Have you ever thought about how many tears you have cried? If you were to collect them, how many would there be? That’s a great question. As we continue in Lamentations chapter 2, we’re reminded that this is a book of lament, sorrow, tears and grief. Not only, does God knows the number of hairs on your head; God also knows the number of tears you have cried. I love this passage in Psalms that describes God’s care and knowledge of us.
8 You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Psalms 56:8
Every single tear you have cried matters to God. Tears matter to God, our grief matters. Some people think that tears are bad. We have many misconceptions about grief and tears.
Grief is an emotion every one of us has felt. It is an inevitable hurt because loss or death itself cannot be avoided. Yet it is not something we talk about. It is one of those subjects that we avoid. Our culture begins teaching us to turn away from our grief very early on. Although God gives each of us ways to heal these emotional wounds, most all of us got messages early in life that we should not express those feelings. And it was from then on that many of us got so good at suppressing them, until something happens that forces us to face them.
From our earliest days we were taught that sad, painful or “negative” feelings were to be avoided at all costs. And if we were unable to avoid feeling them, we were not to show them in public. Most all of us have heard words like “Don’t cry, it will be alright.” “Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone.” “Just get over it!” Or maybe even “Stop that crying or I’ll give you something to cry about.” Most all of our tools for handling those kinds of emotions were developed when we were quite young. So we usually are trying to manage the most difficult times in our adult lives with the limited perceptions and skills we learned as children.
Our misperceptions and fears keep us from learning healthier perspectives. That little child in us thinks things like:
· People will think I am weak, or immature, or out of control or crazy if I show my feelings.
· I shouldn’t burden others with my troubles.
· I have to be strong for others.
· I should be over this by now. What’s the matter with me?
God created us with the capacity for the same feelings he has. Our depth of feelings originates from being created like God. The Bible records God’s emotions of sadness and grief. Grief matters to God because He grieves too.
We look at almost every experience in life from the perspective of , “How does this impact me?” I’m not saying that is altogether wrong- I’m just saying that is usually our frame of reference.
But briefly I want us to think about how God feels. The Scripture actually has a lot to say about that and in the process of saying it gives us insight as to what God is really like.
For example, in Genesis 6 we are given a powerful glimpse into heart of God.
5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 …It broke his heart. Genesis 6:5-6 Then he acted in just judgement.
I hope that when we read verses like this in the Bible we don’t picture a hard, distant deity who is simply hacked off because people won’t cooperate with Him or do what He wants them to do. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Hebrew word used to describe God’s Sorrow in this passage is “Nacham” means to “draw the breath forcibly.” It is a deep SIGH of painful sorrow. Have You ever hurt so bad inside that you could hardly get your breath?
That’s the kind of sorrow God is experiencing here. It’s as if God is saying “Oooh, Oooh…” -such grief that only groans because it is beyond words. This is the broken heart of God. This is love disappointed & wounded. This is God experiencing a deep, piercing sorrow over His loved & lost creation. Today is the same as in Noah’s day. For every soul that goes own way and insists upon its own destruction, there is a deep, deep sigh of sorrow in heart of God for that soul.
Why would an omniscient, omnipotent God position Himself to experience such sorrow & grief? Because love by its very nature Is vulnerable to grief. Because love by its very nature is impacted by choice of others. To grant free will is to grant possibility of love. But, is also to grant capacity to reject love, wound, refuse love.
We see that when God became a person by the name of Jesus and stepped foot on our planet. He experienced grief.
7 While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears…Hebrews 5:7
Does God care when we hurt? One of Bill Clinton’s famous lines is, “I feel your pain.” Does God feel our pain? Does He understand what we’re going through? Does He care? Or is he just sitting up there in heaven, watching as we suffer and struggle, serenely unmoved and emotionless?
It is a common theme in the Old Testament that when God’s people are suffering, and cry out to Him for help, He hears them and comes to their aid.
Let me ask you a question. Are you suffering? Are you wondering if God cares, if He even knows? Are you wondering if your suffering matters to God, if you matter to God? The answer to that question is “Yes.” You do matter to God. You matter more than you know. God understands what you’re going through, whether it’s physical suffering, or emotional suffering, or mental anguish. Whether your pain is caused by disease, or troubled relationships, or inner turmoil, or even the hand or judgement of God, He understands. He cares. He cares about your suffering and He cares about you. You matter to God.
