1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,100 You are listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. 2 00:00:07,100 –> 00:00:15,640 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 or visit our website openthebible.org 3 00:00:15,640 –> 00:00:17,760 Let’s get to the message. 4 00:00:17,760 –> 00:00:19,340 Here is Pastor Colin. 5 00:00:19,340 –> 00:00:27,280 This is week two in our four-week series in Lamentations, entitled For All who Grieve. 6 00:00:27,280 –> 00:00:34,880 We saw last week that grief at its heart is about the desolation that comes when we lose 7 00:00:34,880 –> 00:00:37,740 something or someone that we love. 8 00:00:37,740 –> 00:00:43,220 It can happen in multiple ways in the course of a person’s life. 9 00:00:43,220 –> 00:00:49,820 It’s sure a place where all of us will be, not one, but more than one time in our lives. 10 00:00:49,820 –> 00:00:56,139 And therefore it’s of great significance that God has given to us an entire book of 11 00:00:56,160 –> 00:01:06,260 the Bible that teaches us about how to navigate the valley of sorrow and of loss. 12 00:01:06,260 –> 00:01:10,620 And we began last week, we are looking at the main themes of the book of Lamentations. 13 00:01:10,620 –> 00:01:14,360 We began last week by looking at tears and talk. 14 00:01:14,360 –> 00:01:19,199 We saw that Lamentations is a book that is soaked in tears. 15 00:01:20,180 –> 00:01:27,339 Now think about this, we know that all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, by the 16 00:01:27,339 –> 00:01:33,139 movement of the Spirit of God in those who actually penned the scripture. 17 00:01:33,139 –> 00:01:40,779 That means that Jeremiah’s tears that are reflected in this book were tears that were 18 00:01:40,779 –> 00:01:46,940 produced by the working of the Holy Spirit of God in his heart, in some profound sense 19 00:01:46,940 –> 00:01:47,940 then. 20 00:01:47,940 –> 00:01:54,959 The tears that are here in the book of Lamentations are tears that actually come from the throne 21 00:01:54,959 –> 00:01:55,959 of God. 22 00:01:55,959 –> 00:01:59,559 It’s worth pondering. 23 00:01:59,559 –> 00:02:02,459 That’s why it’s very significant that this book is in the Bible. 24 00:02:02,459 –> 00:02:09,520 It teaches us among many other things that no Christian should ever be ashamed of his 25 00:02:09,520 –> 00:02:12,460 or her tears. 26 00:02:12,479 –> 00:02:17,919 I’ve received some moving emails this week from folks in the congregation. 27 00:02:17,919 –> 00:02:22,139 One person in the congregation wrote to me, and I quote with her permission, 28 00:02:22,139 –> 00:02:28,080 I was eager to hear this series because we’ve gone through loss. 29 00:02:28,080 –> 00:02:30,779 I’ve had two miscarriages. 30 00:02:30,779 –> 00:02:35,520 I’ve only shared this with those close to me. 31 00:02:35,520 –> 00:02:41,559 I think women often feel that they can’t share this pain and they feel like they have 32 00:02:41,559 –> 00:02:44,860 to grieve in silence. 33 00:02:44,860 –> 00:02:49,960 I too felt like the woman you referred to, who felt that she had to be strong and hold 34 00:02:49,960 –> 00:02:55,300 things together, and if she didn’t, she would not be a faithful Christian. 35 00:02:55,300 –> 00:03:02,520 It was good to hear that it’s okay to cry, and to know what the scripture says about 36 00:03:02,520 –> 00:03:03,580 our tears. 37 00:03:03,580 –> 00:03:07,380 That’s one of the great values of this book, isn’t it? 38 00:03:07,539 –> 00:03:12,619 God has given us a book in the Bible that actually validates our tears when we come 39 00:03:12,619 –> 00:03:15,339 to sorrow and loss. 40 00:03:15,339 –> 00:03:21,179 And we remembered last time, God gave you tear ducts for a reason. 41 00:03:21,179 –> 00:03:28,259 Then we focused last time not only on tears, but also on talk, and the very significant 42 00:03:28,259 –> 00:03:33,600 fact that lamentation very simply puts sorrow and grief into words. 43 00:03:33,699 –> 00:03:38,380 It is an expression of sorrow and of grief. 44 00:03:38,380 –> 00:03:45,800 It pours out in the presence of God the feelings that are accompanied with the loss that these 45 00:03:45,800 –> 00:03:48,720 people have experienced that we looked at last time. 46 00:03:48,720 –> 00:03:55,979 Here are people who are trying to make a life in the ruins of the once great city of God. 47 00:03:55,979 –> 00:04:02,320 And what pours out of them is this articulation, these words of sorrow and of loss. 48 00:04:02,339 –> 00:04:09,320 And we saw how wonderful it is then that we have a Savior who is known as the man of sorrows. 49 00:04:09,320 –> 00:04:15,580 That he is acquainted with grief, and therefore he is supremely the one to whom we can come 50 00:04:15,580 –> 00:04:22,700 and we can speak out all that goes with sorrow and loss. 51 00:04:22,700 –> 00:04:26,019 So that was tears and talk last time. 52 00:04:26,019 –> 00:04:32,179 Today I want to focus on another pair of themes that run all the way through the book of Lamentations 53 00:04:32,420 –> 00:04:35,320 and these are guilt and grievance. 54 00:04:35,320 –> 00:04:39,600 Now let’s start then with this very important subject of guilt. 55 00:04:39,600 –> 00:04:49,679 Now I want you to see that God has given to us not one, but two whole books of the Bible 56 00:04:49,679 –> 00:04:54,980 that deal with the subject of suffering, grief and loss. 57 00:04:54,980 –> 00:04:58,320 One of these, of course, is the book of Lamentations that we are looking at here. 58 00:04:58,420 –> 00:05:01,559 The other is the book of Job. 59 00:05:01,559 –> 00:05:09,799 Now, why would God have given us two books on this one subject in the Scripture? 60 00:05:09,799 –> 00:05:15,660 Well it’s very important to observe the differences between these two books, because they speak 61 00:05:15,660 –> 00:05:22,239 to different scenarios and it’s very important to observe the differences. 62 00:05:22,239 –> 00:05:26,339 Never more so than in relation to the subject of guilt. 63 00:05:26,339 –> 00:05:34,339 Now guilt, as you will remember, plays absolutely no part whatsoever in the book or the story 64 00:05:34,339 –> 00:05:35,940 of Job. 65 00:05:35,940 –> 00:05:39,320 Job was a righteous man. 66 00:05:39,320 –> 00:05:44,339 The very first verse of the book of Job tells us he was blameless, he was upright, he feared 67 00:05:44,339 –> 00:05:46,940 God and he turned away from evil. 68 00:05:46,940 –> 00:05:52,100 That’s four statements that right at the beginning say whatever happened to Job was nothing to 69 00:05:52,100 –> 00:05:54,000 do with sin in his life. 70 00:05:54,100 –> 00:05:56,200 He was a blameless and an upright man. 71 00:05:56,200 –> 00:05:59,799 That’s very, very clear from the very first verse. 72 00:05:59,799 –> 00:06:05,619 Of course, his friends didn’t believe that, and the whole story evolves as his friends 73 00:06:05,619 –> 00:06:10,359 come along and they’re convinced in their mind that God brings good to those who are 74 00:06:10,359 –> 00:06:14,720 good and brings trouble to those who are wicked and therefore because trouble has come to 75 00:06:14,720 –> 00:06:19,480 Job that must de facto mean that there’s some secret, hidden sin in his life. 76 00:06:19,480 –> 00:06:23,619 And so they come and they sit with him, that was good, but then they come to him and they 77 00:06:23,640 –> 00:06:27,200 Well, why don’t you just confess. 78 00:06:27,200 –> 00:06:31,079 Obviously because this is happening to you, there must be some secret sin that we don’t 79 00:06:31,079 –> 00:06:32,260 know about, that’s at the root. 80 00:06:32,260 –> 00:06:33,859 Why don’t you just own up to it? 81 00:06:33,859 –> 00:06:38,059 Why don’t you tell us the truth, there must be something. 82 00:06:38,059 –> 00:06:39,700 And this goes on and on and on. 83 00:06:39,700 –> 00:06:41,480 Job protests his innocence. 84 00:06:41,480 –> 00:06:45,260 He says, no, I’m in the right, chapter 9 in verse 15. 85 00:06:45,260 –> 00:06:50,299 He says, I’m blameless, chapter 9 in verse 20 and verse 21. 86 00:06:50,359 –> 00:06:56,119 And you remember that at the end of the story of Job, very significantly, God stands with 87 00:06:56,119 –> 00:06:59,799 Job and not with his friends. 88 00:06:59,799 –> 00:07:07,660 And God says to Eliphaz, chapter 42 and verse 7, my anger burns against you and the friends. 89 00:07:07,660 –> 00:07:14,059 For you have not spoken of me what is right, as has my servant Job. 90 00:07:14,059 –> 00:07:16,820 Job has spoken faithfully about me. 91 00:07:16,820 –> 00:07:22,660 You and your friends, God says to Eliphaz, have misrepresented me, because you’ve been 92 00:07:22,660 –> 00:07:28,820 so convinced that at the root of every suffering there must be some sin that is its’ god’s. 93 00:07:28,820 –> 00:07:37,100 Walter Kaiser says, one of the harshest things, one of the harshest things that we mortals 94 00:07:37,100 –> 00:07:45,640 can ever impose on one another is the flippant way in which we can automatically assume that 95 00:07:45,700 –> 00:07:51,119 any pain, anguish, or suffering visited on another person must be the result of that 96 00:07:51,119 –> 00:07:59,720 person’s sin. And, you know, it happens. It happened in John chapter 9, and as I was 97 00:07:59,720 –> 00:08:04,519 thinking about this, I thought, yes, yes the Pharisees did this with regards to the blind 98 00:08:04,519 –> 00:08:10,239 man, and as I looked it up just to check the reference in John 9, I was struck by the fact 99 00:08:10,279 –> 00:08:16,739 in the Pharisees it was the disciples of Jesus. John chapter 9, in verse 1 says, 100 00:08:16,739 –> 00:08:26,559 His disciples asked Him, Rabbi, who sinned? Was it this man, or was his parents, that he 101 00:08:26,559 –> 00:08:35,559 was born blind? And Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned or that his parents 102 00:08:36,159 –> 00:08:47,280 sinned, but that the works of God might be displayed in Him. In other words, Jesus says, 103 00:08:47,280 –> 00:08:52,500 if you think that all grief lost suffering is related to personal sin, you’re completely 104 00:08:52,500 –> 00:08:58,820 wrong. There is a kind of suffering that comes in the world in which the purpose of God is 105 00:08:58,820 –> 00:09:04,419 the display of His glory. It’s an amazing thing when that happens. Of course, that’s 106 00:09:04,440 –> 00:09:10,719 what happened in the story of Job. When he suffered, the glory of God was revealed to 107 00:09:10,719 –> 00:09:17,880 him. So he said, you know, I’ve heard with my ear, but now I see with my eye. Not only 108 00:09:17,880 –> 00:09:22,080 is the glory of God revealed to him, the glory of God was revealed in him and the glory of 109 00:09:22,080 –> 00:09:27,059 God was revealed through him. So that down through the generations, God has used that 110 00:09:27,179 –> 00:09:34,659 man’s testimony and suffering for the strengthening and the comforting of millions. 