The sermon by Eric Bechler discusses the Book of Lamentations, authored by Jeremiah, known as the weeping prophet. Lamentations is a collection of five poems expressing grief over the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of its people. Traditionally, it is read on Tisha Ba'av, a Jewish day of mourning. The book is structured with the first four chapters as acrostics, aiding memorization and reflecting completeness in Jeremiah's grief process. Chapter 5, discussed in the sermon, is a prayer for restoration, differing from previous chapters in its direct address to God without a list of petitions. Jeremiah uses poetic symmetry to express the full scope of suffering, acknowledging that Judah's great misery is a consequence of their sin against God. He emphasizes that God's discipline is out of love, aiming for restoration. Jeremiah's prayer highlights the need for repentance and turning back to God, recognizing divine justice and the hope for renewal. The sermon concludes with encouragement to maintain joy in God despite circumstances and to trust in His perfect timing and sovereignty.

Let us pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you Lord for your word. We thank you that we can read it and study it, that we can meditate on it, that we can memorize it, Lord. One of the true gifts that keeps on giving in our lives, and we thank you for this gift. I pray, Lord, that we would be in our Bibles each day, Lord.

I pray that we would value and not let them collect dust on the shelf. And Lord, as we look in your word, we see there's books throughout your word that we don't look at very often. And Lord, Lamentations is one of those. And so I'm thankful that we can gather together and see what your word says in Jeremiah's Lamentations. Lord, I pray that you would speak to us.

Pray that you would speak through me. And Lord, that you would be glorified through your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I'm happy to be here to actually finish our study in Lamentations.

This will be chapter five, the last chapter. The last time we met, we finished chapter four. And before continuing, I would again like to spend a few minutes reminding you of some of the special details associated with the book of Lamentations and give a brief summary of what we've already covered especially since it's been so so long. First some background. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet, and he's recognized as the author of the Book of Lamentations.

These are his lamentations, his expressions of grief, written in the form of five poems, as he watched firsthand the overthrow and destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the people of Israel or Judah to a far distant land. The Book of Lamentations is read publicly by the Jewish people each year on this Jewish day of mourning called Tisha Ba'av. It's a fast commemorating the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, both in 586 BC and 70 AD. Tisha Ba'av means the ninth of Av. Nine in Hebrew is pronounced Teysha and Av is the fifth month of the Jewish calendar and corresponds to late July early August from our calendar.

Well what makes the ninth of Av so special or unique? Looking back through history, you can find a multitude of tragedies experienced by the Jewish people throughout the world on this specific day. And it's astounding how many things have taken place against the Jewish people on this particular day, which is appropriate for them to have a day of mourning that falls on this particular day. Lamentations is written as an acrostic. Most people familiar with Psalm 119 being an acrostic, having eight verses for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which has 22 letters in it.

In Lamentations, the first four chapters are written in an acrostic. Chapters 1, 2, and 4 each having 22 verses, and chapter 3 having three verses per letter. So there's 66 verses total. Chapter 5 also has 22 verses, but it's not an acrostic, as the other chapters were. But with its 22 verses, it completes a symmetry, a poetic symmetry Jeremiah builds to express his grief.

Why would Jeremiah use an acrostic in a structure of poetic symmetry, this 22, 22, 66, 22, 22, such as we find here, perhaps to aid in memorizing, perhaps it's to indicate the completeness in the poems, perhaps to help or force himself to complete his own process of guilt from beginning to end. And perhaps it's there to help us as we try to process our own grief and suffering. Now let's take a quick review of what we've covered over the past few years. In chapter 1, the main points we discussed were the great suffering of God's people through the destruction of Jerusalem in the temple and the exile of her people, Through the abandonment of her friends and allies who refused to offer either comfort or support in her time of distress, but became her enemies. Through this great suffering, Judah acknowledged her great rebellion against God, that she deserved the punishment God afflicted her with.

As in chapter 1, chapter 2 also begins with the word how, but we find it is used differently in this chapter. Rather than how could this happen, it is used in the sense of look how the Lord is punishing his people. God was punishing Judah for the sins she had committed against him. God was correcting Judah out of love with a view to restoring him. This is a good lesson for us to remember.

The discipline is done out of love, not out of anger. And it is done with a heart to restore. That's a particular good lesson for young parents as they're training their children. In chapter 3, we have seen Jeremiah progress from utter despair, having all his strength gone, all his hope perished. Then from the deepest depths of grief, Jeremiah turns to God, places his hope in God, and even rejoicing that his mercies and compassion are new each morning.

And finally reaches a point where he turns to God for justice. They had hoped that God would hear their prayers and deliver them. Jeremiah is calling out to God to judge his cause, to give justice, to right the wrongs inflicted upon him, that God would judge his enemies, that he would do to them what they had done to his people. It is a great comfort to know that God judges righteously. And finally, in Chapter four, we focused on the people, the suffering of the people in a city.

