THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS – PART 19 – BEAR THE YOKE IN YOUTH AND IF NEED BE, BOW DOWN IN ACCEPTANCE AND SUBMISSION. THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE - CHAPTER 3:27-29
In the last two messages we wrapped our thoughts around some of the loveliest verses in the bible that spoke about the kindness and compassion of the Lord. We saw the importance of waiting on the Lord and seeking Him. Waiting on the Lord was to wait silently on the Lord.
The Lord is our portion and our hope is in Him. He is our righteousness. All those verses in that small area are such a delight, but they are sitting in the midst of the greatest suffering Judah had ever had to that point in time. It is not easy to apply these positive and assuring facts when death is all around and the misery is indescribable. If you have not read the previous two messages, please do so.
PART [25]. BEAR THE YOKE IN YOUR YOUTH (IF YOU ARE THAT AGE)
{{Lamentations 3:27 “It is good for a man that he should BEAR THE YOKE in his youth.”}}
Remember we are in the practical instructions associated with waiting and seeking the God who is good, found in verses 26-30. We might well ask, “What does it mean to bear the yoke in his youth?” I rarely study commentaries when writing and preparing messages. I rely on what the Lord gives, rather than to be influenced by others. However in some matters there are things I want to check and in this case I needed some background and opinion, so I did resort to some commentaries. Here is the explanation of this verse on BibleHub:-
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
“in his youth - in the time when his passions are strongest and therefore most need the discipline, which, if established in its seat then, will hold sway throughout his life.”
The Pulpit Commentary
“In his youth. The thought of this verse reminds us of Psalm 119:71. Youth is mentioned as the time when it is easier to adapt one's self to circumstances, and when discipline is most readily accepted.”
Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament
“Hence it is also good for man to bear a yoke in youth that he may exercise himself in calm waiting on the help of the Lord. In the present context, the yoke is that of sufferings, and the time of youth is mentioned as the time of freshness and vigour, which render the bearing of burdens easier. He who has learned in youth to bear sufferings, will not sink into despair should they come on him in old age.”
Matthew Poole's Commentary
“Yoke, (because indeed it is so to flesh and blood,) Matthew 11:29. It is not so easy to bend a neck stiffened with age, or change a heart made hard by custom. Solomon bids us to train up one in their youth in the way we would have them to walk; and whether God will tame us when young by his word or by his rod, it is of advantage to a man.”
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
The yoke - Or, a "yoke." By bearing a yoke in his youth, i.e. being called upon to suffer in early age, a man learns betimes the lesson of silent endurance, and so finds it more easy to be calm and patient in later years.”
PART [26]. BEAR UP UNDER THE LOAD GOD GIVES YOU
{{Lamentations 3:28 “Let him sit alone and be silent since He has laid it on him.”}}
This verse links with the previous verse 27 about bearing the yoke. Those given the yoke by the Lord must sit alone (meaning not in mirth or carelessness, but soberly) and carefully consider what the Lord’s hand means. It is your burden, your yoke, so bear it alone. I know this verse appears to contradict this one – {{Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.”}} But that is followed by {{Galatians 6:5 “for each one shall bear his own load.”}}
Because the Lord has given this burden then we must not complain, but be silent and endure under the hand of God. In a sense, suffering by one of God’s children brings glory to the Father in heaven. We must be wise here and discern if God has allowed the suffering to come on us, or if we brought it upon ourselves. I know this is a tricky one in the permissive will of God. I have not always been able to work that out.
Even if we brought this yoke on our own necks by sin or some other reason, then it is also true that God will not abandon one of His own redeemed souls, and we must repent, not complain, be silent, and seek the restoration of God. 1 John 1:9-10 truly applies.
There is a National application here to Judah. The surviving population after the Babylonian overthrow was greatly humbled and there was recognition that their calamity was because of their sin. Their overthrow was the cause of some turning back to God, and the instruction for those would be to be silent (not grumble or complain about their circumstances) and bear up under the yoke placed on them, for they brought it upon their own beings.
PART [27]. THERE IS NO HOPE EXCEPT THROUGH GENUINE HUMILITY
{{Lamentations 3:29 “Let him put his mouth in the dust. Perhaps there is hope.”}}
A man in defeat would be humbled by bowing down before his conqueror with his face to the ground and in many cases kissing the dust. By doing this, the third/fourth verse of instruction for the defeated people comes into play. The man in question is bearing the yoke placed upon him and one aspect of that is the humility of defeat. What was brought upon the nation by their own idolatrous sin, they now have to acknowledge. The modern world has an expression in this regard – “sucking it up”.