111 00:09:34,659 –> 00:09:46,719 So guilt plays no part in the story of Job. But God’s given us two books. Guilt is written 112 00:09:46,719 –> 00:09:52,479 all over the book of Lamentations and I want you to see this. As we turn to Lamentations 113 00:09:52,479 –> 00:09:56,780 now, let me give you six references. I’ll give them in quick succession. So again, if 114 00:09:56,780 –> 00:10:01,000 you’re taking notes you might just want to take the reference rather than try to write 115 00:10:01,000 –> 00:10:09,359 all of these down. But let’s begin with chapter 1 and verse 18. The Lord is in the right for 116 00:10:09,359 –> 00:10:14,619 I have rebelled against Him. That’s a very opposite of what we find in Job. So it’s a 117 00:10:14,619 –> 00:10:18,099 totally different situation we’re dealing with here. 118 00:10:18,099 –> 00:10:23,960 Chapter one in verse 20, Look oh Lord, for I am in distress. My stomach churns. My heart 119 00:10:23,979 –> 00:10:33,539 is wrong within me. Why? Because I have been very rebellious. Chapter one verse 22. Deal 120 00:10:33,559 –> 00:10:43,840 with them as you have dealt with me because of all my transgressions. Or chapter 3 and 121 00:10:43,840 –> 00:10:50,840 verse 42. We have transgressed and we have rebelled and you have not forgiven. Or chapter 122 00:10:51,260 –> 00:10:58,260 4 and verse 13. This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests 123 00:11:00,400 –> 00:11:06,559 who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous. Or chapter 4 and verse 42. 124 00:11:06,559 –> 00:11:14,400 The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished. So you can see immediately 125 00:11:14,559 –> 00:11:18,140 that this is a theme that runs all the way through the book, and it could not be more 126 00:11:18,159 –> 00:11:23,919 opposite from what we find in the book of Job. They are describing entirely different 127 00:11:23,919 –> 00:11:33,000 situations. Lamentations is like the thief on the cross, who you remember said, we are 128 00:11:33,000 –> 00:11:42,580 getting what our deeds deserve. That confession is all over the book of Lamentations. So Job 129 00:11:42,780 –> 00:11:52,739 and Lamentations are kind of like book ends on the spectrum of guilt in the experience 130 00:11:52,739 –> 00:12:00,900 of grief and loss. In Job, guilt plays absolutely no part at all. In Lamentations it is all 131 00:12:00,900 –> 00:12:07,940 over the place. Now let me suggest this to you. 132 00:12:07,979 –> 00:12:17,440 Most of us in our experience of grief, sorrow and loss will experience something between 133 00:12:17,440 –> 00:12:30,179 the book of Job and the book of Lamentations. Grief usually comes with some guilt attached. 134 00:12:30,179 –> 00:12:40,359 What should I have done that I didn’t do? What did I do that I should not have done? 135 00:12:40,359 –> 00:12:50,700 Grief invariably has its what ifs and its if only, if only I had done this or if only 136 00:12:50,700 –> 00:12:58,599 I had not done that. If only I had called the doctor sooner. If only I had visited my 137 00:12:58,900 –> 00:13:06,840 loved one when I could. If only we had not planned that trip. If only we had not argued 138 00:13:06,840 –> 00:13:13,200 as we did. I should have done more and there were things looking back now that I could 139 00:13:13,200 –> 00:13:18,659 have done and I could have done them differently and if I had done what I didn’t do it might 140 00:13:18,659 –> 00:13:23,460 have made all the difference in the world, you know. 141 00:13:23,460 –> 00:13:33,140 A brief person will also often find that things that were said and done years ago suddenly 142 00:13:33,140 –> 00:13:39,640 come back to mind and bring a fresh guilt even though they had been long forgotten. 143 00:13:39,640 –> 00:13:45,780 Harsh words that you spoke perhaps a long time ago, and now the memory of them comes 144 00:13:45,780 –> 00:13:50,739 back now that the person has gone and, oh, you wish you had never said that. How could 145 00:13:51,640 –> 00:13:58,640 that be? Foolish things you did – oh, I was such a fool when I was young! Dr. Packer 146 00:13:59,599 –> 00:14:06,599 puts it this way, old guilts and neglects come back to mind. Thoughts of what we could 147 00:14:06,739 –> 00:14:13,739 and should have done differently and better come hammering at our hearts like battering 148 00:14:14,619 –> 00:14:21,619 rams. Now, that’s part of the experience of grief. 149 00:14:23,320 –> 00:14:29,760 Sometimes there are issues directly related to the death of a loved one. A loyal spouse 150 00:14:29,760 –> 00:14:36,760 keeps watch for days by a bedside, then steps out of the room for an hour or two and then 151 00:14:37,520 –> 00:14:48,599 cannot forgive himself or herself that they were not there at the end. 152 00:14:50,320 –> 00:14:52,299 Then, of course, on top of the 153 00:14:52,299 –> 00:14:59,159 what ifs, and the if onlys, there’s this whole horrible matter of the sense of unfinished 154 00:14:59,719 –> 00:15:06,619 business. Especially if a loss has come suddenly and unexpectedly, and there was not the chance 155 00:15:06,700 –> 00:15:12,099 to prepare for it. We never had the chance to say goodbye. 156 00:15:13,820 –> 00:15:20,359 So, grief usually comes with guilt attached. 157 00:15:22,159 –> 00:15:28,700 And, if the only book in the Bible that dealt with suffering was one in which the sufferer was able 158 00:15:28,700 –> 00:15:35,299 to say, I am blameless and I am innocent, then we would be lacking something we desperately, 159 00:15:35,500 –> 00:15:41,659 desperately need in the Bible, and that we find in the book of Lamentations. 160 00:15:43,599 –> 00:15:49,260 Now, there is a very important distinction, of which all of you surely will be aware, 161 00:15:49,260 –> 00:15:55,260 between false guilt and true guilt. Let me try and distinguish them for you. 162 00:15:55,460 –> 00:16:00,340 False guilt comes when we take responsibility 163 00:16:00,340 –> 00:16:04,780 for something that was not our calling, or was not under our control. 164 00:16:04,780 –> 00:16:09,260 That’s what false guilt is. It’s when we take responsibility for something 165 00:16:09,260 –> 00:16:13,500 that was not our calling, or was not under our control. 166 00:16:13,500 –> 00:16:18,500 True guilt, in contrast, is when we shirk responsibility 167 00:16:18,500 –> 00:16:24,440 for something that is our calling, or is something that is the command of God. 168 00:16:24,440 –> 00:16:28,739 When we shirk responsibility for something that is our calling, 169 00:16:28,739 –> 00:16:35,059 or that is the command of God. Now the answer, in the first instance, 170 00:16:35,059 –> 00:16:46,159 to false guilt is truth. The answer to true guilt is, grace. 171 00:16:46,159 –> 00:16:50,000 Therefore, how wonderful it is that our Lord Jesus Christ is 172 00:16:50,000 –> 00:16:57,359 full of, say it with me, grace and truth. In other words, in the Lord Jesus Christ, 173 00:16:57,359 –> 00:17:03,460 there is everything that is needed for dealing with guilt, whether it be false guilt or whether 174 00:17:03,460 –> 00:17:08,719 it be true. But here’s the thing that I have observed 175 00:17:08,719 –> 00:17:16,599 over the years as a pastor, and you may have observed it and experienced it as well, sometimes 176 00:17:16,599 –> 00:17:24,560 it isn’t so easy to tell the difference between true guilt and false guilt. And so Here’s 177 00:17:24,560 –> 00:17:33,359 what often happens, a grieving person feels a weight of guilt. It runs deep. It isn’t 178 00:17:33,359 –> 00:17:40,540 easy for her or for him to speak about it. But when he or she does, the person who is 179 00:17:40,540 –> 00:17:46,819 close to them says, Now look, that’s false guilt and you need to be done with it. And 180 00:17:46,819 –> 00:17:51,920 that wasn’t your responsibility, and so forth, and so on. 181 00:17:51,920 –> 00:18:01,979 Now here’s what I’ve observed. Sometimes that doesn’t really help. Here’s why. Even if the 182 00:18:01,979 –> 00:18:13,020 guilt is without foundation, it is very real to the bereaved person. Simply to say to a 183 00:18:13,060 –> 00:18:18,719 person on whom this weight continues to rest, well you know, there’s nothing for you to feel 184 00:18:18,719 –> 00:18:27,660 guilty about here. It doesn’t actually remove or bring help to the problem. I have found that 185 00:18:27,660 –> 00:18:37,000 when a person struggles with what may indeed be false guilt, and continues to struggle with it 186 00:18:37,000 –> 00:18:42,900 over a period of time so that it’s not relieve, and there are situations where people struggle 187 00:18:42,900 –> 00:18:48,699 with this for years and it just gets pressed down and pressed down because the only answer 188 00:18:48,699 –> 00:18:52,239 that’s ever given is, that’s false guilt. You should be moving on from it by now. 189 00:18:52,239 –> 00:18:57,859 Sometimes it may be more helpful to say something like this and I do hope and pray 190 00:18:57,859 –> 00:19:04,599 that this will be useful to some in the congregation this morning. Let’s put the 191 00:19:04,599 –> 00:19:11,920 discussion of what’s true guilt and what’s false guilt to one side. The point is that 192 00:19:12,239 –> 00:19:21,579 what you are experiencing is real. Your conscience is burdened. You believe that there is something 193 00:19:21,579 –> 00:19:28,579 that you should have done and didn’t do or did not do and should have done. If this were 194 00:19:28,579 –> 00:19:38,439 indeed true guilt, what would you do with it? Well the answer is obvious. I would confess 195 00:19:38,479 –> 00:19:48,000 it and I would place it under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. If that’s what you 196 00:19:48,000 –> 00:19:54,180 would do with real guilt, let’s do that with this right now. 197 00:19:54,180 –> 00:20:01,180 Now here is my basis for this friends. Christ offered himself not only that your sins may 198 00:20:01,880 –> 00:20:08,839 be forgiven but he shed his blood the book of Hebrews tells us, so that your conscience 199 00:20:08,839 –> 00:20:15,579 should be cleansed. You find this in Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 14 and chapter 10 and 200 00:20:15,579 –> 00:20:22,579 verse 22. The blood of Jesus Christ was shed so that your conscience should be cleansed. 201 00:20:22,660 –> 00:20:29,660 So your conscience should be cleansed. That means that you can bring your what ifs and 202 00:20:31,239 –> 00:20:37,920 your if onlys and your if I had done or not done this that or the other, things might 203 00:20:37,920 –> 00:20:44,920 have been so different from what they are now, you can bring this to God. If it weighs 204 00:20:45,819 –> 00:20:52,800 on your conscience as sin, bring it to God in confession and place it under the blood 205 00:20:53,219 –> 00:20:59,280 of the Lord, Jesus Christ. You know confession is the most wonderful gift when you know that 206 00:20:59,280 –> 00:21:06,280 grace is waiting for you on the other side. I want to commend this to you. I want to say 207 00:21:07,239 –> 00:21:13,079 to you that if your conscience is burdened here is what you can do, get out in words 208 00:21:13,119 –> 00:21:18,520 as lamentations teaches us to get out in words, exactly what it is that you think you should 209 00:21:18,520 –> 00:21:23,520 have done or should not have done, get that and get it out in full and then bring it to 210 00:21:23,520 –> 00:21:30,199 God. Say it to God. Tell him how deeply you are grieved that you did or did not do these 211 00:21:30,199 –> 00:21:37,199 things or said or did not say these things. Confess it, repent of it, place it under the 212 00:21:37,520 –> 00:21:43,900 blood of Christ and then trust. Trust this Lord Jesus Christ to do what he has promised, 213 00:21:43,900 –> 00:21:50,900 which is not only to forgive your sins, it is also to cleanse your conscience so that 214 00:21:50,959 –> 00:21:56,479 you may again know the wonderful gift of being at peace. 