Summary: The survivors of the Babylonian destruction take stock and see that their sins brought the Babylonian tragedy on them. They endured punishment, but they turn to confession. We look at man’s justice against God’s justice. Actions have consequences. God’s anger pursued them.

THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS – PART 22 – NO COMPLAINT AGAINST GOD BUT SELF EXAMINATION NECESSARY; REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION - CHAPTER 3:39-43

Last time we finished with the way God dispenses good and ill (or good and evil) according to His sovereignty and the next verse, 39, follows on from that and is where we begin today.

PART [34]. SMILE – YOU ARE ON CANDID CAMERA

{{Lamentations 3:39 “WHY should any living mortal, or any man, OFFER COMPLAINT in view of his sins?”}}

There used to be a television series called, “This is Your Life,” where notable people had presented to them snippets of their lives from childhood to the present. It was always done in the good way – nothing incriminating would be presented. In that way the program was selective in chosen material.

Let us consider a man who stands before God, and “this is your life” is presented. All those ugly sins, hidden sins, unconfessed sins, they are all there on display. Now imagine that man remonstrating against God claiming his sins are not too bad and it is not his fault that those sins happened. He was born that way so it is not really his/her fault the life is what it was. After all he/she can’t be blamed because he/she did not ask to be born, so God THEREFORE is to blame for the sins!

Well, no person can complain to God about personal sins and excuse himself. In the judgement it will be 100% ownership and not even one feeble semblance of an excuse can be offered. Be warned, when you as a sinner stand before God at the great white throne you will claim 100% of the guilt. As for the Christian at the judgement seat of Christ, that is another natter we are not doing right now.

In the context of what Jeremiah wrote, I think the thrust is, “Why should any mortal man under the judgement of God at the overthrow of Jerusalem/Judah, try to offer any complaint against God for what happened? Don’t blame God. Blame your sins, that is, blame yourselves. Take ownership of it. You were warned over and over by the prophets what would happen if you continued in your disgraceful sins. You ignored the prophets, persecuting them and killing them, and now your sins have earned their wages.”

Jeremiah uses the words, “any living mortal,” so he must be referring to the people in his own time in the sense I just mentioned. I like the word “mortal” for here is puny, insignificant man, living in the power of the universe, trying to stand up to God. Man’s sins condemn him and we are without excuse. {{Romans 1:20-21 “for since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so THAT THEY ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE. Even though they knew God, they did not honour Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”}}

Man has no excuse, no complaint against the decisions of the Sovereign God. He is condemned by his own sins. He stands or falls on his unconverted record or any decision after that.

PART [35]. SELF EXAMINATION IS UTTERLY NECESSARY

{{Lamentations 3:40 “LET US examine and probe our ways, and LET US return to the LORD.”}}

Jeremiah addresses the remnant who remains after so many have been killed by Babylon, with stern and decisive words. Surely the people have learned their lesson! Have they truly learned their lesson or will they be like the people of the past who made all the promises to God, but history shows they immediately returned to their own ways back into sin. He calls for self-appraisement followed by a return to the LORD. When God chastises individuals and nations, this must be the next and vital step to take. Do we learn from God’s intervention? Does it have any lasting outcome on us? Nationally, the answer is NO, but individually, we sure hope so and many of us know so.

I believe a lot of these people, having realised the power of God, and understanding what they lost, did return to the LORD, examining themselves. What would that reveal? Well the sin of idolatry and the reprobate behaviour of the nation had to be acknowledged. For the backsliding Christian, that is where we must all begin in turning around to the Lord. We go back to where we left the rails and repair the damage. That repair is done through confession. It begins with conviction by the Holy Spirit, then action on our part according to 1 John 1:9-10.

In the preaching of the gospel, the preacher must make unsaved people aware of their sins and of the horrible penalty hovering over them. That will lead to conviction. The easy-believeism of certain of the Charismatic movement is a disgrace. It is “easy to come to Jesus”, just as easy as losing your salvation which is why at their meetings you see people constantly going out to be saved again. Easy-believing says, “All you need to do is just believe in Jesus.” It bypasses sin and the deep conviction of sin and genuine confession.

Those survivors of the Babylonian massacre were asked to examine and probe. That is not some surface thing but a deep inward examination, often accompanied by tears when the utter foulness of the human heart is opened before you. Their lives are exposed and only then can God step in after confession as the people return to the Lord.

If only preachers today would have a deep conviction of sin themselves and then preach on it, our churches would no longer be playthings, but take God seriously in holiness and righteousness. The church has too much apostasy in it, too much of the Laodicean spirit controlling it. I refer not only to the Word of Faith preachers but to the traditional churches as well including Baptist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Reformed, and all the other standard denominations.

Can I say something to the individual? Christians need to have this same spirit, to be frequently examining and probing their lives to see that the Lord has first place and that no sin is dominating the lives. Let a man examine himself. {{2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves, or do you not recognise this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test?”}}

PART [36]. LIFT UP YOUR HEARTS AND HANDS IN REPENTANCE

{{Lamentations 3:41 “We lift up our heart and hands toward God in heaven.”}}

Although I am separating the verses in this study, verse 41 must be placed in context with the next verse that says, {{Lamentations 3:42 “We have transgressed and rebelled. You have not pardoned.”}} That gives us the reason why hearts and hands are lifted up.

The sin of the people now is finally acknowledged because the LORD judged them severely, His hand leading to destruction. The time for assessment has come. In verse 40, they examined themselves; in verse 41 they turn to God; in verse 42 they confess their sins to the LORD who battered them. That is always the order in returning to God – examination, look to God, confession. That is man’s part. It is God’s part to forgive and restore. The Lord is faithful to the genuine repentant sinner, not to the one who lives with sham or pretense. The Lord knows the heart, and the genuineness of the individual.

