TROUBLE DON’T LAST ALWAYS
LAMENTATIONS 3:18-23
Intended for Reading on the Lord’s Day February 21, 2010
Delivered By Rev. Kelvin L. Parks
At Shiloh Baptist Church of Waukegan. Waukegan, Illinois
• I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
• My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
• O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.
• I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
• They looked unto Him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
• This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
• The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
• O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
(Psalms 34:1-8)
Good Morning ... and too, God be the Glory!
I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. I would like to thank Pastor Francis for this opportunity to stand behind this desk in proxy for him to preach God’s Word (thank you kind sir) ... and there is a Word from the LORD...
So let us turn our hearts and our Bibles to Lamentations 3:18-23
(v.18) And I said, my strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
(v.19) Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
(v.20) my soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
(v.21) this I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
(v.22) it is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
(v.23) They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Turn to your neighbor and say ... Neighbor I’M SO GLAD ... TROUBLE DON’T LAST ALWAYS
You may be seated...
I’M SO GLAD ... TROUBLE DON’T LAST ALWAYS
The book of Lamentations is filled with tears and sorrow. One preacher referred to it as a paean of pain, a poem of pity, a proverb of pathos, a hymn of heartbreak, a psalm of sadness, a symphony of sorrow, a story of sifting, a tale of tears, a dirge of desolation, a tragedy of travail, an account of agony, and a book of “boo-hoos.”
In fact, some call it the ... wailing wall of the Bible. No Memphis blues singer has ever sung a sadder song ... than what is contained in the Book of Lamentations.
These five chapters are a series of dirges or funeral hymns in which the writer describes and laments over the desolation of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. In other words, Lamentations is this writer’s response to Judah’s chastening by the hand of GOD.
Now ... I do not know anyone who ever enjoyed getting a whipping. Whether it was a whipping from your parents are a spiritual chastening by GOD. In fact, scripture tells us in
Proverbs 3:11-12: “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”
While I understand and realize that, the stripes from a whipping are for our own good. At least that is what my daddy told me when he said, son, this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you. Yet, I think it safe to say that nobody in here enjoyed the pain and bruises that the whipping caused.
Well ... that is what has taking place in our text. Judah and its capital Jerusalem had suffered a spanking under the hands of GOD, and had fallen to the Babylonian army under Nebuchadnezzar.
The city and those left alive are in a crisis and the siege has taken its toll.
The survivors are desperate for food, for their fortunes, and for their futures. They looked around but no help came from their allies. In fact, God had caused their former allies to turn against them in her hour of need.
The kingdom and city that was once a queen among the nations is now like a hopeless widow. The thing that hurts the writer of Lamentations the most is the realization that this chastening could have been avoided and that this is their own fault.
You see ... in Deuteronomy 11, God offers Israel a choice: either a life of productivity and enjoyment made possible by obedience to Him, or a life of difficulty and opposition made necessary by disobedience. Unfortunately, over and over again, they chose the latter.
And as a result of Judah’s sin, they have lost the peace, happiness, and hope that they once enjoyed.
Well ... some of you may be feeling that way today that you have lost your peace, happiness, and hope. Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m so glad ... trouble don’t last always.
Within our text this morning, are words of comfort to God’s people when we are in trouble and distressed.
And this is good news, because ... somebody... needs to know this morning that YES ...we will all face tragedy in our lives, but in the midst of our affliction, shines a ray of hope.
So let us examine our text...
We need to point out that while the author of our text is not revealed, it is believed that this is the weeping prophet Jeremiah speaking.
(v.18) And I said, my strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
And “I said,” look who’s talking
I’m a firm believer that we make our situation worst ... the moment we start complaining, and most of the time when we are complaining ... we don’t even realize what we are saying, we haven’t a clue!
Watch this (v.18)... now it is one thing to say “And I said, my strength and my hope is perished (period, end of the sentence).
However, it is another to say, “My strength and my hope from the LORD is perished.”
Notice he says ... “I said,” in other words, this is a settle conviction. He is firm, his mind is made-up like a parent who tells her child, I SAID go to your room! There is no arguing, there is no back talk.
I don’t want to hear what you have to say, my mind is made up. I SAID!
This conviction points directly to the fact that his faith was not just slightly shaken, but had whole-heartedly failed.
Watch this ... he said that “my strength”
Hebrew word: Nēṣaḥ (net-sah): means future, or victory. This word carries with it the idea of a faint light at the end of a distant tunnel.
You know ... it is one thing to be broke and hungry and you know that payday is tomorrow.
Yet, it is another to be broke and hungry and you realize that you do not have a job.
Some who find themselves in that situation might say, my strength, my Nēṣaḥ, my future, my victory is dead!
However, the question is, how did he get this way?
Well, it is right here in our text ...
(v.18) We have already discovered that Jeremiah has lost his strength, and his hope for the future. The light at the end of the tunnel has gone out ... but why.
Notice (v.18) he says and my hope.
You know, it is quite interesting when we look at the actual definition of the word hope.
This word in the Hebrew means tôḥelet (toe-hel’-leth), which means expectation.
It is derived from the root yāḥal
(yaw-chal’) which means to
* to wait
* to be patient
* cause to have, or make to have hope
* stay
* tarry
* trust
* to be in pain (cf. you know, like the Apostle Paul who prayed thrice (three times) for God to heal his body. But God said “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor 12:9
So, in essence Jeremiah has given up on his expectation of God’s ability to help him.
In other words ... all hope was lost because he believed God has withdrawn (and reneged) and took back His strength and now he is in essence saying...
* I’m tired of waiting,
* I’m tired of being patient
* I’m tired of this pain
* I’m tired of staying because nothing seems to change
* I’m tired of trusting cause I don’t see any evidence that things are going to get better
* So don’t tell be to tarry; you tarry
* I quite
What we have here is a struggle between unbelief and faith. You see ... on one hand, Jeremiah rightly attributes that God is the source of his strength and hope.
However, while on the other, he was persuaded that God had forsaken him, so he has made up in his mind (v.18) And “I said,” my strength and my hope is perished from the LORD
And what brought Jeremiah to this conclusion ... well, it is right here in our text (v.19). You see, this whole thing started in his mind.
(v.19) says “Remembering mine affliction and my (maw-rood’) misery, the wormwood and the (roshe) gall
You know ... sometimes you cannot see the forest for the trees. We can be so caught up in remembering the past that we lose all hope for the future. If we are not careful, we will remember our way right out of a blessing.
(v.19) In proper context, the Hebrew writer is referring to Jerusalem’s state of destitution, hostility, and bitterness.
In which he had lost all hope because he remembers his affliction and his (maw-rood’), the wormwood and the (roshe)
So, he finds it difficult to be diverted from his somber frame of mind. In essence, this verse ties back to (v.18) and now Jeremiah is trying to justify or should I say make excuses as to why he lost hope in God.
He blames his lack of faith on his extreme circumstances and the fact that he is so pressed down by his affliction.
However, we should not read the text and try to criticize Jeremiah or think it strange that he has responded this way. Because as believers, we are not excluded from trials and despair; beside we have failed from far less affliction.
For some of us the slightest change in the wind ... will cause us to fall to our knees and cry out to GOD ...woe is me. We will even complain at the mere forecast of a “chance of rain”
Watch this...
(v.20) my soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
HUMBLED: Shûaḥ (shoo’-akh): This Hebrew verb means
* to be bowed down
* to be downcast
* It refers to the despair of one’s soul
* It refers to the despair one’s life that is broken within
* or one’s life that has sunk into the ground in utter hopelessness
It is interesting how something can move from the mind, to the soul. You see...
* it is one thing to have a nasty taste in your mouth about somebody or something
* Yeah, that is bad enough
* It is one thing when you detest or despise someone or something
* Yeah, that is even worst
* but it is another when that pain has consumed you and now its deep and starting to overwhelm your inner most being
So, can you understand what he is feeling
When he says ... Oh the (maw-rood’) the misery this thing has caused, oh the (roshe) the gall, deep seeded bitterness that this thing has caused in my life.
LORD HELP... this situation ... has got a hold on me!
What we see here is the conduct of a person in deep anguish. In fact, this is an excellent word picture of what happens when the soul is convicted and humbles itself.
It is as if the soul goes into some secret place and says shhhhhhhh!
Once it is quite then gives himself over to moaning and tears, and then he bows himself before God, as if the soul says ... This mortal man has tried everything ... but I’m taking over now
The soul says ... I’m in control, I got this, I will take it from here.
It is as ... if the soul is saying ... I have to do something. This mortal man decisions will affect my future destination... and if I do not act, I’m going to end up in the pit with him...
So here is what we are going to do ... I’m going to humble myself, which in turn will cause him to humble himself in complete submission to God, and to lie in the very dust of his despair.
I like this right here ... the text tells us that his soul is humbled. In other words, something on the inside got a hold of him. Ya’ll don’t hear me. Something on the inside brought about a change in his mind
You see, Jeremiah wanted to quit and he wanted to throw in the towel, and say take this job and shove it ... but something on the inside caused him to say in Jeremiah 20:9 “but his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing and I could not stay.”