215 00:21:56,479 –> 00:22:01,959 Friends, you can do this on your own. It might be something that you would want to 216 00:22:02,140 –> 00:22:09,000 do in the company of a friend who understands where you are at and can support you in it. 217 00:22:09,000 –> 00:22:14,300 You must be the one who maker the confession, you must bring this prayer to God, but someone 218 00:22:14,300 –> 00:22:19,819 can be with you, could ask one of the pastors to help you with this. 219 00:22:19,819 –> 00:22:26,819 But I want to press this upon you, don’t live with a burden of guilt that is hanging around 220 00:22:26,839 –> 00:22:33,839 your neck, the Son of God suffered and died not only that your sins may be forgiven, but 221 00:22:36,180 –> 00:22:39,939 that your conscience may be cleansed. 222 00:22:39,939 –> 00:22:46,099 That is the first thing, and it is a theme of huge importance when it comes to areas 223 00:22:46,099 –> 00:22:53,099 of loss how we deal with those awful experiences of guilt. 224 00:22:53,579 –> 00:22:57,239 It’s addressed here in the book of Lamentations. 225 00:22:57,239 –> 00:22:59,900 Second, is the issue of grievance. 226 00:22:59,900 –> 00:23:02,660 The issue of grievance. 227 00:23:02,660 –> 00:23:08,520 Grief comes with guilt attached, and grief comes often with grievance attached. 228 00:23:08,520 –> 00:23:13,599 I’ve actually thought about this, but the word grief and grievance are so obviously 229 00:23:13,599 –> 00:23:14,420 evenly related. 230 00:23:14,420 –> 00:23:16,619 Why do they come from the same route? 231 00:23:17,140 –> 00:23:23,180 Because where there’s grief there very, very often is grievance. 232 00:23:23,459 –> 00:23:28,140 Of course the relationship between guilt and grievance is very obvious. 233 00:23:28,140 –> 00:23:34,380 Guilt relates to what you did or didn’t do that you regret, and grievance relates to 234 00:23:34,380 –> 00:23:36,859 what other people did or didn’t do. 235 00:23:36,859 –> 00:23:39,979 If he hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t be in this position. 236 00:23:39,979 –> 00:23:45,239 If she had done something else that she failed to do, I wouldn’t be in this position. 237 00:23:45,239 –> 00:23:48,680 That’s the world of grievance. 238 00:23:48,680 –> 00:23:57,060 Grievance can be towards another person, and sometimes grievance is towards God himself. 239 00:23:57,060 –> 00:24:02,939 That’s the issue that is taken up most clearly and directly in the book of Lamentations. 240 00:24:02,939 –> 00:24:08,839 There are actually three kinds of grievance that are addressed in this book. 241 00:24:08,839 –> 00:24:13,119 One is there is a grievance of the people towards the leaders who failed them. 242 00:24:13,119 –> 00:24:17,280 A couple of references to the prophets and the priests who had abandoned their calling 243 00:24:17,280 –> 00:24:19,099 from God. 244 00:24:19,099 –> 00:24:23,939 There of course are references that are grievances towards the enemies who had attacked them 245 00:24:23,939 –> 00:24:27,619 and had done such devastating things. 246 00:24:27,619 –> 00:24:36,160 But by far the focus of what we have here in Lamentations is on the issue of grievance 247 00:24:36,160 –> 00:24:38,739 that is directed towards God himself. 248 00:24:38,739 –> 00:24:41,719 Now I want to show you this from chapter two. 249 00:24:41,920 –> 00:24:43,800 I hope you have your Bible open with you. 250 00:24:43,800 –> 00:24:49,959 I’m going to read the first five verses of chapter two. 251 00:24:49,959 –> 00:24:55,939 I want you to notice with me that in five verses there are seventeen expressions of 252 00:24:55,939 –> 00:24:58,300 grievance against God. 253 00:24:58,300 –> 00:25:00,020 Seventeen. 254 00:25:00,020 –> 00:25:01,400 In five verses. 255 00:25:01,400 –> 00:25:03,099 That’s a lot. 256 00:25:03,099 –> 00:25:09,819 And you will see it because what is expressed is expressed against the Lord and then the 257 00:25:09,819 –> 00:25:14,140 word he with reference to the Lord comes again and again and again. 258 00:25:14,140 –> 00:25:18,619 You can check my arithmetic and see if the three references to the Lord and the others 259 00:25:18,619 –> 00:25:23,319 to he total up to seventeen, but get the weight of this. 260 00:25:23,319 –> 00:25:25,339 Chapter two, verse one. 261 00:25:25,339 –> 00:25:31,859 How the Lord, in his anger, has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud. 262 00:25:31,859 –> 00:25:33,079 That’s one grievance. 263 00:25:33,079 –> 00:25:37,619 He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel. 264 00:25:37,619 –> 00:25:38,900 That’s a second grievance. 265 00:25:38,900 –> 00:25:42,900 He has not remembered his footstool in the day of anger. 266 00:25:42,900 –> 00:25:44,660 That’s a third grievance. 267 00:25:44,660 –> 00:25:45,680 Verse two. 268 00:25:45,680 –> 00:25:50,540 The Lord has swallowed up without mercy all the inhabitants of Jacob in his wrath. 269 00:25:50,540 –> 00:25:54,339 He has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. 270 00:25:54,339 –> 00:25:59,140 He has brought down to the ground in dishonour the kingdom and its rulers. 271 00:25:59,140 –> 00:26:00,140 Verse three. 272 00:26:00,140 –> 00:26:03,939 He has cut down in fierce anger all the might of Israel. 273 00:26:03,939 –> 00:26:08,439 He has withdrawn from them his right hand in the face of the enemy. 