A Time For Lamentations

Watching the news this morning... this week ... this year is just frankly overwhelming. I feel like shouting "Stop 2016, I want to get off!"Even prayer seems to be an inadequate response.

Yet... I refuse to give in to that hopelessness. Now abides Faith, HOPE, and Love. Please read How To Pray In Our Time of National Crises by Joe Carter:

Our country is in pain.

A series of inexplicable killings, including five police officers in Dallas, has occurred this week. Many of us are anxious and hurting. All of us are confused.

When faced with this type of national crisis we may find it difficult to turn to our Comforter in prayer. We are used to going to God with our requests, but this time seems different. We are mired in sorrow and pain and can’t get past the question that haunts us: “How could God let this happen? Where is he when our country needs him?”

The book of Lamentations opens with a similarly bewildered and mournful query. Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians and God seemed to pay no attention to the cries of the suffering survivors. In their pain they cry out, ““See, Lord, how distressed I am! I am in torment within” (Lamentations 1: 20).

This book takes it’s name from lament, a song of mourning or sorrow. Laments may be occasioned by bereavement, personal trouble, national disaster, or the judgment of God. Throughout the Old Testament, and especially in the Psalms, we find lamentations that can serve as model for how we can respond in prayer in times of crisis.
Here are some suggestions for how to use such passages as guides:

Don’t strip away the context

There is a temptation to pick and choose a particular verse, metaphor, or image of lament, remove it from it’s context, and then apply it to our own situation. This is generally the wrong way to handle Scripture. While our context may not be the same as the context of a particular Bible passage, we can use the lamentation as a guide for creating our own personalized response to God. As John D. Witvliet says, we can “work with the basic psalm forms we have learned to discern, and then, like a jazz soloist who embellishes a musical theme, that we improvise in the context of our particular tragedy.”

Understand the form of Biblical lament

Most passages of lamentation in the Bible include a heart cry, imagery to describe God, a direct discourse, a specific petition, and an expression of hope.

Heart cry

A devastating example of a cry of a pained heart is David’s opening of Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Don’t be afraid to let God hear the cry of your own heart. Be reverent, but bold and address him as your loving Father.

Imagery

The Bible gives us a broad gallery of images we can use when we address God. As Witvliet notes,

We pray to Yahweh, the rock, the fortress, the hiding place, the bird with encompassing wings. These metaphors are not just theological constructs, but means of directly addressing God. As we pray them, these metaphors shape and reshape how we conceive of God. They hone our image of God with the very tools that God gave us: the biblical texts.

Use Scriptural metaphors to help you recognize the God to whom you’re appealing.

Direct discourse

Pour out your heart. God knows exactly what you are going through, but he wants you to put into your own words the grief or pain you’re feeling.

Specific petition

The purpose of a lament is to open your heart to uncover the petition you need to offer God. As Claus Westermann explains, “lamentation has no meaning in and of itself. . . . It functions as an appeal. . . . What the lament is concerned with is not a description of one’s own sufferings or with self-pity, but with the removal of the suffering itself. The lament appeals to the one who can remove suffering.”

Expression of hope

Finally, even while we may still be in pain, our lament should inspire hope, either in the near future or to the time when, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

Come soon, Lord Jesus.

All Made New: Old Is the Real Illusion

Oh, this piece from Jon Bloom at Desiring God is so good!

So many of us love these words written by Jeremiah, the lamenting prophet, which have sustained us in dark days:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
(Lamentations 3:22–23)

Have you ever wondered why Jeremiah says that God’s steadfast love and mercies never cease and yet they are new every morning? How is something that never ceases, new?

Every Single Moment Is New

We might say that Jeremiah is simply speaking phenomenologically, meaning itappears like God’s love and mercies are new with each new day, even though it’s not really new. But I don’t think that’s true. Jeremiah is not merely being more than poetic (which he is). I think there is a very real sense in which God’s enduring love and constant mercies are not only new every morning, but new every moment.

