Lamenting Through Hard Times & Living Up to a Higher Standard (01/09/2022)

Perfect day for me to be doing this. We got a nice, small, forgiving crowd. All righty, well, it's nice to be doing this again. I had a lot of fun last time, I guess last couple of times. I think the last time I did this it was an online only, so it was a little bit different not getting to be with you guys and see you guys, but it's a lot of fun for me to have this opportunity.

I don't take it lightly at all. In fact, I'm always having to think about it a little bit prior to feeling like I can tell dad I can do it just because it's a really big deal. I don't really know how to describe it, but again, I don't take it lightly for sure.

Again, just like last time, I basically want to share with you guys just some stuff that I've been thinking about a little bit going back to early fall in terms of how I put this particular topic or subject together.

Of course, when I'm getting all the notes ready and I had this outline in my head going back, I guess early last week or something like that, started putting it on paper, started finishing up last night, and I'm like, oh my goodness, I hope this makes sense or just not going to be all over the place.

It made perfect sense in my head in terms of the outline. We'll see if it comes out that way. Again, going back, as far as the topic goes, I guess if you want to call it a title or whatever it may be, the subject that I want to be talking about is peace and tribulation, which of course is kind of an oxymoron.

It sounds like an oxymoron anyway. It's two totally opposite ends of the spectrum. How can you have peace when trouble times are going on? You're in the midst of some kind of tribulations, the exact opposite of a peaceful time or a peaceful season.

And so that's kind of the broad subject that we'll be covering, but there's a few components to it that we're going to look at. Again, this is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. It started when, I want to say it was September of last year.

As I've told you guys already a couple of times, I did the Bible in ear for the first time, which was an awesome thing. I'm doing again, thanks to Ash for encouraging last year. We're doing it again this year.

I loved it. But I think it was around September of last year, came up on the book of Lamentations. And I read through that, of course, and reading through it, I honestly couldn't remember the last time I had read through the whole thing, maybe hearing some passages here and there and other lessons or sermons I had heard.

But as far as going through the whole book, I was like, wow. By the time I was done with it, there's just so many interesting things in that book. And so that is what kind of got me thinking about this particular topic, because obviously, Jeremiah is talking about some pretty heavy stuff and was going through a huge time of tribulation, probably the greatest he ever experienced in his life.

But at the same time, we also have these kind of Christian mandates, if you will, or mandates as believers in the New Testament of how to deal with those times, which we'll be getting to. And Brother Bill actually talked about quite a bit of it this morning's Sunday school lesson that is being joyful even in the toughest times.

We're going to get to that and essentially cover Brother Bill's Sunday school lesson again at some point. So anyways, again, it's something I've been thinking a lot about the past couple of months, like the dynamics of both tribulation, but also the possibility of remaining in a peaceful season or having peace in life in general.

The idea that it's possible to have peace even in the toughest times, but kind of seeing this balance in the Bible in terms of dealing with that tribulation. And again, it all started with lamentations, right?

So mourning, going to the Lord with our feelings of what's happening, showing our distresses. There's obviously a lot of dynamics to it, a lot going on. So I want to try to tackle that. We see a lot of examples, especially in the Old Testament, of the saints, many saints, again, lamenting over their tribulation, mourning in some cases, displaying some very transparent discourse in multiple forms, whether it be Job to his friends or Jeremiah in this kind of poetic way that he wrote lamentations.

We see multiple ways where they are sharing this transparency or sharing these strong feelings they were experiencing, how exactly they were feeling, and they didn't hold back. And it's really interesting to read these kinds of passages in light of it being inspired.

I don't know how to describe it. It's obviously them, that person, being very candid, being very transparent with how they're feeling in these really tough times, but they're writing it down, being inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And of course, the reason for that being is that we have these examples that we're going to be looking at and knowing what to do with them. Now, so we have those examples. We have these examples of the Old Testament saints, again, lamenting, mourning, sharing their distresses, being very candid.

But we also have a higher standard set before us as well. So we have those examples, but we have a higher standard that we get in many places in the New Testament. We see that it is okay in those Old Testament examples to lament, to take our sorrows to the Lord when we are going through really, really tough times.

However you define tribulation, I mean, it's obviously a very broad thing. It can look very different depending on what you're going through, but there are obviously several forms of tribulation that we as Christians can go through at any point in time when we are going through that.

We can take those sorrows to the Lord. We can mourn. We can lament. And we actually have examples of what that looked like when the saints of the Old Testament did it. We even have examples of the apostles doing it as well in the New Testament, where really, really tough times, how they were dealing with that.

We have some examples of that in Acts when the apostles were just being persecuted like crazy. But again, we have a higher standard. We also have this Christian mandate in this particular age that we're in now to be joyful in all things as well.

So Philippians 4 .4, like we looked at it in Sunday school this morning, we're going to look at it again later. We know that while it is perfectly okay and normal, natural for us to experience similar feelings that were set before us in some of these Old Testament examples, as we'll see in Lamentations, as we saw in Job, Ecclesiastes, a number of places, we also have this higher standard as well to shoot for, right?

We know that it is possible because of our particular standing as believers to be joyful even in really tough times. So in this study, what I hope to do, we'll see if it happens or not. This could be all over the place.

We'll see. What I hope to do is to convey a somewhat clear view of all of the dynamics of that reality, of the strong emotions through tribulation, the sorrow, the distresses, as well as shooting for that higher standard as well.

So now what I mean by trying to see it in this kind of broad picture, all of the different variables, if you will, we're promised persecution. So one example of Escalations 4 .29, we're promised tribulation.

1 Thessalonians 3 .3 -4 covers that. We're obviously very aware of how tough life can be. Did you happen to find that verse, Brother Bill? Okay, there's this verse that Brother Bill referenced a couple times a few months ago, and you guys may remember in study school, where he would say, like, if there was one verse that, you know, if I could cut a verse out of the essentially was telling us we as believers are promised to be persecuted.

Y 'all remember that? He referenced a couple times. I couldn't find it last night. I had Brother Bill looking for me. I will find it. We'll find it eventually. We'll get it in there. But we're promised that tough times are going to come, especially as believers.

So there's all these things coming at us, and we know it's coming, but we are commanded to live life joyfully. Again, Philippians 4 .4. There's other examples as well, but that is the prime example that it is possible for us.

And again, I believe it's a mandate as believers to live life joyfully, despite also having these examples that we're going to look at in a little bit of the mourning process through those times when times are really tough, kind of a glimpse at the very, very candid feelings of the Old Testament saints in so many different examples.

So we're going to be looking at all these things throughout the study. Again, it's a very dynamic thing, maintaining peace, maintaining joyfulness through every season of life. It's not an easy task, and I would say it's not supposed to be an easy task.

It's supposed to be something that prunes us, that helps us grow, that brings us near to the Lord, which of course, that kind of corresponds with the last topic that I covered, which was the relationship with our Lord.

And we actually looked at examples of that study of how going through the tough times, in many cases, is what's needed in order for us to refocus back on what is most important. So with all that being said, we're going to start with kind of point one, if you will, or the first segment of this study.

And that's starting kind of at what comes most naturally to every human when we're going through times of tribulation, going through tougher times, and that is lamenting through hard times. What does that look like as believers and people with strong faith?

Does that mean that we're immune to, you know, having these feelings, these emotions, sharing those emotions? Now, before we really dive in here, I want to start with what I feel like is a perfect starting point for at least this segment of the study, really the whole study, or lesson, I should say, but this first segment as well.

Let's go over to Ecclesiastes, if you will. Ecclesiastes chapter 3, and we'll start at verse 1. We're going to do just the first 10 verses here. But Ecclesiastes chapter 3, I mean, again, right off the bat, it just really sums up a lot of different things.

To everything, there is a season. To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant, a time to pluck up that which is planted, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up.

Verse 4 here is kind of the key verse I wanted to hit, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away, a time to rend and a time to sew, a time to keep silence and time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace.

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth? I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. Now, Ecclesiastes, this isn't even really where we're going to be, but this whole book which you know again I'm kind of using it just as the intro here, the springboard if you will, the whole book is so fascinating.

It's always been so fascinating to me. I remember when Miss Thurston read it, did a verse by verse study in Ecclesiastes 4 when I was in like the 10th grade or something like that and I think that was the first time I ever read through that book and it sounds so bizarre when you have just so many other passages talking about how rich and full life can be.

The key though of course is that Ecclesiastes is very much from the human viewpoint of what life looks like without a strong relationship. Life can be full and rich if we have the relationship with the Lord, but it's always been so fascinating to me because it's a perfect and an experienced example.

Assuming you know of course that Solomon being the author, he gave an experienced example of what life can look like without the Lord because we know that he went through some very unique times where he kind of strayed away from that relationship.

In fact, we looked at 1 Kings or yeah I think maybe it was 2 Kings chapter 10, the last lesson that I did with you guys where it was basically displayed kind of the downfall of Solomon and some of his just you know things that he did later on in life after reaching the peak of his kingship, he pulled away from that relationship with the Lord and it did not look very good and so we know through experience he can give some pretty example, some pretty great example of what how bleak life can be from the human viewpoint without that relationship with the Lord, without a strong relationship with him.

Ecclesiastes is all about life from the human viewpoint and so with that kind of setting the context for what we just read, you know we all know the main theme of Ecclesiastes, everything is vanity, right?

And after setting the theme, Solomon goes into a number, he sets the theme like the first verse, maybe first couple of verses. After setting that theme, he then goes into a number of proofs to kind of back up his premise of the book.

Why is life vanity? Why is literally everything vanity? Of course he lists a number of things as well to be specific. So all of the above verses that we just read, Ecclesiastes 3 1 through 10, you know to everything there's a season, a time to weep, a time to mourn, all of these things.

All of those verses, it's kind of another proof if you will of Solomon's to back up his premise that everything is vanity from the vantage point again of kind of just a general like all these specific verses in this chapter, it's kind of from the vantage point of just a general weariness that can permeate everything in life.

He's showing us basically kind of the flip side of the of the coin of every circumstance that you're in. Joy, you know mourning, you know time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones, a time to weep, a time to laugh.

He's giving us like the flip side of every circumstance we could be in. He's giving us a great reminder as well of what exactly we asked for in the Garden of Eden. What was it that we asked for? What was it that we were tempted with and that we willfully agreed to take part in?

And that is the knowledge of good and evil. So what he's reminding us here is that in every circumstance we find ourselves in there's always the other side of the coin. You know if there is a time to laugh, there's going to be a time to weep.

If there is a time to mourn or if there is a time to dance, there's going to be a time to mourn and we asked for that. And so again Ecclesiastes is you know the whole book but this particular passage that we just looked at is another great example of you know getting what we asked for.

You know recently I was listening to a podcast that a cousin of mine and Ashton's did on her side and he was talking with his brother-in-law in the podcast and it was fun just listening to them talk about different things and one of the things that it was Landon one of the things that he brought up was this you know of course people always bring up discussion if there's a good God why does evil exist and they're kind of talking back and forth and Landon is talking about like how he answered it and it was a great answer and then his brother-in-law who's a pastor gave a great answer and he and his it was a long you know well thought out answer but it was basically he's basically saying evil exists because we asked for it because we wanted it we were the ones that wanted the knowledge of good and evil and again Ecclesiastes is a great reminder of that so we got what we asked for but we know given the state that we're in now there is a time to weep there is a time to mourn because of this is how life works we need to expect these times and of course many of us have gone through these times already so we kind of know what it feels like now with that in mind knowing that there's a season for everything time to weep a time to mourn we're going to start this particular segment in obviously the most obvious place you know we're going to be taking a look at the lamentations of Jeremiah during the most devastating point in his life.

So the context before we jump into the specific passage I want to look at in lamentations the context of the whole book of lamentations was Judah was being attacked they were there a siege was taking place and eventually they were driven into the to the Babylonian exile and all that is covered of course in Jeremiah the book of Jeremiah now of course Jeremiah who's kind of throughout lamentations acting as the spokesperson in several different places of of all of Judah he of course added kind of his own touch right of his own feelings on the adverse on the adversity that he was going through you know he is the person giving us these lamentations directly.

