IN THE MIDST OF CORRECTION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have sprinkled dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.

My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city. They say to their mothers, “Where is bread and wine?” as they faint like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their lives ebb away in their mothers’ arms.

What can I say for you? With what can I compare you, Daughter Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you, Virgin Daughter Zion?

Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you? The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The prophecies they gave you were false and misleading.

All who pass your way clap their hands at you; they scoff and shake their heads at Daughter Jerusalem:

“Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?”

All your enemies open their mouths wide against you; they scoff and gnash their teeth and say, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day we have waited for; we have lived to see it.”

The Lord has done what He planned; He has fulfilled His word, which He decreed long ago. He has overthrown you without pity, He has let the enemy gloat over you, He has exalted the horn of your foes.

Lamentations 2:10-17

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

No one enjoys discipline and that’s the point of it. It’s meant to be unpleasant, to teach us a lesson when we go through it, most often that lesson being to never repeat the wrong you committed again.

Go back in time, remember your childhood, and think of a time when your parents needed to correct you?

I certainly can remember more than a few instances when it happened to me.

As you think about that discipline, think about the consequences your parents put in place, measures implemented with the intent of correcting you.

Maybe you lost a privilege (no television, no driving, etc.).

Maybe you weren’t allowed to do something you wanted to do (go on a school outing, go out with friends, etc.).

Maybe you were grounded, confined and restricted in the house and not allowed to go out unless it was to school or church.  

None of these experiences was fun to go through but as we look at our scripture passage for today, we’ll see that our difficulties paled in comparison to the hardship the Israelites went through when God brought His consequences on them after they stirred His anger by disrespecting and disobeying His commands. Look again at what happened to Israelites as they had God’s judgment carried out on them:

The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have sprinkled dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.

My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city. They say to their mothers, “Where is bread and wine?” as they faint like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their lives ebb away in their mothers’ arms.

What can I say for you? With what can I compare you, Daughter Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you, Virgin Daughter Zion?

Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you? The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The prophecies they gave you were false and misleading.

All who pass your way clap their hands at you; they scoff and shake their heads at Daughter Jerusalem:

“Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?”

All your enemies open their mouths wide against you; they scoff and gnash their teeth and say, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day we have waited for; we have lived to see it.”

The Lord has done what He planned; He has fulfilled His word, which He decreed long ago. He has overthrown you without pity, He has let the enemy gloat over you, He has exalted the horn of your foes. Lamentations 2:10-17

In the midst of correction, here’s some of the things the people of God went through:

1. Deep mourning and despair.

The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have sprinkled dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.

2. Heartbreaking sadness and gut-wrenching torment.

My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city. They say to their mothers, “Where is bread and wine?” as they faint like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their lives ebb away in their mothers’ arms.

3. Unprecedented difficulty and hardship.

What can I say for you? With what can I compare you, Daughter Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you, Virgin Daughter Zion? Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you?

4. Violation of trust and betrayal.

The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The prophecies they gave you were false and misleading.

5. Humiliation and dishonor.

All who pass your way clap their hands at you; they scoff and shake their heads at Daughter Jerusalem:

“Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?”

All your enemies open their mouths wide against you; they scoff and gnash their teeth and say, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day we have waited for; we have lived to see it.”

6. Separation from God.

The Lord has done what He planned; He has fulfilled His word, which He decreed long ago. He has overthrown you without pity, He has let the enemy gloat over you, He has exalted the horn of your foes.

Remember how I said discipline wasn’t fun. I think the Israelites would fully agree with that statement. For their punishment wasn’t just for a few days, a week, or even a month. Rather, they had to endure seventy years of oppressive exile and captivity.

That’s a long time to suffer and a good reason why none of us should ever do anything that would bring on God’s judgment where we would be in the midst of His correction.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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