“God’s enduring love and constant mercies are not only new every morning, but new every moment.”  Tweet

Every single moment is new. Every moment is a completely unique creation by God the Father through God the Son who is upholding the universe at that moment by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:2–3). Never is a moment neglected. Never is a moment repeated. Each moment is a new, infinitely powerful and complex word spoken by the Word with deliberate intention (John 1:1). Every moment God makes he decides to be utterly faithful to his character and his purposes. Every new moment God commits to fulfill what he says he will do.

“Old” Is the Real Illusion

When it comes to experiencing things as new or old, I think we tend to interpret our phenomenological experience backwards. The real illusion is not that old things appear new to us (like God’s mercies or a sunrise), but that new things ever appear old. We think of things as new or old mainly because of our mortality. We, and all terrestrial life in this age, die. So we observe creation as it changes and life as it progresses toward death and call it aging. But that’s phenomenological; that’s how it appears. In reality, every thing is new every moment.

God is not old. God is. He calls himself the Ancient of Days to help us time-bound creatures grasp something of the vastness of his eternal nature (Daniel 7:9). But time itself is a creation of God. He is not defined by age.

Neither are you in essence young or old. You are. Young and old are phenomenological terms we use to describe our experience of time in this age and where we think we are on the progression toward physical death. But that’s a relative measurement. Measured against God or the created universe we are extremely new. But in reality, we exist in each brand new moment and each momentary experience is new. And everything we do is new. Whatever you are doing, no matter how many times you have done something similar before, you are not doing the same old thing. You are doing something new, something that has never been done before and will never be done again. We always exist in the new and always do what’s new.

“Behold, I Am Making All Things New”

In the age to come, I doubt very much that we will speak of things being old. All things will always be new because we will live with a far greater, unfiltered awareness and wonder of the continual creation of God without the time constriction of impending death. I think we will find that a world of wonderful mystery is packed into the promise, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). And I think we will find that there was more than we’ve ever imagined packed into the statement, “the old has passed away” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

God’s steadfast love and mercies for you are indeed new every morning. In fact, they are new with every new moment as he commits with a continually fresh resolve to keep his great faithfulness working for you.

Enjoy the gift of this new moment, whatever it brings, knowing that he who is “making all things new” for you is working all things together for your eternal, ageless good (Romans 8:28).

New Morning, New Intentions

Buried in the midst of the Book of Lamentations is this wonderful gem:

22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
(Lamentations 3:22-24)

Jim Martin at A Place For The God-Hungry reminds us that
This Morning Could Be Different for You:

"This morning many of us will begin a new work week. Consider how you might be more intentional about your week:

1. Choose to begin the new week by praying about what God might do in your life this week.
Pray for each person who you will be dealing with this week. Pray for your meetings. Pray for your conversations. Most of all, pray that you will be the husband, wife, father, mother who God has called you to be.

2. Choose to begin the new week by intending to bless those with whom you interact.
Some people do not bless but have a way of making regular withdrawals with people. They say something rude, self-centered, or obnoxious. Other people don’t make withdrawals but they don’t add anything of value to the conversation either. These people are so focused on themselves, they think a conversation is all about themselves. They are totally focused on what they want to say. Other people bless conversations. They encourage, build up, and bring out the best in people.

3. Choose to begin the new week by adding margin to your day.
Are you generally late? Do you pack your schedule too tightly? Do you find yourself leaving your house at the last minute only to discover that you are out of gas and your cell phone is about to die? Does this kind of thing happen again and again? This week choose to add margin. Choose to leave early instead of the last minute. Choose to think ahead and prepare. Taking care of the “little” things, like getting gas for the car, charging the cell phone, and leaving early instead of late can help you feel calmer about the day. You will be fresher and more fully present.

4. Choose to begin the new week by looking at your calendar for the week.
Look at the commitments and activities you have scheduled for each day. What projects are you working on this week? What errands do you need to run this week? What calls do you need to make? Who do you need to contact? Think about these before the week begins."

Good words on a new morning.