Bandaids and Bulletholes: Lamentation

Lesson Two: Lamentation

M o u r n i n g   Y o u r   S i n 

Memory Verse: “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” —Psalm 51:3

Confessing sin, laying it all out on the table for what it is, is a huge step in the process of cleaning out the wound. However, it can be so easy to play the same game that we’ve played since we were 5 years old: saying “sooooorry” through gritted teeth without really meaning it. How do we avoid pretense in our confession? Usually it involves doing something we rarely want to do—feeling the weight, grief and emotion over our sin. 

The prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament was given a pretty tough break. At an early age, God commissioned him to speak to the people of Israel—the people through whom God had chosen to display his character to the world before the time of Jesus—about their sin. Ultimately, Israel did not heed God’s warnings through Jeremiah and he did what he said he would: he disciplined them for their rebellion.

Some reflections from this time of discipline come to us from Jeremiah through the book of Lamentations in the Old Testament. Let’s take a moment and consider the grief of the people of Israel over their sin.

¹⁸“The Lord is in the right, 

for I have rebelled against his word; 

but hear, all you peoples, 

and see my suffering; 

my young women and my young men 

have gone into captivity. 

¹⁹“I called to my lovers, 

but they deceived me; 

my priests and elders 

perished in the city, 

while they sought food 

to revive their strength. 

²⁰“Look, O Lord, for I am in distress; 

my stomach churns; 

my heart is wrung within me, 

because I have been very rebellious. 

In the street the sword bereaves; 

in the house it is like death. 

²¹“They heard my groaning, 

yet there is no one to comfort me. 

All my enemies have heard of my trouble; 

they are glad that you have done it. 

You have brought the day you announced; 

now let them be as I am. 

²²“Let all their evildoing come before you, 

and deal with them 

as you have dealt with me 

because of all my transgressions; 

for my groans are many, 

and my heart is faint.”

—Lamentations 1:18-23

In what ways did God allow Israel to feel the weight of sin?

What response did the weight of sin produce in Jeremiah? In Israel?

It’s not easy to catch even a twinge of the sorrow or consequence of our sin. But read the next set of verses and see what this sorrow produces:

¹⁹Remember my affliction and my wanderings, 

the wormwood and the gall! 

²⁰My soul continually remembers it 

and is bowed down within me. 

²¹But this I call to mind, 

and therefore I have hope: 

²²The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; 

his mercies never come to an end; 

²³they are new every morning; 

great is your faithfulness. 

²⁴“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, 

“therefore I will hope in him.” 

²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait for him, 

to the soul who seeks him. 

²⁶It is good that one should wait quietly 

for the salvation of the Lord. 

²⁷It is good for a man that he bear 

the yoke in his youth. 

²⁸Let him sit alone in silence 

when it is laid on him; 

²⁹let him put his mouth in the dust— 

there may yet be hope; 

³⁰let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, 

and let him be filled with insults. 

³¹For the Lord will not 

cast off forever, 

³²but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion 

according to the abundance of his steadfast love; 

³³for he does not willingly afflict 

or grieve the children of men. 

—Lamentations 3:19-33

What differences do you see in this passage versus the previous passage?

Consider verses 31-32. Do you believe that—even when God causes grief—he is still being compassionate? Why or why not?

There are a lot of things to consider in this passage. First, God is the only one who can cause us to have true grief over our sin. Left to our own devices, we would probably choose to remain unaware. Also, it is important to note that “godly sorrow” (which we will go into later) doesn’t mean that we beat ourselves up, punish ourselves or feel guilty about our sin until we’ve paid the price. That is not what Jeremiah is doing, nor is it the goal for us. Jesus has already taken this beating. Jesus has borne the punishment. Jesus has already removed our guilt by his work on the cross. The grief we feel moves us toward one thing: knowing the steadfast love of God and believing that we can put our hope in him for rescue. That is where the grief of Jeremiah led him and that is where we are being led, as well.

For the next action step, read the text of the following hymn, Hiding In Thee, by William O. Cushing. Reflect on how the author responds to the sorrow of his sin and consider the same truth in light of your own.

O safe to the Rock that is higher than I,

My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly;

So sinful, so weary, Thine, Thine, would I be;

Thou blest Rock of Ages, I'm hiding in Thee.

In the calm of the noontide, in sorrow's lone hour,

In times when temptation casts o'er me its power;

In the tempests of life, on its wide, heaving sea,

Thou blest Rock of Ages, I'm hiding in Thee.

How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe,

I have fled to my Refuge and breathed out my woe;

How often, when trials like sea billows roll,

Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul.