there when we call

Posted on December 28, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Lamentations - 1

there when we call

Lamentations 3:57-63 (JDV)

Lamentations 3:57 You came near whenever I called you; you said, “Do not be afraid.”
Lamentations 3:58 You championed my cause, Lord; you redeemed my life.
Lamentations 3:59 Yahveh, you saw the wrong done to me; judge my case.
Lamentations 3:60 You saw all their vengefulness, all their plots against me.
Lamentations 3:61 Yahveh, you heard their insults, all their plots against me.
Lamentations 3:62 The slander and murmuring of my opponents attack me all day long.
Lamentations 3:63 When they sit and when they get up, look, I am ridiculed by their songs.

there when we call

The Lamenter’s God is not a distant, remote idea. He is a God who comes near when we call, who redeems the life of those about to die, who sees every wrong done, and hears every insult, plot, slander and murmuring.

That’s why the Lamenter can confidently draw near to God and request deliverance — not only for himself, but for his beloved city.

Lord, thank you for being there when we call — there to rescue.

Posted in dependence upon God, prayer | Tagged | Leave a comment

he heard our plea

Posted on December 27, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Lamentations - 1

he heard our plea

Lamentations 3:52-56 (JDV)

Lamentations 3:52 For no reason, my enemies hunted me like a bird.
Lamentations 3:53 They silenced my life in a pit and threw stones on me.
Lamentations 3:54 Water flooded over my head, and I thought, “I’m going to die!”
Lamentations 3:55 I called on your name, Yahveh, from the depths of the pit.
Lamentations 3:56 You heard my plea: Do not ignore my cry for relief.

he heard our plea

The Lamenter recounts his experience of deliverance from the threat of death, then reminds God of the experience. Why? Because he is now asking God for relief from suffering he has seen in Jerusalem. Surely the God who saved him does not want his city to continue to suffer.

When we pray, we should often go back to cross. God does not need the reminder that he bought us with the precious blood of his Son. But we need to remind ourselves that he has invested in us. Such reminders will bolster our determination to pray through our own struggles, because they keep us aware of his investment in our lives.

Lord, thank you for hearing our plea for deliverance. Deliver us again!

Posted in deliverance, dependence upon God, prayer | Tagged | Leave a comment

unstoppable grief

Posted on December 26, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Lamentations - 1

unstoppable grief

Lamentations 3:48-51 (JDV)

Lamentations 3:48 My eyes flow with streams of tears because of the destruction of my dear people.
Lamentations 3:49 My eyes overflow unceasingly, without stopping,
Lamentations 3:50 until Yahveh looks down from the sky and sees.
Lamentations 3:51 My eyes bring me grief because of the fate of all the daughters in my city.

unstoppable grief

Even those of us who seldom get “emotional” feel the emotions. The closer we look at our life choices, and the lives we are left with as a result of them, the more we cry out to God.

The Lamenter did not have to look deep to find destruction, despair and a sense of hopelessness. His people and his city had reaped the consequences of their own failures, and their lives were a mess. Sadness overtook them.

Our God is there for times like that, and times like this. If you are crying out to God, you are in the right place, and doing the right thing.

Lord, only you can handle our times of unstoppable grief.

Posted in dependence upon God, depression, sorrow | Tagged | Leave a comment

access denied

Posted on December 25, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Lamentations - 1

access denied

Lamentations 3:40-47 (JDV)

Lamentations 3:40 Let us examine and probe our ways, and turn back to Yahveh.
Lamentations 3:41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in the sky:
Lamentations 3:42 “We have sinned and rebelled; you have not forgiven.
Lamentations 3:43 “You have covered yourself in anger and pursued us; you have killed without compassion.
Lamentations 3:44 You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through.
Lamentations 3:45 You have made us disgusting filth among the peoples.
Lamentations 3:46 “All our enemies open their mouths against us.
Lamentations 3:47 We have experienced panic and pitfall, devastation and destruction.”

access denied

I am going through the Bible and commenting on the text, so I do not plan a special text for holidays. This passage depicts the terrible state of Judah and Jerusalem during the exile. It speaks of God covering himself in a warrior’s mantle of homicidal anger, and with a cloud so that no prayer can get through to bring reconciliation. Access denied.

If God had chosen to continue covering himself thus, we would all be hopelessly lost. But the good news of the gospel (and Christmas) is that he uncovered himself, and visited us in the form of a little child. Wise men and shepherds — and everyone in-between — benefit from God’s choice to come down from the sky, giving us access to himself again.

Lord, thank you for your grace, wrapped up in a little baby.

Posted in Christmas, Jesus Christ, judgment | Tagged | Leave a comment

cause for celebration

Posted on December 24, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Lamentations - 1

cause for celebration

Lamentations 3:37-39 (JDV)

Lamentations 3:37 Who is there who speaks and it happens, unless the Lord has ordained it?
Lamentations 3:38 Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?
Lamentations 3:39 Why should any living person complain, any man, because of the punishment for his sins?

cause for celebration

The prophets spoke of a coming Messiah who would be born king of Israel. He would be a savior. He would also suffer and die for our sins. They spoke of this coming Christ because God ordained it. You and I celebrate Christmas because a sovereign God could punish us all for our sins, but he chose to rescue those who put their faith in Christ.