Heart and hands. To me heart speaks of emotions and motive and the assessment we spoke about. Hands speak of direction. It all goes together. Our hearts convict of sin’s enormity and hands indicate the path to God who forgives that sin. Sometimes the only way God can meet a person is through deep tragedy. That is how it happened with reprobate Judah.

PART [37]. CONFESSION THAT IS TRUE

{{Lamentations 3:42 “We have transgressed and rebelled. You have not pardoned.”}}

When it says “You have not pardoned,” it does not mean God won’t forgive their repentance. It means God won’t overlook the sins of a nation or individual. Sin must have its reckoning. In Judah’s case God would not pardon them just because they are His chosen people. It does not work like that. Sin must pay its debt.

As I am revising this in late May 2025, a terrible news item was released today. In the city where I live, a man was sitting on the Esplanade where the Coral Sea is, minding his own business. I think he was about 50 something. An aborigine went to him for no reason and bashed him up pounding his head. That happened about one and a half to two years ago. The offender, the criminal, was held in custody for around 500 days before the trail.

The victim was so bad he had to have cranial operations and had to lean to eat again, talk again and function again as best as he could. Yesterday the judge in court sentenced the criminal to 3 years jail but said the 500 days in custody was sufficient and dismissed the charge, pardoning the criminal, and let the man go free. That is utterly disgusting and a disgrace, but it is awfully bad in the legal system in Queensland.

God does not work like that. He does not pardon the guilty party. He forgives the confession of sin always. Praise God that He judges impartially and His justice can not be questioned. There is a song from the operetta “The Mikado” that has this line – “let the punishment fit the crime”. Here is just part of that song sung by the Mikado –

“My object all sublime

I shall achieve in time—

To let the punishment fit the crime,

The punishment fit the crime;

And make each prisoner pent

Unwillingly represent

A source of innocent merriment,

Of innocent merriment!”

God will make the punishment fit the crime and not like the corrupt distortions of human justice.

In the wilderness after exiting Egypt, the Israelites sinned and God did not pardon them just because He delivered them. Sin has to be accounted for. They were judged accordingly. In this verse 42 here, the survivors repent of their transgression and rebellion, but importantly, they acknowledge that God will not pardon (overlook, dismiss, disregard) the horrible national sin of Judah. Pardoning can only come when sin has been dealt with and the penalty has been fully met. For us it is the cross.

All sin has accountability, and for those who confess their sins in repentance, it is the cross that covers their sin. Israel's sin would not be swept under the carpet and the Lord’s judgement came upon Israel time and time again. They could never learn though, and today are in rebellion and rejection, with the unseen hand of God on them for protection.

When they return to God nationally, this is written of that time - {{Jeremiah 32:37-42 “Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety, and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good, and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul, for thus says the LORD, Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.”}}

PART [38]. THE SWORD OF THE LORD AGAINST SINFUL JUDAH

{{Lamentations 3:43 “You have covered Yourself with ANGER and pursued us. You have SLAIN and have not spared.”}}

This verse continues the idea of the previous verse. That is, the LORD will not pardon sin, nor turn His anger away, nor spare the nation when all else fails unless there is a national repentance. It was never too late for Judah to repent and that is seen in Jeremiah’s preaching. This passage demonstrated God’s perseverance and tolerance up to the point of no return –

{{Jeremiah 18:7-11 “At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it. If that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it. If it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it. So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.”’}}

However when revelation is rejected and ears are stopped up and hearts turn to stone, there is no more God can do except move in judgement and that is what Judah experienced. God’s anger pursued them, and their slain fell in the streets. God was justified in all that, and man has no right to question God for His actions. The Lord is no man’s debtor, but whatever a person sows, the same shall he reap. One physical aspect of laws that operate in the universe is that of action and reaction. All actions will have a corresponding reaction. All deeds have consequences and that is true in spiritual matters also. Judah reaped the consequences sadly for the people.

As I write this, a very terrible thing has happened. On his last day of office on 20 January 2025, President Joseph Biden issued a whole lot of pre-emptive pardons for guilty people and criminals in the United States, including all his family members. He had done that a bit earlier for his own criminal son and other people guilty of criminal acts, so they would not face prosecution. Biden has pardoned the criminals but he himself is guilty of many criminal acts.

This is like Satan coming along with pre-emptive pardons for the traitor Judas Iscariot; and a pardon for Haman the Persian, and another for Herod the Great, the Edomite who murdered all the male children in Judah at the time of Christ's birth. Satan would do this so that they do not face the justice at the great white throne.

Well it does not work like that. Satan’s men, and Biden’s men will all be answerable to God one day and no one will escape God’s justice in judgement – {{Hebrews 9:27 “Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and AFTER THIS COMES JUDGMENT,”}}

Another terrible thing happened in the United States at this same time. Many wild bushfires ravaged California and Los Angles. The whole tragedy is that there was no water for firefighters to access because there was no stored up water. The great water supply in a river had been diverted away from southern California into the Pacific Ocean because of communist, green ideology from the Democrats where a fish was rated above the population, and so many people suffered because of that. Actions have consequences.

Yes, Judah, your actions have consequences and your actions over the centuries that God hated and sent prophets to speak with you about but you killed them – these actions of yours resulted in your overthrow and all the misery you are experiencing. As Jeremiah described it – You covered Yourself in anger and pursued the people, slaying and not sparing. They knew it, but it was too late for them after the event.