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King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]

Date: Monday, August 26, 2024
Chapters: Lamentations Chapters 3-5
Message: Humble Faith

Hello My Friend,

Did you ever get so fed up with constant criticism and accusations that you just started laughing because they were so far off from the truth? Yesterday was a very emotional and trying day, in fact, the whole weekend was. Nothing brought me comfort, no sermon, no Bible reading, no song, no family, and not even talking to God. This passage came to mind, [Job 23:8-10  Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:  9  On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:  10  But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.]

Well, last night I happened to come across the morning service from my brother’s church, something happened to the recording so it started where the preacher said this, “Have you ever been crying out to God and feel like your prayers aren’t heard?” Immediately it seemed as though God was speaking directly to me and I realized what God was doing, [1 Timothy 4:9-12  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.  10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.  11  These things command and teach.  12  Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.]

Sometimes the suffering we go through has nothing to do with unrepentant sin, doubt, fear, or lack of faith, and everything to do with God bringing us to a point that we can only trust Him to see us through. As we come to the of the reading of Lamentations, Jeremiah, is overwhelmed with grief, he has seen the rod of God first hand and feels as though there is no end in sight.

[Lamentations 3:1-8  I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.  2  He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.  3  Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.  4  My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.  5  He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.  6  He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.  7  He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.  8  Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.]

[my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.] Jeremiah, is not saying that God literally broke his bones, rather that he is in a broken state of mind, body, and spirit, and it is affecting his wellbeing. When they mockingly set aside his advice not to go down to Egypt and did so anyway and carried him with them he took it personally and wondered why God even allowed him to be taken in the first place.

[Lamentations 3:15-20  He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.  16  He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.  17  And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.  18  And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:  19  Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.  20  My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.]

[My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:] The cup of afflictions we drink has a way of intoxicating us in that we lose our ability to discern between our faith and flesh for a time. Even though Jesus knew His Father was with Him, His human form still cried out and asked Him why He forsook Him, [Mark 15:34  And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?] However, He also knew where He would be when He died, at least, for three days until He resurrected, [Luke 23:42-43  And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.  43  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.]

[the wormwood and the gall.] [Wormwood; Curse; Poison. Gall; Animal bile.] Gall, was a drug made up of gall and vinegar, and it would bring crazy disillusions and hallucinations. Jesus, when enduring His cup on the cross, was given gall in an attempt to get Him to drink it and had He done so it would have poisoned His body and made it useless to save us. [Matthew 27:34  They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.]

[My soul…in remembrance, and is humbled in me.] Let me tell you how much affliction humbles us to the point that we come to understand that our flesh is weak, but our strength is in Christ, [James 4:5-6  Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?  6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.]

Jeremiah, is no different than the rest of us, we have our pity party, then are reminded that we are saved by grace, and while we may not get it right all the time, we are the sons and daughters of the Almighty God. After Jeremiah thought about what he was saying, he remembered where his hope was.

[Lamentations 3:22-30  It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.  24  The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.  25  The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.  26  It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.  27  It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.  28  He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.  29  He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.  30  He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.]

[should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.] The hope that every saved, born again Christian has is the that they will never have to worry about enduring trials, tribulation, sin, or even death anymore, [Revelation 21:3-4  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.]

As Jeremiah was contemplates his afflictions he began to realize something, things could have been a lot worse had it not been for God’s mercy and compassion to save those who wanted to be saved. Let me tell you, the closer you walk with Jesus the more vile you are going to feel, wondering why He is so good to you in the first place. And that is exactly the humbleness God uses to show us just how great His faithfulness is toward us, and that our only hope to endure the affliction is Jesus. That is what Jeremiah realized.

[Lamentations 3:32-40  But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.  33  For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.  34  To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,  35  To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,  36  To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.  37  Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?  38  Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?  39  Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?  40  Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.]

[yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.] We can never be more grateful to God than for His compassion on His people. It does not matter how many times we mess up, He will always have compassion on us, [1 John 3:16-18  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  17  But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?  18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.]

[Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?] We cannot blame God for all the evil in the world, we cannot even blame Satan for this one. Yes, he introduced sin to man, and will pay dearly for it, but man is to blame, we are the ones who give in to every temptation known to man, [James 1:13-14  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:  14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.]

Does it seem fair that we suffer along with those who are unfaithful? Sometimes it does, but when you stop to think about what they are going through, which has to be much more than you are suffering living right, then there is no comparison. Jeremiah, also recognizes this as he begins to understand that we are redeemed.

[Lamentations 3:48-51,53-58  Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.  49  Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,  50  Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven.  51  Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city. 53  They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.  54  Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.  55  I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.  56  Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.  57  Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.  58  O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.]

[hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.] Jesus, does more than just redeem our soul when we fully accept the Gospel and ask Him to save us, He redeems us from our lives. I do not know about you, but my life was not the greatest before I knew Him as my Saviour. I recall all the foolish things I did when I was lost, and it was not pretty, I really cannot understand why Jesus pulled me out of the mire that I dug myself into, but then again, I did get to a point when I did cry out to Him and that was when He heard me for the first time. We must call upon Christ if we want to get out of the dungeon, [Romans 10:12-13  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.  13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.]

Once we receive Christ as our Saviour, that is when He begins to work in us, first with believers baptism, then with our walk with Him. Think about it, we are representatives of God, what type of life are we living that reflects that? If what we are doing is worse than the world, then you can be sure that judgment will come. Jeremiah, reminds the unfaithful Jews that they are where they are because their sins were worse than those who were living in the world.

[Lamentations 4:1-2,6,8,11  How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.  2  The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 6  For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her. 8  Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. 11  The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.]

[the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater] Think about Sodom and the state it was in before God sent fire down upon it and turned the people who refused to leave into pillars of salt. Judah’s, sins were even greater than that if that were even possible. Do you know what made them greater than the sodomy, immorality, and lawlessness of life that consumed that city? Judah, knew God, and actually worshiped Him while living in those very sins that Sodom was guilty of.

[their skin cleaveth to their bones;] These are the ones who turned their backs on God and are now living on the streets, literally dying of starvation, and unrecognizable. Through Jeremiah, we learn what was going on with the prophets and the priests that was worse than the worlds sins.

[Lamentations 4:17-18,20-22  As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.  18  They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.  20  The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.  21  Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.  22  The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.]

[our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.] The city was taken, the bulk of its population transported to Babylon or put to the sword, and the remaining fugitives scattered among the nations. It seemed that their very existence as a nation was come to an end, but there was some hope for the anointed one would come to redeem them. Now, as Jeremiah ponders the destruction of Jerusalem, he laments over the state of their captivity, but pleas with God for the return of His mercy.

[Lamentations 5:1-3,15-17,19-22  Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.  2  Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.  3  We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. 15  The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.  16  The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!  17  For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim. 19  Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.  20  Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?  21  Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.  22  But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.]

[thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.] Yes, God gets angry with us, and if we are living in sin and unrepentant about it He will allow us to endure that pain until we come to our senses. And if we are living in fear and not coming to Him by faith He will also allow us to endure that pain until we come to Him. We need to understand that God responds to our faith, and when we lack it our eyes are going to be dim from seeing His Light. But when we humble ourselves to Him, in faith, He will lift us up, [James 4:8-10  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.  9  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.  10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.]

Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Lamentations 3:19  Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. Lamentations 3:30  He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.]

Today’s Prayer: God, Of all the people that have come and gone in the world, You had a purpose for every one of them. Sadly, not everyone fulfills that purpose and not only do they suffer judgment, we suffer the repercussions of their judgment. While we do not want to face affliction, often You place difficult situations in our lives in order to show us that You do have a purpose for us and that through our suffering true joy and happiness will come out of it. Lord, lead us and guide us, give us Your power, mercy, and grace. Strengthen us, and help us to look to You for hope out of every situation, and do what is necessary on our part to be a witness and a testimony that You do hear us, and are our hope. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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