If we were to suffer for our sins, we would have no reason to complain, because we deserve it. The fact that Christ offers us a way out, is cause for celebration.

Merry Christmas.

Posted in Christmas, grace, Jesus Christ | Tagged | Leave a comment

trusting him for justice

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Lamentations - 1

trusting him for justice

Lamentations 3:30-36 (JDV)

Lamentations 3:30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with disgrace
Lamentations 3:31 because the Lord will not reject us forever.
Lamentations 3:32 Even if he causes suffering, he will show compassion according to the abundance of his covenant faithfulness
Lamentations 3:33 because he does not enjoy bringing humiliation1 or suffering on the sons of men.
Lamentations 3:34 Crushing all the prisoners of the land beneath one’s feet,
Lamentations 3:35 denying justice to a man in the presence of the Most High,
Lamentations 3:36 or subverting a person in his lawsuit – the Lord does not approve of these things.

trusting him for justice

Anytime a child of God humbly submits to suffering and humiliation, it is an act of faith. It is saying “I trust God, because he will not reject me forever, and he does not approve of what I am suffering.”

Lord, teach us to act in faith when we are mistreated, by trusting you for justice.

Posted in faith, shame, suffering, trust | Tagged | Leave a comment

sit down and shut up

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Lamentations - 1

sit down and shut up

Lamentations 3:27-29 (JDV)

Lamentations 3:27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young.
Lamentations 3:28 Let him sit alone and be silent, because God has disciplined him.
Lamentations 3:29 Let him put his mouth in the dust – perhaps there is still hope.

sit down and shut up

Young men and women should not be isolated from the stark realities of life — especially the reality of God’s judgement upon a nation for her sins. Instead, we should encourage the young men and women to stop and contemplate. Maybe there is still hope for us if our young men and women will listen when the old folks would not.

Lord, lead us to repentance and submission to you — especially those who are tempted to put off thinking about you.

Posted in listening, repentance | Tagged | Leave a comment

wait quietly for rescue

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Lamentations - 1

wait quietly for rescue

Lamentations 3:24-26 (JDV)

Lamentations 3:24 I say, “Yahveh is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:25 Yahveh is good to those who wait for him, to the person who seeks him.
Lamentations 3:26 It is good to wait quietly for rescue from Yahveh.

wait quietly for rescue

The Lamenter has a change of heart, and a change of mind. He has decided that God is not his destroyer, but his portion — his rescuer. God is good, and it is good to wait quietly for his rescue.

Lord, change our minds about you, and we will wait quietly for your rescue.

Posted in deliverance, dependence upon God | Tagged | Leave a comment

counteracting the poison

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Lamentations - 1

counteracting the poison

Lamentations 3:19-23 (JDV)

Lamentations 3:19 Remember my misery and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison.
Lamentations 3:20 I continually remember them and have become depressed.
Lamentations 3:21 Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope:
Lamentations 3:22 Because of Yahveh’s covenant faithfulness we are not finished, because his acts of mercy never end.
Lamentations 3:23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!

counteracting the poison

The Lamenter knows misery and the homelessness of exile, and it eats away at him, causing severe depression. It is like poison. But he calls to mind another fact — one that keeps him hoping and seeking restoration and a better tomorrow. His mind will not forget the history of the chesed of God — his covenant faithfulness. It is the antidote to the poison.

Lord, keep us in your word, so that the history of your covenant faithfulness counteracts the poison of depression.

Posted in depression, faithfulness | Tagged | Leave a comment

the bitter can be blessed

Posted on December 19, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Lamentations - 1

the bitter can be blessed

Lamentations 3:10-18 (JDV)

Lamentations 3:10 He is a bear waiting in ambush, a lion in hiding.
Lamentations 3:11 He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces; he left me desolate.
Lamentations 3:12 He strung his bow and set me as the target for his arrow.
Lamentations 3:13 He pierced my kidneys with shafts from his quiver.
Lamentations 3:14 I am a laughingstock to all my people, mocked by their songs all day long.
Lamentations 3:15 He filled me with bitterness, satiated me with wormwood.
Lamentations 3:16 He ground my teeth with gravel and trampled me in the dust.
Lamentations 3:17 I have been deprived of well-being; I have forgotten what prosperity is.
Lamentations 3:18 Then I thought, “My future is lost, as well as my hope from Yahveh.”

the bitter can be blessed

Only people who have suffered extreme pain and misfortune would ever say such things about God. But the Holy Spirit had these words placed in his Holy Bible. Why? Because such people are not without hope, even if they think they are. God appeals to those who are convinced that he is their worst enemy. He wants to give them hope and a future. He wants to turn them from bitter to blessed.

Lord, forgive us for rejecting you because of things we have suffered. We choose to come back to you because only you can redeem us.

Posted in dependence upon God, repentance, suffering, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment