going through this because they've sinned. But there are many many people many millions of people even living within our own country That are trying to deal with the psychological problems that they have Thinking that there is therapy or some pill that will set me right when really what they're going through They're experiencing because of their sin against God.

The scripture the Word of God testifies to this that those who are in rebellion and rebellion against God They will even feel it physically. Your hand is heavy on me all day. I Feel no strength in my bones even my skin feels like it's melting right off of me.

That is the guilt that a person feels. When as said in Romans chapter 2 their conscience accuses them For this sin that they have done. They may not even believe in God, but there's something very naturally within the person That will eat at them when they have gone against God's Natural law even those things that we can know are right or wrong just based on observances just based on on nature itself because God has written his law on our hearts and I've shared this personally before periods of time in my life when I was in rebellion against God and I felt it I was sick because of my sin.

Though I didn't acknowledge at the time that my sin was what made me feel this way. Going on to verse 7. He has walled me in so that I cannot go out. He has made my chain heavy. Even when I cry out and call for help he shuts out my prayer.

For as it said also in the Psalms if I had cherished iniquity in my heart God would not have heard my prayer. This is like what is said in Psalms 66 18 if I had cherished iniquity in my heart The Lord would not have listened.

And we read also in 1st Peter chapter 3 that when there's strife in your marriage It hinders your prayers. Chapter 3 verse 7. I believe is where that is. So when we are in sin The Lord does not listen.

Unless we are coming to him To confess our sin and to seek his mercy. We go on to verse 9. He has blocked my ways with cut stone. He has made my paths Crooked. I cannot see the way that I am to go. I don't know what the straight and narrow way is.

Now this could also be be speaking of the person seared conscience because of their continued Rebellion against God he is he has given them over to a depraved mind. But it's interesting to note that soundness enough soundness remains there that this person is able to recognize This this is my circumstance right now verse 10.

He is to me like a bear lying in wait like a lion in secret places. Who is it that's described in Scripture as being like a prowling lion? It's Satan in 1st Peter chapter 5. But when the judgment of God comes against the person who sins it can feel like God is my enemy and to the person who is in rebellion against God.

There is enmity between that person and God. So yes, God has become an enemy to the one who has rebelled against him. Verse 11 he has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces. He has made me desolate.

He has bent my bow and Set me as the target. For the arrow. Just as we read earlier from the Psalms his arrows have pierced into me. Verse 13. He made the arrows of his quiver to enter into my inward parts and this speaks again of my sin and rebellion against God.

Causing me even physical anguish. I've become a laughingstock to all my people their music of mockery all the day. He has saturated me with bitterness he has sated me with Wormwood. There are people who see what it is.

That's been happening to me and they rejoice it is their delight to see me fall because I am being punished for my wickedness and We've seen this in the world to where you know, you'll have a pastor or some high-profile Christian figure will fall Because of their sin.

And what is what is the response of the world when that happens? They rejoice. They will say see those Christians just a bunch of hypocrites we told you about them. Look, look at what happens even to their to their best and to their finest they are just as evil and as wicked as the people that they say are evil and wicked and They the the world even feels justified for the way that they behave because hey at least I wasn't calling out sin.

But that person was calling out sin and then it turns out they were they were doing the very thing that they were calling out. So the world feels even more righteous. Because at least I wasn't a hypocrite like those Christians were the world will mock and they will sing their songs of mockery all the day.

The Deepest Despair and the Turn to Hope

Verse 16. He has broken my teeth with gravel. He has made me cower in the dust. Because we don't have The good food the blessing of God to this people through the land. That's the way that he blessed the Jews.

So they don't have abundance. What are they chewing on just the ground. Gravel cowering in the dust and my teeth are broken. My soul has been rejected from peace. I have forgotten goodness. So I say my strength is perished as well as my hopeful waiting which comes from Yahweh.

I feel like my hope is totally gone and that's interesting to end that phrase that way because how do we end the next phrase? With hope still alive. So here's our conclusion here verse 19. Remember my affliction and my homelessness.

The wormwood and the gall. Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. From the from the physical we've heard this over and over again in this particular chapter. Physically feeling just so weighed down and wasted.

Because of this sin and the punishment that God has brought but then here not just the body but the soul itself my soul remembers and is bowed down within me and Now at this lowest point as low as my body can go.

I don't even have anything to eat. I'm eating gravel from the ground. I am bent down. I am homeless. The wormwood in the gall. All bitterness. That's all I've got. Nothing is sweet. Nothing is good. There's nothing left and my soul remembers and is bowed down within me.

I am low as low can get and now here I am as low as can be and This I will return to my heart. Therefore verse 21 I Will wait in hope. Because there's two directions that we can go at that point we can end it.

That's what Judas did that was the way Judas took out is that he ended himself. We can end it that way or we can realize I've got nowhere to go now, but up. So what will I do in this place? I'll hope I'll turn to the Lord.

I Know that he won't forget me. He will forgive me of my sin. He will turn me back to him. He will lift me up to this place lift me up from this place and bring me back to him. I will wait in hope that the Lord is hearing and he will respond and Again, this is the part where we have that turn that comes.

This is this is the heart of this book. Comes right here. What we'll look at next week in verses 22 to 27. That Yahweh is good to those who hope in him. To the soul who seeks him. His compassions never fail.

They're new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Great is your faithfulness. It's really not the theme of lamentations, but it is the center that the whole book revolves around. Things are not hopeless.

God has not forgotten us. He will lift us up again. Great is your faithfulness. It is through the gift of his son Jesus Christ. That our sins are forgiven for all those who believe in him. If your heart is convicted of your sin confess to God return to him and He will lift you up again.

Heavenly father as we bring this to a close I pray that our our hearts truly would be convicted of our sin and may we never lose that sense of conviction. Because the moment we get comfortable with our sin is the moment that we're not convicted over it anymore.

And we just continue in it in Lord at that point. Have you given us over to a depraved mind to be consumed by the passions of our flesh? May it not be Help us to turn from this. Back to Christ and be restored again and brought into your eternal kingdom forever.

It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen.

Closing Announcements and Ministry Information

This has been when we understand the text of pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts episodes videos books and more visit our website at www .tt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment email when we understand the text at gmail .com.

And let your friends know about our ministry. Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's Word. When we understand the text.