LAMENTATIONS
I got slammed a couple
weeks ago with a harsh virus. I could barely breath, so I went and got a mouth swab;
it got sent to the lab, and was negative for Covid. THANK GOD! But the virus
hit hard and caused a few small spots of pneumonia on my lungs so I’m fighting
that. I couldn’t figure out how come this had to happen to me. The only reason
I can see is that the Lord wanted me to experience more compassion for those
who have been affected by this. It’s horrible. I realized how much compassions
Jesus has for us, that He went through all this misery so we could get well.
I went to the book of
Lamentations because I knew there was good scriptures there. Why is it called
Lamentations? Could it be because we lament
and when we feel our worst is when we need God the most?
I think the passage of
scripture speaks much to our times.
“The
kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have
believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of
Jerusalem.
“For
the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that
have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, they have wandered as blind men in
the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could
not touch their garments.
“They
cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart,
touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They
shall no more sojourn there. The anger of the Lord hath divided them;
he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they
favoured not the elders.
“As
for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we
have watched for a nation that could not save us. They
hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our
days are fulfilled;
for our end is come. Our
persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us
upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. The breath of our
nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we
said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.
“Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of
Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through
unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.The punishment
of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more
carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of
Edom; he will discover thy sins. (Lam. 4:12-20).
And then
the best part comes from chapter 3, starting from verse 19 (for brevity’s sake,
I don’t include all the verses, but you get the point.
“Remembering mine
affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still
in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have
I hope.
“It is of the Lord’s mercies
that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new
every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my
portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto
them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
“For the Lord will not
cast off for ever: but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according
to the multitude of his mercies. Let us search and try our ways, and turn again
to the Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in
the heavens. We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. Fear and a snare is come
upon us, desolation and destruction.
“Mine eye trickleth down,
and ceaseth not, without any intermission, till the Lord look down, and
behold from heaven.
“I called upon thy name,
O Lord, out of the low dungeon. Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine
ear at my breathing, at my cry. Thou drewest near in the day that I
called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.
“O Lord, thou hast pleaded
the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life. (Lam. 3:19-58)
THE DEVIL WILL NOT DEFEAT
US!
Love, Carolyn
