Bible Reading

Lamentations Chapter 4 - Continuing to Mourn

Why is there a need to mourn even after finding hope?

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5 loaves of bread

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2 min read

The opening of Lamentations 4 calls back to the opening of Lamentations - "How lonely sits the city" / "How the gold has become dim!". Does this seem odd after the prayer of hope in Lamentations 3? Why should the prophet continue to mourn after finding hope in the Lord and His faithfulness?

For me, this emphasises the importance of mourning in repentance. If we only look to God’s mercy and faithfulness and stop looking at our own broken state, it becomes easy to overlook our own sins and repeat our mistakes.

For Judah, her desolation was easy to see - the physical state of their city was a direct reflection of the state of their faith. But for us today, we may be doing very well in the world - rich, healthy, and in need of nothing - but our spiritual lives may be wretched, blind and poor! This was exactly the state of the Laodicean church in Revelations (Revelations 3:17). Let us take some time today to reflect on the state of our spiritual lives, and mourn for the areas that we have fallen short in. Jesus tells us: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4).

This chapter also gives some insights on how we can mourn for our sins. 

The things that Jeremiah mourns for - the people having to eat their own children (Lamentations 4:10) and them being pursued by enemies swifter than eagles (Lamentations 4:19) - were in fact judgments God has proclaimed on Israel if they were to be disobedient since the times of Moses (Deuteronomy 28:49, 53). To mourn for our sins, we should likewise bring to remembrance the word of God.

Jeremiah also makes reference to a prior example of God’s judgment in Lamentations 4:6 - “The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, with no hand to help her!” Today, all these examples have been written in the Bible for our admonition and as a warning to us (1 Corinthians 10:11). We can reflect on these examples of failures and God’s judgment to see that God’s words will surely come to pass.

Are we keenly aware of our spiritual state today? Have we mourned for the areas where we have fallen - and taken heed from the words of God and examples in the Bible?

See Also

Haggai Chapter 1 - Consider Your Ways

Haggai Chapter 1 - Consider Your Ways

Prophet Haggai was sent to rekindle the zeal of God’s people, with his central message being God’s warning to them, and by extension us, to “consider your ways” (Haggai 1:5). Haggai 1 offers us 2 examples that we can use to consider our ways. The people of Israel were not always in a state of spiritual stagnation, in fact they were initially filled with zeal to do God’s work. When they first started rebuilding the temple, there were great shouts of joy and praise (Ezra 3:10-13), however the people soon got discouraged as opposition emerged, and they eventually stopped the rebuilding (Ezra 4:24). Meanwhile, they turned their focus onto their own livelihoods and comfort while the house of God lay in ruins. Despite working hard for their physical lives, the labour of their hands was futile, and they seemed to always be lacking (Haggai 1:6, 10-11). God revealed that the lack in their lives did not come from their method of working, but rather their relationship with Him that they neglected, causing Him to obstruct them from prospering. Today, we are the spiritual temples of God (1 Cor 3:16). While we may face ups and downs in our lives of faith, let us also reflect if we have neglected our spiritual temple and left it in ruins? When the people stopped the temple rebuilding, they may not have expected that what was meant to be a temporary pause would extend into a 14-year hiatus. Similarly, our faith may grow cold gradually, and perhaps even go unnoticed until we are far from God. Therefore, the Bible warns us to watch and pray always, that we may be counted worthy to stand before God. (Luke 21:36) Haggai 1 introduces us to the 2 main leaders: Joshua and Zerubbabel. As the High Priest, Joshua was to lead God’s people in the matters of their faith, while Zerubabbel was the governor leading the administrative state affairs. Being the leaders, they were partially responsible for the long pause in the temple rebuilding. If we were them, would we be able to accept the rebuke from Haggai? The Bible has many examples of people in positions of authority who were unable to accept correction. For example King Saul who made an unlawful sacrifice and pushed the blame to prophet Samuel (1 Sam 13:11-12), and King Ahab who accused prophet Elijah as the “troubler of Israel” though the lack of rain they faced was the outcome of his own sins (1 Kings 18:17). Unlike these kings, in response to God’s rebukes for leaving the work incomplete, Joshua and Zerubbabel simply “obeyed the voice of the Lord their God” (Haggai 1:12). And the result of their obedience was God’s abidance. God stirred up their spirits, strengthening them to complete the work. (Haggai 1:13-14) Let us learn from Joshua and Zerubbabel’s humility, for God gives grace to the humble (James 4:6), and abides with those who are obedient. Just as God warned the people to consider their ways, let us also take heed to this warning. May the Holy Spirit work in us to keep us sensitive to the state of our spiritual lives and to sin, that we may be humble and obedient to the voice of God, so that He would also be with us always.

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