274 00:26:08,439 –> 00:26:13,599 He has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob, consuming all around. 275 00:26:13,599 –> 00:26:15,099 Verse four. 276 00:26:15,099 –> 00:26:20,339 He has bent his bow like an enemy with his right hand set like a foe. 277 00:26:20,339 –> 00:26:26,920 And he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes in the tent of the daughter Zion. 278 00:26:26,920 –> 00:26:31,020 He has poured out his fury like fire. 279 00:26:31,020 –> 00:26:33,020 Verse five. 280 00:26:33,020 –> 00:26:36,000 The Lord has become like an enemy. 281 00:26:36,000 –> 00:26:38,239 He has swallowed up Israel. 282 00:26:38,239 –> 00:26:40,839 He has swallowed up all its palaces. 283 00:26:40,839 –> 00:26:43,400 He has laid in ruins its stronghold. 284 00:26:43,400 –> 00:26:50,880 And he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation. 285 00:26:50,880 –> 00:26:56,099 Seventeen complaints, grievances against God in five verses. 286 00:26:56,099 –> 00:27:00,060 And if that’s not enough to persuade you of how prominent this theme is in the book 287 00:27:00,060 –> 00:27:04,880 of Lamentations just take your bible and look at chapter three. 288 00:27:04,880 –> 00:27:12,119 And what is the first word of nearly every verse for the first sixteen verses? 289 00:27:12,119 –> 00:27:16,339 You see in the margin there you just looked down he, he, he, he, he, there’s another 290 00:27:16,339 –> 00:27:21,560 12 grievances against God in chapter three verses one to sixteen. 291 00:27:21,560 –> 00:27:27,579 So it’s at twenty-nine and I’m sure there’s more, but they’re focused. 292 00:27:27,579 –> 00:27:30,119 That’s a lot of grievances. 293 00:27:30,260 –> 00:27:33,140 and they’re all directed against who? 294 00:27:33,140 –> 00:27:35,979 Against the Lord. 295 00:27:35,979 –> 00:27:42,099 Grief comes with grievance attached. 296 00:27:42,099 –> 00:27:48,739 What were the first words when our Lord Jesus arrived at Bethany after the death of Lazarus. 297 00:27:48,739 –> 00:27:54,979 You remember he arrived at Bethany four days after Lazarus had died and Lazarus’ two sisters 298 00:27:54,979 –> 00:27:59,880 Martha and Mary were grieving. 299 00:27:59,880 –> 00:28:07,020 What were the first words that Martha spoke to Jesus when he arrived, the first words 300 00:28:07,020 –> 00:28:09,520 she spoke? 301 00:28:09,520 –> 00:28:20,719 Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died, there’s grievance in that 302 00:28:20,719 –> 00:28:27,719 and you remember that sometime later Mary who had stayed in the house came out and she 303 00:28:28,239 –> 00:28:35,239 met Jesus and what were the first words that Mary said to Jesus? 304 00:28:35,920 –> 00:28:42,920 Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died. Exactly the same words recorded 305 00:28:43,180 –> 00:28:50,180 twice from both of these sisters but that was what was dominant in their mind what in 306 00:28:50,599 –> 00:28:57,599 the world was Jesus doing when my brother died? Jesus loves my brother. Jesus loves 307 00:28:58,859 –> 00:29:02,780 me. How could this have happened? 308 00:29:02,780 –> 00:29:06,719 So this is the reality of experience. Isn’t it wonderful that the Bible speaks to life 309 00:29:06,719 –> 00:29:12,959 as it is not some, you know, idealized version. It speaks to the realities of guilt that comes 310 00:29:12,959 –> 00:29:19,380 with grief. It speaks to the realities of grievance that comes when there is pain suffering 311 00:29:19,380 –> 00:29:23,520 and sorrow and loss. 312 00:29:23,520 –> 00:29:28,680 I told you last time that I have been so enriched by meeting with a group of folks who had all 313 00:29:28,680 –> 00:29:35,680 experienced in an acute way the path of bereavement and of sorrow and of loss. We walked through 314 00:29:39,479 –> 00:29:45,900 their stories and touching some of these themes of lamentations. It was so helpful to me to 315 00:29:45,979 –> 00:29:52,680 be able to be with them and to learn from them how their experience is related to this 316 00:29:52,680 –> 00:29:59,680 book. And someone in our group said this, it is hard to believe that God loves you when 317 00:30:01,719 –> 00:30:08,719 He takes away someone you love. It is hard to believe that God loves you when He takes 318 00:30:08,719 –> 00:30:15,719 away someone you love. So grief always brings out some grievance, or invariably does. And 319 00:30:20,479 –> 00:30:27,479 especially for a Christian believer we’re confronted with this sense of grievance towards 320 00:30:28,040 –> 00:30:34,020 the Lord that you see all of our lamentations and even in such Godly women as Martha and 321 00:30:34,380 –> 00:30:41,199 Mary. Now I want you to observe this in a remarkable 322 00:30:41,199 –> 00:30:48,199 way. This grievance towards God is not actually an expression of unbelief. It is actually 323 00:30:50,739 –> 00:30:57,040 in a very profound way an expression of faith. You see these folks in lamentations they were 324 00:30:57,079 –> 00:31:03,079 not secularists who thought that you know the destruction of a city happens by a random 325 00:31:03,079 –> 00:31:10,079 chance. No, these are God’s people. These are people who believe that God is sovereign 326 00:31:10,140 –> 00:31:17,140 in all things including the disaster that had befallen their city with all of its horrific 327 00:31:17,199 –> 00:31:21,260 loss. Behind the work of their enemies, of which 328 00:31:21,260 –> 00:31:27,119 for sure they expressed grievance, there much greater concern was with God, who is 329 00:31:27,119 –> 00:31:33,260 sovereign. Why could God not only allow this, because His hand