2-13-12

YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD

The Book of Lamentations in the Old Testament is not a favorite book in the Bible for many people. Written by Jeremiah, the Old Testament prophet, who laments over the destruction of Jerusalem which happened in 586 BC. It expresses the great suffering that came to Israel because of their sin and unfaithfulness to God.

The book gives us a series of laments which include such expressions as “bitterly she weeps at night,” “Is any suffering like my suffering,” “my eyes overflow with tears,” O Lord, how distressed I am,” “my groans are many and my heart is faint.”

The theological high point of this book comes in Lamentations 3:19-25 

“I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. YET this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.

Notice the use of the word YET.

“YET this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.” Hope is what lifts us from despair and enables us to go on even in the midst of very difficult situations. Hope believes and trusts in the Lord and knows that one day God will make all things right.

Yes, Jeremiah laments over what he and his people were suffering, but he transitions with the word ”yet” to the superior reality of the spiritual realm where God’s people look and remember the truth of God’s love, His compassions, and His faithfulness to His people. In this we find hope, looking also to the example of Jesus, who endured suffering for the joy set before him. And from suffering, He learned obedience to the will and purposes of God.

There is another powerful passage of Scripture from the Book of Habakkuk which I turn to often when I need to remember how to respond in the midst of trials.

These verses also concern the destruction of Jerusalem, but Habakkuk wrote prophetically before God’s judgment came to the nation. He, like Jeremiah, knew that the Israelites had turned from pure devotion to God, and instead were guilty of spiritual adultery, seeking satisfaction in the created things of the world. Habakkuk’s prophesy describes the time when there would be great loss and destruction in Israel.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Though the fig tree does not blossom and there are no grapes on the vines, 

though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, 

though there are no sheep in the pen & no cattle in the stalls,

YET I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, 

He enables me to go on the heights.

Again as we think through the deeper meaning of this passage we see the same 2 realities between what exists in the physical and what we possess in the spiritual.

Some of you can relate to this passage because you have suffered loss. You may have lost a loved one. You may have lost a job, lost your health or are suffering financial loss. You may have suffered through the pain of divorce either as a spouse or as a child and lost the security of a happy home life. In my own life I lost my mother when I was 7 yr old and my father when I was 25. The pain of loss can last for years and years, but there is hope and healing from the Lord.

God has given us in His Word verses that give us comfort, hope and strength which will help us endure. Our spirits will be lifted up as we learn from Habakkuk the lesson of faith even in the midst of loss. Some say this passage of scripture gives us one of the strongest affirmations of faith in the entire Bible.

How then shall we respond when we suffer loss? Remember the powerful word: Yet!

“YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD - YET I WILL BE JOYFUL IN GOD MY SAVIOR.”