Again I will revert to what Keil and Delitzsch have said – [["Let him put his mouth in the dust," i.e., humbly bow beneath the mighty hand of God. The expression is derived from the Oriental custom of throwing oneself in the most reverential manner on the ground, and involves the idea of humble silence, because the mouth, placed in the dust, cannot speak. The clause, "perhaps there is hope," indicates the frame of mind to be observed in the submission. While the man is to show such resignation, he is not to give up the hope that God will deliver him from trouble.]]
Broadly in this world there are the “haves” and “the have nots”. That is not what God ever intended, but is what man’s governance has given the world. It is wrong but it exists. In general ways, the have nots are subservient to the haves and we see the great disparity in the world, individually and nationally.
In the directive will of God this verse applies (part of Hannah’s prayer) – {{1 Samuel 2:7 “The LORD makes poor and rich. He brings low. He also exalts.”}} The Lord never makes poor and rich so that the rich lord it over the poor. What happened to Judah explains the verse. God’s judgement on His own people brought them low; made them poor. However that is not the end of the matter. The next verse states what God does once a man and woman is humbled to know his poverty state spiritually, and turns to the Lord – {{1 Samuel 2:8 “HE RAISES THE POOR FROM THE DUST. He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with nobles and inherit a seat of honour, for the pillars of the earth are the LORDS, and He set the world on them.”}}
The LORD will bring proud man down into the dust, but in repentance and humiliation, He raises them from the dust. Our western world will be brought down into the dust because it is a most wicked and vile people at the end of the Church age. God might overlook sin (“winked at” it - KJV) as Paul explained in Acts 17:30, but that is but for a time. He will exact the correct wrath against that sin, and it is the Tribulation that is coming.
Both James and Peter mention this matter in their letters – {{James 4:10 “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”}} {{1 Peter 5:6 “Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you at the proper time.” There is absolutely no place for pride in the life of a child of God. Nothing you have is from yourself. It is all through the grace of God. May we never forget that. Figuratively we are putting our mouths in the dust.
There is another small passage I think is worth looking at. It is set in the period of Israel's restoration after the Messiah returns at the Second Coming. Here it is – {{Isaiah 49:22-23 “Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations and set up My standard to the peoples, and they will bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders, (Isaiah 49:23) and kings will be your guardians, and their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth and lick the dust of your feet, and you will know that I am the LORD. Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.”}}
In verse 22, the Lord will cause the nations to return all the Jews scattered through the earth to Israel. They will do that willingly and joyfully and Isaiah covers that in detail in Isaiah 66:19-21. In verse 23 above the world’s redeemed nations will humble themselves before Israel, or more to the point, to the KING who reigns in Jerusalem. See Zechariah 14 for more on that. The licking the dust in Isaiah 49:23 is not defeat or ignominious force, but of humility and joy and submission.
Every single person who has lived, and who is alive when the Lord returns, will stand or fall in submission at the feet of Jesus (and kiss the dust). All will be forced to confess that He is Lord. The redeemed of the Lord gladly welcome Him as king and Lord in their lives, but the unrepentant and the God-deniers will fall into this passage – {{Philippians 2:9-11 “Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”}}
The same thought was expressed to the Romans – {{Romans 14:11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.”}}. That quote there comes from an interesting few verses in the Old Testament and we take a brief look at it –
{{Isaiah 45:21-24 “Declare and set forth your case. Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? and there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Saviour. THERE IS NONE EXCEPT ME. TURN TO ME AND BE SAVED, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH for I am God and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself - the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, THAT TO ME EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, EVERY TONGUE WILL SWEAR ALLEGIANCE. They will say of Me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’ Men will come to Him, AND ALL WHO WERE ANGRY AT HIM SHALL BE PUT TO SHAME.”}}
There will be an awful lot of people who were angry in this life at God, and abusive and foul-mouthed and hostile and defiant, and are God-rejecters, who will be forced to bow the knees in shame. They will be forced to admit “THERE IS NO OTHER GOD BESIDES ME, A RIGHTEOUS GOD AND A SAVIOUR,” but it will be too late for them.
The Lord is longsuffering not willing that any should perish and that is why His grace extends even to you if you are not saved. Going to a church will not save you. Going through the rituals will not save you. You need to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That does not mean just believing in Him for Satan does that.
It means you must be convicted of your sin realising you are lost and heading for hell. You must confess you are a sinner and repent from that sin. Then you ask the Lord Jesus Christ into your life to save you. Repentance means to change your mind and turn around and walk in a new direction with God.