must actually have been in 330 00:31:33,260 –> 00:31:40,260 it! These are people who believe that the Lord gives, and that the Lord takes away. 331 00:31:42,739 –> 00:31:49,739 Friends, honestly, if you really believe that it is the Lord who gives, and it is the Lord 332 00:31:51,260 –> 00:31:57,300 who takes away, it won’t always be so easy then to say, blessed be the name of the Lord. 333 00:31:57,300 –> 00:32:03,280 Job said that, but he was such a righteous man, and not all of us are there. Some of 334 00:32:03,280 –> 00:32:09,819 us are going to find ourselves in lamentations, saying, well, I do actually believe that God 335 00:32:09,819 –> 00:32:14,079 is sovereign in all things, and therefore, I can’t escape this conclusion that His hand 336 00:32:14,099 –> 00:32:22,319 has been in this taking away, and therefore I have a problem. And what are you to do with 337 00:32:22,319 –> 00:32:33,119 that? Well, let me say to you again, lamentations is in the Bible for a reason. And here’s surely 338 00:32:33,119 –> 00:32:40,239 what we learned from the book at this point. There is no better place to pour out your 339 00:32:40,239 –> 00:32:47,640 grievance than in the presence of God. And there may be all kinds of grievances in the 340 00:32:47,640 –> 00:32:52,619 congregation today, some of them nothing to do with bereavement. But I want you to take 341 00:32:52,619 –> 00:33:01,020 this from the book of Lamentations. There is no better place to pour out your grievance 342 00:33:01,020 –> 00:33:07,040 than in the presence of God. Let me put it this way to you, don’t complain 343 00:33:07,359 –> 00:33:17,359 God behind his back. If you have a complaint against God, bring it to him face to face. 344 00:33:19,319 –> 00:33:24,920 That is what is modeled for us in Lamentations and is what is modeled for us again and again 345 00:33:24,920 –> 00:33:31,020 in the book of Psalms. I was reading and found this very fascinating, 346 00:33:31,079 –> 00:33:42,079 Eugene Peterson, a very greatly respected pastor, writes about a friend who was overwhelmed 347 00:33:42,079 –> 00:33:50,520 with personal, marital, and vocational troubles. This friend began going to New York City for 348 00:33:50,520 –> 00:33:59,300 what he described as Scream Weekends. He is referring of course to Primal Scream Therapy 349 00:33:59,640 –> 00:34:08,639 which sufferers are encouraged to vent accumulated anger and resentment and pain by screaming 350 00:34:08,639 –> 00:34:15,120 and an environment is provided where this is encouraged. The process is described as 351 00:34:15,120 –> 00:34:20,800 being like thunder and lightning in a summer storm. You know, you have this great cataclysm 352 00:34:20,800 –> 00:34:26,639 and then suddenly the sun is out and the birds are singing and so forth. Peterson says, yes, 353 00:34:26,639 –> 00:34:34,780 there is catharsis in the very nature of what is done in this experience. There is catharsis, 354 00:34:34,780 –> 00:34:43,479 he says, but there is not healing. He then goes on to say that the friend went 355 00:34:43,479 –> 00:34:48,939 to these scream weekends on a number of occasions and reported, the friend said, oh, the results 356 00:34:49,639 –> 00:34:58,679 though they only last for between two and seven days. It just struck me as somewhat 357 00:34:58,679 –> 00:35:06,360 ironic, if it’s a scream weekend and the effects last from two to a maximum of seven days. 358 00:35:06,360 –> 00:35:13,439 You’re going to have to keep signing up, aren’t you, for another scream weekend in New York 359 00:35:13,439 –> 00:35:20,679 City? Now, Peterson at one point sat down with his friend after he’d got into this pattern 360 00:35:20,679 –> 00:35:30,479 for some time, and he said this. I said to him at one point why don’t you shut yourself 361 00:35:30,479 –> 00:35:40,520 up in a room for a weekend with the book of Lamentations and Isaiah chapter 53? He said 362 00:35:40,520 –> 00:35:48,100 the friend looked at me uncomprehendingly, but I said to him, says Peterson, it would 363 00:35:48,100 –> 00:35:57,479 be far healthier. Now why would it be far healthier? Well one reason is that Lamentations 364 00:35:57,479 –> 00:36:05,459 is a cry to God and that means that it’s actually heard. It’s not just a scream out into the 365 00:36:05,459 –> 00:36:14,620 air. It’s heard because it is a cry to God. There’s no better place to pour out your grief 366 00:36:14,620 –> 00:36:21,439 than in the presence of God and if he took the book of Lamentations why would it be far 367 00:36:21,439 –> 00:36:29,620 healthier for the second reason. You see what is heard by God in Lamentations is far far 368 00:36:29,860 –> 00:36:36,860 better than a scream. I mean a scream is simply a venting of pain. Lamentations is an articulation 369 00:36:39,060 –> 00:36:45,139 of the sources of the pain. That’s why you have line after line after line after line 370 00:36:45,139 –> 00:36:51,500 of grievance. We just spotted twenty nine of them at a quick glance. There’s all the 371 00:36:51,500 –> 00:36:58,500 difference in the world. So says Peterson to his friend, if you shut yourself up with 372 00:36:58,659 –> 00:37:04,800 the book of Lamentations if you were to learn what it is to express your grievance and its 373 00:37:04,800 –> 00:37:10,679 source, to put that into words in the presence of God, you know what? That would be te beginning 374 00:37:10,679 –> 00:37:15,040 of your healing and it would last a lot more than seven days. 375 00:37:15,040 –> 00:37:22,040 Now, there will be some here today and you have a great deal of screaming going on in 376 00:37:22,500 –> 00:37:28,280 your soul. I don’t mean you’re going out into the woods and doing the primal thing, 377 00:37:28,280 –> 00:37:35,060 but you know what I’m saying. There’s a lot of screaming that’s going on in your 378 00:37:35,060 –> 00:37:42,060 soul. Your soul is filled with grievance. And I’m saying to you from the book of Lamentations 379 00:37:43,600 –> 00:37:50,600 today that if you would truly bring that to God, if you would do what Lamentations does 380 00:37:52,439 –> 00:37:59,439 line by line, get it out, bring it, all your grievance in all of its dimensions until you’ve 381 00:38:01,500 –> 00:38:07,520 exhausted everything that you can think of. It’s what Lamentations does. And you do it 382 00:38:07,520 –> 00:38:13,679 in the presence of God. That would be the beginning of your healing. 