Lamentations 5:1-22
Obadiah 1:1-21
2 Kings 25:22-26
Jeremiah 40:7-41:18
Lamentations 5:19-21, ”But Lord, You remain the same forever! Your throne continues from generation to generation. Why do You continue to forget us? Why have You abandoned us for so long? Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to You again! Give us back the joys we once had!”
Have you ever watched someone suffer? It’s so unsettling. Whether it’s from a medical condition, the loss of a loved one, severe depression, or their own choices, we want to help end their pain, but we’re helpless.
Jeremiah, a godly man enduring an “ungodly” situation, was distressed from watching his people’s grief. In today’s passage, he lifts his weary thoughts up to God in prayer. First, he notes that God is and always will remain the same Sovereign Lord over all. This leads him to ask a very human question, “You are always in control. Why, then, won’t You just end the suffering and restore Israel?” Quickly, Jeremiah remembers the answer: The people’s sin led them there, and sin caused them to remain because they refused to repent. He knew that his people wouldn’t just stop sinning one day and turn back to God. Therefore, Jeremiah wisely asks for God to turn them back to Himself.
We also need God’s help. We could not save ourselves or others from paying the high cost of our sin — Jesus did it for us. And as we look at all the suffering it’s causing in our world today, we cannot afford to be indifferent towards the havoc it wreaks in so many lives. Therefore, we should respond to sin as Jeremiah did by asking God to turn us and others back to Himself, to restore us and redirect us back along the right path.
Heavenly Father, Keep turning me back toward You. I pray that You would help _____________(list of names) who are still suffering from the consequences of their sin. Only You can transform our hearts and direct us along the right path. Amen.