Does that mean that God will immediately relieve all of our suffering? No. God can relieve suffering. He can heal bodies, reconcile relationships, change circumstances. But sometimes He doesn’t. Sometimes, for His own good and wise and loving purposes, He allows our suffering to continue. But if that’s the case, it doesn’t mean He doesn’t understand or care. It doesn’t mean He’s abandoned us. It means that He has a purpose for us in that suffering. And He is going to stay with us and walk with us and strengthen us and comfort us as long as He allows that suffering to continue.
With this in mind, let’ pick back up in Lamentations 2
5He has destroyed her strongholds, and has increased mourning and lamentation. 11 I have cried until the tears no longer come; my heart is broken. My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people. Lamentations 2: 5,11 (NKJV)
- Sorrow and Sadness are the right Responses to Loss
“Her strongholds?” The walls of the city, the king, the palace, the temple, and the priests were all brought under judgement.
The people thought they had the temple and therefore they were safe. Jeremiah records what the people were saying in that day.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ Jeremiah 7:3–4 ESV
“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? Jeremiah 7:8–10 ESV
The people thought that their sinning was acceptable because they had the temple. God was with them and therefore God was fine with their sins. But we learn that we must never think that God is not wrathful against sin. Listen to what the New Testament says about the wrath of God against sin.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 3:36 ESV
For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Ephesians 5:5–6 ESV
We cannot make the same mistake as them and hold religion or going to church as our good luck charm that we think will cause us to avoid the wrath of God. Just because we are the people of God does not mean, we can sin as much as we want and that the wrath of God will not affect us. This should be the obvious lesson we learn from the nation of Israel in the scriptures. God’s anger is never explosive, unreasonable, or unexplained. We do not begin to understand the restraint and the longsuffering of God. God’s anger is his firm expression of real displeasure with our sins. God is not indifferent toward sin. Even though we experience the benefits of God’s patience (which is not to be confused as apathy or complete indifference), the restraint God shows will finally end when we refuse to change our ways.
When we refuse to change our ways, this grieves God and He will take just action. forgiveness but the fearful expectation of judgment. As Israel was seeing, God carries out his word. “The Lord has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago” Lamentations 2:17. God said he would bring judgment for this behavior over and over and over again. But the people rejected God’s warning. Listen to what they were saying in the days of Jeremiah.
Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ “But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ Jeremiah 18:11–12 ESV
God said disaster was coming. The people said that there was no point to changing their ways. They will follow their own plans and follow their own stubborn hearts. Friends, we must never think that God will not execute judgment.
But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. Romans 2:5 ESV
But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 2 Peter 3:7 ESV
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV
Our sins will be judged if we have stubborn, unrepentant hearts. We must turn our hearts back to the Lord. God’s judgment is to bring us to our knees in our sorrow for our sins and the consequences we pay because of what we have done. It is important to see that the author of this poem understands this. He understands that what has happened is because God is right and just and they are deserving because of their sins.
So what are we to do? Notice what the author says to do.
19 “Arise, cry out in the night, At the beginning of the watches; Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him… Lamentations 2:19 (NKJV)
Cry out to the LORD in Repentance, He will forgive.
Chapter 1 describes Jerusalem’s desolation and the reasons why it happened. Chapter 2 includes a call for God’s people to pour out their hearts in the Lord’s presence. The people must turn from their sins; they must sincerely mourn over their wrongs against God (3:40–42). The people had much to cry about. Because of their stubborn rebellion against God, they had brought great suffering to all, especially to the innocent. Was this suffering God’s fault? No, it was the fault of the wayward people. Sinful people brought destruction on themselves, but tragically, sin’s consequences affected everyone—good and evil alike.
The people’s suffering and sin should have brought them to the Lord, weeping for forgiveness. Only when our prideful, independent hearts are broken over sin can God come to our rescue. Just feeling sorry about experiencing sin’s consequences does not bring forgiveness. But if we cry out to God in repentance, he will forgive us.
Message Audio/Video and Outline: https://upwards.church/leander-campus/watch-now-message-videos
Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church
Read Along Daily Bible Reading: YouVersion (https://www.bible.com/organizations/370f8a6e-16bc-464f-8c43-0b7623fd2952)
Sources: Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Life Application Bible Notes (Tyndale, 2007), 1298.
Upwards Church 