383 00:38:13,679 –> 00:38:20,320 It really would. There’s a poem that I think is helpful, written by a woman by 384 00:38:20,340 –> 00:38:24,840 the name of Jessica Shavers, very insightful, called Angry at God. 385 00:38:26,840 –> 00:38:36,860 I told God I was angry. I thought he’d be surprised. I thought I’d kept hostility quite 386 00:38:36,860 –> 00:38:47,760 cleverly disguised. I told the Lord I hate him. I told him that I hurt. I told him that 387 00:38:47,939 –> 00:38:59,399 it isn’t fair he’s treated me like dirt. I told God I was angry. But I’m the one surprised. 388 00:38:59,399 –> 00:39:07,840 What I’ve known all along, he said, you’ve finally realized. At last you have admitted 389 00:39:07,840 –> 00:39:18,959 what’s really in your heart. It’s dishonesty, not anger, that’s keeping us apart. Even 390 00:39:18,959 –> 00:39:27,020 when you hate me, I don’t stop loving you, but before you can receive that love, you 391 00:39:27,020 –> 00:39:37,060 must admit what’s true. In telling me the anger you genuinely feel, it loses power 392 00:39:37,120 –> 00:39:49,199 over you, permitting you to heal. I told God I was sorry and He’s forgiven 393 00:39:49,199 –> 00:40:00,179 me. The truth that I was angry has finally set me free. There’s something very profoundly 394 00:40:00,179 –> 00:40:07,459 true in that dealing with grievance in the presence of God. 395 00:40:07,459 –> 00:40:17,620 Now just in these last moments briefly, guilt, grievance, and Christ. Let me just in these 396 00:40:17,620 –> 00:40:22,659 last moments draw your attention to verse 12, which we can’t possibly miss at this point 397 00:40:22,659 –> 00:40:31,459 in Lamentations, where one who suffers says this, “‘Is it nothing to you, all you who 398 00:40:31,459 –> 00:40:41,739 pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me 399 00:40:41,739 –> 00:40:49,360 which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger.’” So right in the middle of 400 00:40:49,959 –> 00:40:55,739 this articulation of complaint towards God, all of this guilt and all of this grievance, 401 00:40:55,739 –> 00:41:03,399 there’s a voice that speaks, and it’s the voice of someone who has suffered very greatly indeed. 402 00:41:03,399 –> 00:41:13,300 This voice of a suffering person speaks into the life and the experience of grieving people. He 403 00:41:13,300 –> 00:41:19,540 says, you’re filled with sorrow. Well, here’s what I want you to do. I want you to take a look 404 00:41:19,540 –> 00:41:26,840 at my sorrow. You feel that God’s laid something upon you that’s been grievous to you, take a look 405 00:41:26,840 –> 00:41:35,100 at what was laid upon me in the day of his anger. Christians, of course, have long, 406 00:41:35,100 –> 00:41:41,600 long seen this verse as a remarkable prophecy off the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I 407 00:41:41,760 –> 00:41:49,280 want you to hear these words as we draw to a close today from the lips of our crucified Savior. Is it 408 00:41:49,280 –> 00:41:59,600 nothing to you? Come and look at my suffering. Was there ever sorrow like my sorrow? You have 409 00:41:59,600 –> 00:42:09,399 a grievance. Look at what was laid on me. To people who are struggling with guilt and grievance, 410 00:42:09,439 –> 00:42:17,320 here’s what lamentations is saying prophetically in its place in the Scripture. Look through your 411 00:42:17,320 –> 00:42:26,840 guilt. Look through your grievance and beyond it to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at 412 00:42:26,840 –> 00:42:35,500 the cross. Who’s hanging there? This is God in the flesh, the God against whom you have a 413 00:42:35,699 –> 00:42:45,560 grievance and why is he hanging there and why is there sorrow upon sorrow on him? He’s hanging 414 00:42:45,560 –> 00:42:58,659 there for you. It’s hard to believe that God loves you when he takes away someone you love. Yes, 415 00:42:58,659 –> 00:43:12,280 but look through your grievance to the cross where the Son of God loves you and gives himself 416 00:43:12,280 –> 00:43:22,820 for you. And I’ll tell you it is hard not to believe that God loves you when you’re looking 417 00:43:23,340 –> 00:43:34,739 at the cross. Father, please let the guilt and grievance that needs to be laid at the 418 00:43:34,739 –> 00:43:42,500 foot of the cross of Jesus today be placed there that sins may be forgiven, that consciences may 419 00:43:42,860 –> 00:43:53,100 cleansed, that grievances that arise from the sense that you are really against us may be 420 00:43:53,100 –> 00:44:01,100 overwhelmed by all that we see of how You are totally for us in our Lord and Savior through 421 00:44:01,100 –> 00:44:08,699 His suffering and His triumph on the cross. May today be a day of hope and healing for many who 422 00:44:08,699 –> 00:44:14,179 struggle with guilt and grievance. For these things we pray in Jesus’ wonderful name. Amen.