Lamentations 5:1-22

Humility is on the path to restoration before the Lord.  As long as we try to justify, excuse or ignore our sin, we will continue to sin and suffer the consequences of our sin.  But when we humbly recognize the fact of our sin, repent of that sin and cry out the Lord; we can find forgiveness and hope for restoration.  God judges sin and makes the consequences of sin severe in hopes that this suffering will bring us to our knees in humility so that through repentance we can be restored.  Suffering refines and is used by God to reconcile us to Himself.

THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN: This prayer begins with a plea for God to remember His people and to see their condition.  God never forgets anyone and always sees everything.  However, due to the consequence of sin if felt as if the nation of Israel had been abandoned by God.  Their property had been given to foreign nations.  Their families had been broken.  Water and wood had become expensive commodities.  They were exhausted and exiled.  This reality had been brought about from the sin of their fathers.  They are under the rule of slaves and are starving to death.  Their women have become the victims of rape.  Their leaders have been publicly disgraced.  Their young men have become slaves.  The elders have no authority or respect.  All of their joy has been stripped away.  These are but a few of the temporal consequences of sin that are designed to cause men to turn from their sin and trust Jesus so they can avoid the eternal consequences of sin which are much more sever.

THE CONFIDENCE IN GOD: Once we recognize our sin and are aware of the reasons for our suffering we will confess our sin and can have hope.  When our hearts are broken and we become tired of our terrible condition we will recognize God’s sovereign rule over the world and our lives.  It may seem like God has forgotten and forsaken us, but the reality is that He is our true and only hope for restoration.  It is possible for men to sin to the point of being rejected by God in His anger but, as a rule, when men are brought to the point of humility and genuinely repent before Him, we can be confident that He will forgive and restore.  He is gracious and forgiving, loving and kind.  He is our only source of true hope.