You see ... something on the inside has reminded him that
* his battle belongs to the LORD
* he could lift up his eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh his help. His help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
* no weapon formed against him will prosper
* weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning
Oh yeah ... he is about to ascend from the pit to the pinnacle and the mind that once caused him to doubt now, reminds him that ... trouble don’t last all ways.
Some of you may be feeling like Jeremiah this morning, and ready to throw in the towel ... and declare that all hope is lost.
Well, let me encourage you. Don’t give up the fight, you see...
* God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us
* I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread
* we are more than conquerors through Him that love us
* I am persuaded that neither death, nor life
* nor angels, nor principalities
* nor powers, nor things present
* nor things to come
* nor height, nor depth
* Nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of GOD,
* which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Somebody needs to know this morning that man’s extremity, even when all hope seems lost, that this is God’s opportunity.
You see ... something on the inside got a hold on Jeremiah and he is started to remember, and a striking miracle is about to take place in his thinking.
In his loneliness, Jeremiah reviewed his experiences. He then began to reevaluate his situation. This brought him a feeling that hope just might be on the horizon.
At the very moment when we are at our lowest well, this just might be a good time for us to renew our minds ... by remembering that God has never failed us, so why should He start now.
Watch this...
(v.21) this I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
Notice he says, this I recall. The word “this” helps us to understand that he is still wrestling with some things in his mind.
In (v.18) he remembered his affliction, which caused him to lose hope. Now in (v.21) he has recalled something that has caused him to have hope.
We have here a tug-of-war in the mind.
The word recall is the Hebrew verb
Shûb (shuub): which means to return
Well ... what is he returning to? Notice (v.21) says “this I recall.”
Well, that just lead to the second question, what is “this” that he recalled?
John Calvin says the word “this” in (v.21) refers to the infirmities (misery, gall) which Jeremiah described in (v.18).
The idea here is that his very weakness caused him to return to God. In his weakness, he finds hope that God will step in and supply the strength that he needs.
The word picture here is the same as that of the prodigal son, who after he had blown all of his inheritance, found himself eating the slop that he fed the pigs. Luke 15:17 says, “And when he came to himself...” This simply means that he recalled and remembered how good he had it in his father’s house, so he returned home.
Watch this Lamentation 3:22
Here is what I like to call the grace of the text... notice
(v.22) it is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Well, we will get to the compassions, but let us first deal with Mercies. This Hebrew noun ḥesed (hay-sid) is translated “loving-kindness” over 30 times in the Old Testament.
It is a very expressive word that conveys all the ideas of “love, grace, mercy, faithfulness, goodness, and devotion.”
Grace is defined as “The unmerited love and favor of God toward sinners.”
Well... somebody here needs to understand that same grace is still made available for us today. You see we simply need to remember that...
* It is God’s grace that saved us. Only grace could have reached down and picked us up out of our lost and doomed condition.
Ephesians 2:8-9
(v.8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (v.9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Well ... we can’t talk about grace without talking about compassion
This Hebrew word is pronounced raḥamîm (rah’-hum): literally means “womb.”
It means, “to be moved in the heart out of love for another.”
This word is a picture of the grace of God actively moving in the life of the believer.
You see ... compassion is a word of action. Contrary to popular belief, it is more than pity or sympathy, because it causes us to do something.
The Bible says Jesus was “moved with compassion” and as result, He healed the sick, fed the hungry, cast out demons, and died on an old rugged cross for you and for me.
Now notice in our text (v.22-23) that Jeremiah points out two things concerning the mercies and compassions of God.
#1 (v.22). “They fail not”
This verse speaks directly to God’s immutability, which simply means that God cannot change! He cannot get better, He cannot get worst.
In fact, God says in Malachi 3:6 say, “For I am the Lord, I change not;
It is good to know ... that God never fails to be compassionate. Isn’t it wonderful to know that the judgment of God never comes until every means of grace has been exhausted (now, that is compassion).
#2 “They are new every morning” (v.23)
It seems that God is looking for some way to demonstrate His love for us each new day.
Not only did we have the mercies and compassions of God when we were saved, but we have them now, and they are new every morning.
Every morning we have fresh instances of God’s compassion towards us!
* He gives us the life and the air we breathe
* He supplies the earth with the sunshine and the rain it need to produce food for us to eat
* He paints beautiful sunrises and sunsets across the sky for our enjoyment.
* He smiles upon us each day with more blessings than we can possibly think of or imagine.
This verse simply means that His loving-kindness and compassion can never be exhausted. We wake up every morning to find new resources to encourage us.
