Lamentations 3: Until God Looks Down

"I am the man who has seen affliction," scribbles the anonymous sufferer of Lamentations 3:1, as though he were the sole bearer of Judah's shameful punishment. They'd lost everything that was important: their freedom, their national and religious heritage, their dignity, and their relationship with the One True God. Can we relate to this affliction?

Do we look on our sinfulness and depravity with an aching heart? Do we see selfish actions breeding painful consequences? Do we woefully watch as godlessness reigns in our nation's schools, courts, media, and homes? We can see that such recklessness will eventually lead to punishment, and we glance at the horizon with tearful eyes. Such judgment is warranted, and we echo the Lamenter's question, "Why should any mortal man complain when punished for his sins? (v. 6)"

Our sensitive hearts see how wretched we really are as a human race-but can we really be silent to God? If not, what can we say? To whom can we cry but to the One who is punishing us? What can we cry but "We have sinned and rebelled" (v. 42)? Is there any purpose in acknowledging our pain, guilt, and regret?

The Lamenter grasps a concept about God with which most Christians struggle daily: God is a loving, righteous God. "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed," writes the Lamentor, "and his compassions never fail" (v. 22). We have a hard time imagining a loving God punishing people for their sins. We can't stomach seeing the wrath of a God we believe to be full of compassion. The Lamentor's grain of optimism is that we aren't entirely consumed by God's fiery wrath. He understands that God is righteous in His anger and just in His punishments. At the same time, he realizes God's generous mercy.

The Lamenter offers this consolation: "Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men" (v. 32-33). It's not because God is unfair or unloving that He allows us to feel pain. Any blessing God pours on us is liberally applied, and any punishment He sprinkles reluctantly. Everything God does, whether good or bad in our human eyes, He does to draw us closer to Himself.

The most common mistake modern lamenters make is abandoning hope. The darkness of our destruction blinds us to the big picture of God's redemptive love. "Men are not cast off by the Lord forever," writes the Lamenter (v. 31). God's wrath is temporary and reparative. That is why the Lamenter laments. He is grieved in his soul and pleads with God for relief. He is confident that God hears his prayers, and he finds comfort in God's answer: "Do not fear" (v. 57). We must continue to hope amidst our tearful prayers, and we must continue to offer them up "until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees" (v. 50). Don't fear, modern-day Lamenter, and don't give up hope.