REMEMBER AND RESTORE

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In Christ, Mark

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

Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows. We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price.

Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest. We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment. Slaves rule over us, and there is no one to free us from their hands. We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert. Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger.

Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah. Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect. Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it.

You, Lord, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation. Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? Restore us to Yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old unless You have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.

Lamentations 5

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

Today, we finish the Book of Lamentations by looking at the entirety of Chapter 5 and a simple request from the people of God who were languishing in the harsh difficulties of a seventy year exile.

What was their request to the Lord?

Remember and restore.

Look again at our verses for today:

Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows. We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price.

Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest. We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment. Slaves rule over us, and there is no one to free us from their hands. We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert. Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger.

Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah. Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect. Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it.

You, Lord, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation. Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? Restore us to Yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old unless You have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure. Lamentations 5

First, the Israelites ask the Lord to remember, to remember what had happened to them through His judgment as they endured suffering and disgrace at the hands of their oppressors. They asked Him to remember that they had lost everything as their inheritance and homes were taken from them by the Babylonians. They asked Him to remember how so many of them had been violated, tortured, disrespected, or lost their lives in the whole process. And they asked Him to remember how they went from being fully provided for to scavenging just to survive, experiencing famine and paying for the water and wood they one had readily for free.

Where there had once been joy, there was now sorry and mourning. Where there was once vitality and life, there was just weariness and sleeplessness. Where there was once hope, there was now simply lamentation and despair.

Note that the Israelites fully understood why the crown had fallen from their heads, why the once revered, respected holy nation of Judah with its divine city of Jerusalem was reduced to rubble and became the laughingstock of the world.

It was because of their sins. They had created their own circumstances by rejecting and dishonoring God to the point where His wrath exceeded His mercy, triggering His punishment. They had reached rock bottom in their relationship with the very God who called them His own.

They had only one place to go from there and that was up. And the only way they were going to head in that direction was to once again return to the Lord who could lift them up to where they belonged.

And so that’s what they did. They turned back to the Lord, who they acknowledged would reign forever across the generations, and requested He do one thing for them.

They asked for His restoration.

Yes, God had placed them into captivity for seventy years. They had abandoned Him to worship other gods and so He showed them what it feels like to be abandoned.

Yes, God had forsaken them but not before they had forsaken Him first.

Yes, the Israelites had experienced God’s rejection but that was only after they had rejected Him.

Yes, God had shown them His anger, an anger beyond measure, but they had incited that anger through their wicked transgressions.

But God was still the God of grace and forgiveness and love. And although His people had wronged Him, they prayed that He would allow them to return to their homeland once again to rebuild their lives, their homes, and their relationship with Him. They hoped He would allow them to renew the days of old.

Well, the good news is that God heard these requests and answered them. We know the Israelites were liberated from their Babylonian captivity after their seventy year sentence was served. And we know they were restored to His favor and did not hesitate to changing their ways and recommitting themselves to His word, will, and way (for more on that, read the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah).

So what do we take away from this as we finish the study of Lamentations?

We will all go through hardships in life, some of which will be of our own doing from the result of sins we have committed. Through those times of difficulty, even when they are imposed on us by the Lord, we need to keep in mind that He is always a prayer away and that prayer can always be one that asks Him first to remember you and then to restore you.

Rest assured that He will always answer those requests in accordance with His will.

Tomorrow, we begin our journey through Ezekiel.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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