So it's there are some points where it's it's kind of like he's talking collectively as all of Judah other points where he is being very candid about just his individual feelings of what he's going through and it's through that particular lens where we get kind of his own individual take and where we start seeing what it can look like to be in a time of mourning caused by tribulation.

Now just keep in mind guys as we go throughout this first segment because it's you know i'm not trying to cover like all the most oblique passages in the bible this is supposed to be a very encouraging message the the whole topic is finding peace in tribulation right.

And so we're just just keep that in mind because in the end we're going to be talking about how even though we have these examples in the old testament obviously now we are in a different age and these guys whether it be Jeremiah Job David a number of different guys who went through a number of these saints that went through these tough times they went through those times for our sake so that we could look back and have these examples.

So we're going to cover you know some some you know passages that are that are pretty uh you know i don't know how to describe it you know kind of sad in many ways but it's all kind of leading up to a really really great place that we find ourselves in today.

So we're going to be taking a look at lamentations three if you guys want to go there um again we're looking at what it can look like to be in a time of mourning caused by various forms of tribulation we could find ourselves in.

We're going to be in lamentations three for a good portion um i want to give you guys just a little bit more context. So you know lamb uh lamentations was written kind of during the whole babylonian exile or it's the siege and then eventual exile um but within lamentations itself because we're gonna be looking at three.

Chapter three it starts in lamentations one with the grief of jerusalem's uh total destruction um it continues in the second chapter of lamentations with god's wrath being poured out on his people as he promised he would do if they didn't keep their end of the deal which was made centuries beforehand.

So again it gives us a great example a wonderful example of of the lord's long-suffering spirit toward his people i mean they broke the deal and were were living idolatrous lives or living lives in idolatry and a number of terrible terrible things for a long time before you know god.

Finally um after many seasons of this again long-suffering spirit that he's always had toward his people starts bringing his wrath that he said would come if they didn't follow his commandments. So lamentations two kind of gives us an example of god's wrath pouring out on his people.

Um lamentations three which again is going to be our focal point for this particular spot is where we see jeremiah's individual candid response to everything happening before his eyes. So this will be in limitations three.

On the other side of that limitations four it showcases the lord's anger toward a people that have indulged in total evil again for so long and because of that the ensuing siege of jerusalem as kind of the means to an end which of course was the lord punishing his people justifiably for their gross sins for so long.

And then of course the book ends lamentations five with a remnant which of course is always a key at the end of so many of the books in the old testament. A remnant of god's people praying for mercy as a response to the devastation happening around them.

Of course jeremiah was one of those people. So let's go over to lamentations three. We're going to cover the first 18 verses where we're presented with jeremiah's own afflictions his individual take on things in the midst of everything we just summarized kind of covering the whole of lamentations there.

So the first verse of limitations three um it has a couple of words italicized. Um i i in this first verse i kind of like i really like the way it reads if you take those words out that were added to our to our english bible.

Um so i'm going to read it that way. For this first verse it starts with i the man hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He hath led me and brought me into darkness but not into light. Now right off the bat again.

Why are these passions so bizarre sometimes. Um expect i don't want to say in isolation. Uh they're kind of bizarre in in the broad context on the surface level of the whole bible. Compare just that first phrase to psalm 23.

Well we all know so well psalm 23 too. He maketh me lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. Contrast that with he hath led me and brought me into darkness again. On the surface level it seems bizarre.

Of course there's no contradictions. And there's uh these these all fit together so perfectly. And again that's one that's something i hope to accomplish as we go throughout this. But obviously jeremiah isn't feeling it right now.

Right. He just right off the bat. Um he's seeing the devastation. He's seeing god's wrath. He's confused by what's going on. He's wondering if god's character is changing. And he's just laying it out there.

He hath led me and brought me into darkness but not into light. Verse three. Surely against me is he turned surely against me as he turned he turneth his hand against me all the day. And so in these first three verses here jeremiah he's kind of giving us these metaphorical visuals of his perception of everything that's happening everything that's been transpiring and limitations one and two.

And everything that was covered in the book of jeremiah judah has is being harshly afflicted. And jeremiah with it. Of course and that's a whole new that i mean that's a whole nother topic we could cover.

