God's discipline and the book of Lamentations

[banjo71]

I've been experiencing some awfully hard times. I was led to open to Lamentations chapter 3 last night. I also found some commentary by John Calvin on the internet. What I have learned is that God's discipline can be more severe than any of us imagined. However, His love and mercies are still intact.

Here's some symptoms we are being disciplined by the Lord:

• Made to walk in darkness, not in light
• He has turned His hand against me
• Flesh is wasting away, bones are broken (metaphorically speaking)
• Bitterness and hardship
• Dwelling in dark places like those who have been long dead
• I cannot escape
• My chains are heavy
• He seems to shut out my prayers
• He has made me desolate
• His arrows have also entered my inward parts
• People mock me
• My soul is rejected from peace
• I've forgotten happiness
• It seems my strength has perished, so has my hope from the Lord
• I am greatly humbled as a result

The prophet in Lamentations (some say it's Jeremiah, some don't believe that) is greatly humbled by the discipline. My dealings with God's discipline have really not been discipline, but my own dealings with myself. Self pity and an attitude that if I beat myself up enough, God accepts my "repentance" and woos me back into His love.In reality, God's discipline is not self-inflicted, except that our folly and sin bring about God's discipline. But the things I mentioned above in the points - when they are happening, we feel despair, we sense that even our faith has failed. For God is neither listening to our prayer (it seems) and we feel that our strength and hope is perished from the Lord. This gives rise to the feeling our faith has failed completely.

But, The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, therefore I have hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that he wait silently for the salvation of the Lord. Let him sit alone and be silent, since He has laid it on him. Let him put his mouth in the dust, perhaps there is hope.

I found great hope in these last verses. It's as if I "found myself", or rather the Lord found me, embedded in the verses of Lamentations. I know now where I am. I am not lost. I haven't committed the unforgivable sin. I'm not so uniquely lost that God will never look at me again.

Where am I? I'm being disciplined by God, and what can I do? Wait for Him, continue to seek Him, wait silently for the salvation of the Lord. It's ok to put my mouth "in the dust", for perhaps there is hope, since the Lord's lovingkindnesses never cease, and His compassions never fail.

How do others react to this? I think many of my Christian friends keep telling me, "But Jesus died for your sins, so you won't have to feel this way." Where is the discipline of the Lord, then? How does one truly become humble thru despair so that they may truly repent, instead of half-effort repentances?

Is it not from the mouth of the most High, that both good and ill go forth?

I think to say these verses only apply to Israel at the time it was written is all but short sighted. Lamentations is about the faithful being disciplined by God. It's been neglected and not understood right.

To finish, I just want to bring out verses 31-36, showing the true heartbeat of God during discipline:

For the Lord will not reject forever, for if He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to his abundant lovingkindness. For He does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men, to crush under His feet all the prisoners of the land, to deprive a man of justice in the presence of the Most High, to defraud a man in his lawsuit - of these things the Lord does not approve

 

[Episkopos]

[*]Made to walk in darkness, not in light[*]He has turned His hand against me[*]Flesh is wasting away, bones are broken (metaphorically speaking)[*]Bitterness and hardship[*]Dwelling in dark places like those who have been long dead[*]I cannot escape[*]My chains are heavy[*]He seems to shut out my prayers[*]He has made me desolate[*]His arrows have also entered my inward parts[*]People mock me[*]My soul is rejected from peace[*]I've forgotten happiness[*]It seems my strength has perished, so has my hope from the Lord[*]I am greatly humbled as a result[/list]The prophet in Lamentations (some say it's Jeremiah, some don't believe that) is greatly humbled by the discipline. My dealings with God's discipline have really not been discipline, but my own dealings with myself. Self pity and an attitude that if I beat myself up enough, God accepts my "repentance" and woos me back into His love.In reality, God's discipline is not self-inflicted, except that our folly and sin bring about God's discipline. But the things I mentioned above in the points - when they are happening, we feel despair, we sense that even our faith has failed. For God is neither listening to our prayer (it seems) and we feel that our strength and hope is perished from the Lord. This gives rise to the feeling our faith has failed completely.

But, The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, therefore I have hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that he wait silently for the salvation of the Lord. Let him sit alone and be silent, since He has laid it on him. Let him put his mouth in the dust, perhaps there is hope.

I found great hope in these last verses. It's as if I "found myself", or rather the Lord found me, embedded in the verses of Lamentations. I know now where I am. I am not lost. I haven't committed the unforgivable sin. I'm not so uniquely lost that God will never look at me again.

Where am I? I'm being disciplined by God, and what can I do? Wait for Him, continue to seek Him, wait silently for the salvation of the Lord. It's ok to put my mouth "in the dust", for perhaps there is hope, since the Lord's lovingkindnesses never cease, and His compassions never fail.

How do others react to this? I think many of my Christian friends keep telling me, "But Jesus died for your sins, so you won't have to feel this way." Where is the discipline of the Lord, then? How does one truly become humble thru despair so that they may truly repent, instead of half-effort repentances?

Is it not from the mouth of the most High, that both good and ill go forth?

I think to say these verses only apply to Israel at the time it was written is all but short sighted. Lamentations is about the faithful being disciplined by God. It's been neglected and not understood right.

To finish, I just want to bring out verses 31-36, showing the true heartbeat of God during discipline:

For the Lord will not reject forever, for if He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to his abundant lovingkindness. For He does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men, to crush under His feet all the prisoners of the land, to deprive a man of justice in the presence of the Most High, to defraud a man in his lawsuit - of these things the Lord does not approve

Very good post! I think too many believers short-circuit the work of the cross that is necessary BEFORE we receive a more abundant life.