Our Father loves us so much ... that He does not want us to have old stale mercies and compassion to live from during the day.
And I thank Him for that ... because, today is a new day. I will never see February, 20 2010, again in my life...
What we face today, is not the same things you faced on yesterday, or what you will face tomorrow. Each day has its own trials and difficulties that are unique to that day. Our Father knows that, so He gives us new and fresh mercies and compassions that are just what we need for each day.
(v.23) ... great is thy faithfulness.
The word “Faithfulness” means “firmness, fidelity, steadiness, and steadfastness.”
This word pictures God as One upon Whom we can depend.
* He is faithful to finish the good work that He has started in you (Phil 1:6)
* He is faithful to chasten us when we are wrong. Heb 12:6 “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”
* He is faithful to forgive us when we do confess our sins (1 John 1:9)
* He is faithful to sympathize when we have burdens and problems (Heb 4:15) ”For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
Great is thy faithfulness...
* He is faithful to deliver when we cry out for help in a time of temptation. (1 Cor. 10:13) “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
* He is faithful to save a lost sinner like you and like me (1 Tim. 1:15) “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”
Great ... is thy faithfulness.
Yes, we can commit our lives and souls into the hands of our faithful Creator and know that He will always be faithful. In times of trouble, we need to imitate Jeremiah who looked away from ourselves and look to the Lord, and wait on the Lord in patience and faith.
Too often, we look at our problems and ourselves and become so discouraged that we quit.
Instead, we must “look unto Jesus” and let Him see us through the troubles.
When your heart becomes overwhelmed by, the circumstances of life and you feel that even God has deserted you.
Remember, His mercies, His compassions, and His faithfulness and you will be able to have hope in the midst of any storm.
In that, we can be sure that as we face the storms, trials and valleys of life, God will always prove Himself to be steadfast and faithful to you and me. Simply put, God is saying ... you can count on Me!
Somebody needs to know and be confident in that fact that the Lord will give you the necessary strength to face the trying times of life.
I need to let somebody know, that you will never face a situation as a believer that God will not give grace to help you make it through.
* Each day come with new opportunities to get right what I messed up on yesterday
* Each new day brings new opportunities to tell Him ... Thank you, for saving a wretch like me
* New day new opportunity to tell Him thank you for shining a light in my dark situation, when I couldn’t see my way through
* When I thought that there was no way out ... You showed mercy and compassion and stepped in and saved me.
That is why ... I’m so glad that trouble don’t last always
Why ... because great is thy faithfulness.
* He was faithful even to the cross
* To died for you and for me
* Isaiah says 53
(v.3) He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
(v.4) Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
(v.5) But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
(v.6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
(v.7) He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
(v.8) He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Simply put ... died
But, I’m so glad trouble, don’t last always ... Because early, Sunday Monday -- He got up will al power in His hand.
If you do not remember anything else I said ... remember that God is faithful.
Just as every new day brings with it its own set of burdens and problems, so each day brings a new, unfailing, all-sufficient, supply of God’s marvelous, matchless, wonderful, amazing grace.
Brothers and Sisters, I would to remind you that God knows where you are in your life today. Hope, not despair is the final word in Lamentations, and that is what I want to leave you with
We started ... this message with Psalm 34, where we declared in (v.1) I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Well ... I think it only fitting that we end here in Psalm 34 with words found in verses 15-22, where it says
(v.15) The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
(v.16) The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
(v.17) The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
(v.18) The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
(v.19) Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
(v.20) He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
(v.21) Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
(v.22) The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.
Invitation
The Door of the Church is open...
There may be someone today who feels like they have lost all hope. Well, I encourage you to cry out with the same words as Jeremiah when he said in 17:14:
“Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed: save me; and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.”
There may be someone here, who has not accepted Christ as your personal Savior.
You can do that right now by getting up from where you are and walking down these isles and giving me your hand and God your heart.
* I invite you to come to Jesus ... this morning and He will save your soul.
* God can save your soul by His marvelous grace, if you will but look to Him in faith
All you have to do is ... stop trusting in yourself, in your own goodness; and if you will come to God confessing your sins and calling on Jesus for salvation, God will save your soul.
Romans 10:9-10, 13
(v.9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
(v.10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
(v.13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Is there one, You can come as
* A Candidate for baptism
* By Letter
* Statement of faith
* Or under watch care
Benediction
Now unto him that is able
to keep you from falling,
and to present you faultless
before the presence
of his glory with exceeding joy,
To the only wise God our Saviour,
be glory and majesty,
dominion and power,
both now and ever.
Amen.
