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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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waiting on the dawn

Posted on December 18, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

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waiting on the dawn

Lamentations 3:1-9 (JDV)

Lamentations 3:1 I am the man who has seen misery under the rod of God’s wrath.
Lamentations 3:2 He has driven me away and forced me to walk in darkness instead of light.
Lamentations 3:3 Yes, he repeatedly turns his hand against me all day long.
Lamentations 3:4 He has worn away my flesh and skin; he has broken my bones.
Lamentations 3:5 He has laid siege against me, encircling me with bitterness and hardship.
Lamentations 3:6 He has made me dwell in darkness like those who have been dead for ages.
Lamentations 3:7 He has walled me in so I cannot get out; he has weighed me down with chains.
Lamentations 3:8 Even when I cry out and plead for help, he blocks out my prayer.
Lamentations 3:9 He has walled in my ways with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked.

waiting on the dawn

Some of the Lamenter’s imagery seems to contradict itself. How can he be driven away and still encircled? It is all imagery. He is saying that he has suffered with no explanation. He’s been walled in like a prisoner by the darkness when he expected light.

As believers who are called on to be God’s light to the world, we expect to know why things are happening. Sometimes we do not. Sometimes God’s actions in history — even what he is doing in our own lives — seem inexplicable. Our prayers often seem blocked, as if the signal needs a reboot. Our loyalty to God is being tested. Will we keep obeying and trusting him even in this dark place?

Lord, you are our Light and our salvation. We will trust you in the times of darkness, and wait on your dawn.

 

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cry out in the night

Posted on December 17, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Lamentations - 1

cry out in the night

Lamentations 2:17-22 (JDV)

Lamentations 2:17 Yahveh has done what he planned; he has accomplished his decree, which he ordained in days of old. He has demolished without compassion, letting the enemy gloat over you and exalting the horn of your adversaries.
Lamentations 2:18 The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. Wall of Daughter Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief and your eyes no rest.
Lamentations 2:19 Get up, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water in front of the Lord’s presence. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children who are passing out from hunger at the head of every street.
Lamentations 2:20 Yahveh, look and consider to whom you have done this. Should women eat their own children, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary?
Lamentations 2:21 A young man and an old man are lying on the ground in the streets. My young women and young men have fallen by the sword. You have killed them in the day of your anger, slaughtering without compassion.
Lamentations 2:22 You summon those who terrorize me on every side, as if for an appointed festival day; on the day of Yahveh’s anger no one escaped or survived. My enemy has destroyed those I nurtured and reared.

cry out in the night

We can theologize all we want, talking about human autonomy and freedom. But when disaster strikes, we learn very quickly that we cannot control it. It strikes the young and old, the good and the bad. It leaves us bewildered. We quickly run out of resources and ideas.

That’s when — if we are wise — we follow the advice we see here. We get up and cry out to God in the night. We pour out our hearts to God like water.

O God who made us, we have no one to go to but you. Bring healing and restoration to us!

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life wasted on hating

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Jefferson Vann

Lamentations - 1

life wasted on hating

Lamentations 2:15-16 (JDV)

Lamentations 2:15 All who pass by scornfully clap their hands at you. They hiss and shake their heads at Daughter Jerusalem: Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole land?
Lamentations 2:16 All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day we have waited for! We have lived to see it.”

life wasted on hating

The sad truth is that many today are only living to see the downfall of their enemies. Jesus calls us to love our enemies. One of the reasons this is a wise choice is quite practical: hating is just a waste of your life. These enemies of Jerusalem lived for the day it would be destroyed and in ruins. Then what? All that potential life and love was spent wasted on hating, when it could have been invested by loving.

Lord, give us the wisdom to love — not because people are lovable, but because it is an investment which lasts.

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