I think we did cover it a little bit. Dad covers it all the time. Um because talking about like in this day and age that we're in now we may be like we may strive for individual relationship with the lord and doing everything that we can um to you know be blessed just for godly living being set apart.

However we are also going to be going through the judgment judgments that our country will go through because of the collective moving away from the lord that has been happening for so long. And dad always parallels that with old testament examples when uh you know the people of judah for example are being taken captive and all these terrible things are happening.

Jeremiah the man of god at this time is going through it with him. Even though jeremiah had that strong relationship with the lord he's going through the collective punishment that the people as a whole went through.

And so again uh judah as a whole is being harshly afflicted at this point in time jeremiah is being afflicted with it. He's still god's man he still has a relationship with him. But he's going through it too because the people as a whole failed miserably.

So he feels. What's interesting about it though in this particular lamentation because there's multiple lamentations about the old the old testament we're going to look at one of joe's in a little bit but in this in this one where jeremiah is the one sharing his feelings he feels singled out which is interesting to me.

Um he feels as if god has totally reversed his character. Um he feels as though he's just stumbling around in the dark. Um and he starts using you know again these kind of unique visuals to kind of give us a picture of what he's feeling.

He uses the phrase he turneth his hand against me in verse three. What's interesting is so many passages in the old testament we see god's hand of favor toward his people. But now we see the flip side of that.

We see god's hand being turned against his people directly. And and jeremiah is pointing it out pointing out how terrible the feeling it is. He says verse four. My flesh and my skin have um my flesh and my skin have he made old.

He hath broken my bones. And again i think that's it's kind of a metaphor for just his internal struggle that the the internal um feelings that he's having. Um verse five he hath builded against me. He compassed me with gall and travail.

He hath set me in dark places in they that be dead of old. Okay. So verses four to six here jeremiah is starting to kind of describe the toll that these afflictions are taking not only on his spirit but also on his physical body.

So again maybe the broken bones is more metaphorical. But um you know my flesh my skin hath he made old. It's taking a toll on him. And uh it doesn't feel so great in spirit but certainly not physically as well.

And how does he respond to it. He responds. And we'll see this later. He responds with bitterness. And again he's not holding that back. He is bitter. He's not holding it back. He is. He has very strong feelings about what is happening to him and to his people.

And he's simply not holding these feelings back from the lord. He's just laying it all out there. Verse seven says. He hath hedged me about that i cannot get out. He hath made my chain heavy. Also when i cry and shout he shut it out my prayer.

That is just devastating. He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone. He hath made my paths crooked. In these verses here he is literally describing prison. That is what jeremiah felt like he was in. He is feeling imprisoned by god not a lot of hope in in that particular feeling.

His prayers are being shut out and unheard something no believer would ever want to feel. But jeremiah is feeling it here. His freedom is gone. His situation was inescapable. And his lord that he relied on so heavily wasn't there.

At least from jeremiah's viewpoint. Verse 10 says. He was unto me as a bear lying in wait and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate.

He had bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. It's so interesting because here jeremiah starts shifting a little bit and begins to really really single out himself.

Remember he is talking and he's lamenting as what is happening as a whole to his people. But here he is directly talking about the fact that he feels singled out. Um he starts singling out himself his own afflictions as if god was pouring out his vengeance on jeremiah alone.

He described this feeling like being made a target being made a target by god himself so that jeremiah could act as god's target practice for his vengeance being poured out as his wrath and judgment was unleashed.

He says it's as if god mauled him like a bear waiting for his prey. So he's just not feeling too good right now. And possibly this may be one of the examples of when the biggest internal struggles that has ever happened in all of humanity at least within god's people.

He goes on in 14 to say i was in. I was a derision to all my people and their song all day. He's being he's being uh his uh. People are turning his own people are turning their back on him. He hath filled me with bitterness.

He hath made me drunken with wormwood. He had also broken my teeth with gravel stones. He had covered me with ashes and thou hast removed my soul far off from peace. So that obviously ties into what we're looking at again.

What is this. This is an example that we are given of the devastation that can be had even as a believer. Now i mean it is so important to be reminded that this is happening all this is happening because of the choices that god's people were making.

It wasn't that this affliction was coming unjustifiably. But even so and i think jeremiah knew that. But even so again it is it is really hurting him and his peace is gone. So again the study is all about finding peace when we're going through tribulations or troubled times.

Um for jeremiah he wasn't he he wasn't having it at this moment. He again he did not have peace. He says i forget prosperity in verse 18 which will be our last verse in this passage. And i said my strength and my hope is perished from the lord.

In verses 14 and 15 he's being mocked by his own people. He was filled with the bitterness of his as the bitterness of his afflictions. Let me describe that with wormwood later on in the passage a little bit later down with gall his peace was taken away which again is a key phrase here his prosperity was taken away.

Now what's cool is that this chapter doesn't end at verse 18 and as it continues it opens up into a really interesting interesting focal point in the book because we have the backdrop of the sins of god's people we have the backdrop of of uh jeremiah's afflictions and the way he's feeling about it.

He's going to segue over to his hope and god's promises and start talking about how the lord's compassions and are new every morning. And it's really it's a really beautiful way that it kind of segues into that because it seems totally contradictory or just opposite of what we just saw in the first 18 verses.

So it doesn't end in verse 18. It'll continue in a way that again kind of contrasts that bitterness and mournfulness described by jeremiah in a super beautiful way. We're going to revisit that later but we're not there just yet.

Um one thing that jeremiah will eventually get to is like what he'll kind of describe i think later in in lamentations three in the same chapter is that the affliction that he was experiencing is happening because of god's sovereignty not outside of the bounds of his will.

Yeah it's i have it here verses 37 and 38 of that same chapter. Um he starts pointing out uh that you know this is happening according to plan and that's obviously a very important key to all of this because we can look at these this particular passage these 18 verses of jeremiah of lamentations or jeremiah is talking and just think you know how can this be happening to the prophet the prophet at the time and jeremiah in the midst of all of those feelings he's having is the one that points out to us and reminds us that it is happening because of god's sovereignty not outside of his will.

It was all part of the same plan. We have another very expressive lamentation in the old testament and there's a lot we can look at honestly like several passages we can look at where um you know these men the lord are really laying it out there.

Um and it gives us but but we're going to look at just a couple more in particular. Um and one that we're going to look at here gives us a very similar look at what true tribulation i say true tribulation um what harsh tribulation can look like.

Obviously again tribulation can can be in many many different forms many different levels of severity i suppose. But we get another example of a really really harsh tribulation and what that can look like in the mournful response by the saint that was experiencing that affliction.

So you guys want to turn over to job three. Um now the context for this chapter in job which obviously is a very it's a very long book and so many different nuances if you will within that that are so incredible.

The context where we're going to be reading chapter three. The context leading up to chapter three was right off the bat in job the first couple of verses job we learned that he's a perfect and upright man one that feared god eschewed evil.

And as a result of that satan proposes to god that this is only because of job's prosperity. The only reason why job is a perfect and upright man is because of the prosperity that he has uh been able to enjoy.

I imagine all like his whole life up until this point. God then tells satan to smite all that job has but to spare job. So that's an interesting thing in and of itself. Um so satan takes out nearly everything but job quote sinned not nor charged god foolishly.

That's job 122. So job kind of passes the first test. Right. Satan is then told by god that job is in his hand. So now he took previously told satan don't touch job. Now he's saying he is in your hand but you can't kill him.

And uh we find out later of course that that would have been job's choice. Uh he would have preferred to have been killed at that point in time. Um so what happens. Satan smites job with boils and job's wife tells him to curse god and to die in in the midst of all that job still didn't send with his lips which we see joe 210.

So that is the context leading up to this chapter where we are now presented with job's lamentation. Uh after a solid week of just sitting in a circle with his friends not saying a word job 3 -1 says after this opened job his mouth and cursed his day.

So again right off the bat what job means by cursed his days. Essentially he is cursing the day of his birth. Um i raj uh for those of you know raj uh i can't remember it was a few months ago we i can't remember where we were but i was telling him how i was doing the bible in a year.