It is a lament that describes the tragic events, the indignities done to those to whom respect was previously given and the unimaginable depths of depravity exhibited by the people who underwent the siege of Jerusalem. Jeremiah laments the fury and incompleteness of God's judgment poured out upon Judah. God's wrath poured out in full measure, yet this punishment was not to the fullness of what their sins truly demanded. We ended with Jeremiah's prophecy that God would pour out his wrath upon Edom, one of the many nations who rejoiced at the fall of Jerusalem. Which brings us to chapter five, Jeremiah's last poem.

A few things to note regarding this poem. If we look at the artistic structure or layout of Lamentations, we see a sort of symmetry with the number of verses in each chapter. There's 22, 22, 66, 22, and 22, which I mentioned before. Chapter 5, at the end, fits into this pattern. It belongs and it completes the pattern.

But there are some differences here. First, it is not an acrostic like all the other chapters. Second, it is not a dirge or a poem of mourning or lament. It is a prayer, a prayer of restoration and renewal. It is a prayer directly addressed to God from the beginning to the end.

And this differs from the previous poems or chapters which contain brief prayers only. What we notice missing is a string of petitions in this prayer. It's very common for us when we pray to just go through a list of things for God to handle. This is not what Jeremiah is doing, and I would encourage you to expand how you pray. Include time to praise God.

Include time to thank Him for who He is and all that He has done. Jeremiah begins with an account of the condition of the Jews. He is pouring out his heart, laying it out before his God with the hopes of gaining his compassion. Only at the end, the end of the poem, do we see an actual petition, a petition for the restoration of his people. We will look at this chapter in three parts.

In the first section consisting of verses 1 through the first half of 16, we are reminded of Zion's great misery. Then in verses the second half of 16 through 18, we consider the cause of this great misery. And finally, in verse 19 through 21, we find Jeremiah's prayer of restoration. When I think about how this chapter is structured, I see a picture of life in general. Our life without God, when we have rebelled or rejected, God is a great misery.

And this great misery is caused by our sin, which separates us from God. In Lamentations, Jeremiah is praying for the restoration of his people. In our case, it is God who sends his Son to redeem us, to restore us back to a right relationship with God. If we consider the cause of our great misery, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1, 9. Jeremiah starts with, remember, O Lord, what has come upon us.

Consider and behold our reproach. He starts with remember. Does he think God could forget? Certainly God does not forget. He's not oblivious to our sufferings yet when relief is delayed or we don't see an answer in the time we would like, we start to wonder if God has forgotten us.

He says, remember what has come upon us, what has already happened. This is not a concern over what might happen in the future. God's cup of wrath filled to the brim had just been poured out on the Jewish people. They have just experienced this. He says, consider and behold our reproach, meaning our shame or disgrace.

Why does he mention this? Perhaps it's an effort to get God's attention or to bring God to compassion and mercy. Calvin suggests perhaps their indignity might move God the more, for it was for this end that he took the people under his protection, that they might be for his glory and honor, as Moses says in Exodus 32, 11 through 14. What we see here in Jeremiah's opening is a reflection of his hope and faith, his expectation that God will hear and restore his people. Well, do you ever feel that way?

Like God is taking too long or maybe he has forgotten you. When we are sick or in pain or when tragedy strikes, or even if you just feel overwhelmed with life in general, you may ask God, why is this happening? Why me? We may actually never know why, and we will rarely be content with his timing. But trust in this, all things will happen in his perfect timing.

And all things will happen for his glory, for God's glory, and for your good. God loves you and will never, never forget you. Jeremiah begins with a series of 13 examples describing their reproach, and we'll go quickly through them. First, they lost their inheritance. Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens, in verse 2.

What was their inheritance? It was the promised land, the land of milk and honey. Each tribe had their own inheritance, the land, their houses, but they had been conquered by the Chaldeans. Their land, their cities, their houses, Even their persons were now in the control of foreigners or aliens. They had lost everything.

Number two, their population was decimated. We are orphans and fatherless. Our mothers are as widows. Verse three, following the battles with the Chaldeans, a large part of the male population had been destroyed, leaving only the poorest people of the land. Many people were killed during the siege and conquest of Jerusalem, leaving children without parents or fathers.

Many of the surviving men were carried away into captivity, leaving their wives as widows, husbandless and without protectors or providers. Three, they lost their life aplenty. We have drunken our water for money. Our wood is sold unto us. In verse four, They were conquered.

They no longer own the land, whether in Judea or in Babylon. They were not allowed to help themselves to collect water freely or to gather firewood freely. All had changed. They were now forced to pay for the things that previously were common and free, or even worse, that they used to actually own themselves. In the Hebrew, the verse begins with our water, emphasizing this point more strongly.

Number four, they were under brutal oppressors. Our necks are under persecution. We labor and have no rest. Verse five, a yoke of hard servitude and bondage was placed upon the necks of those who remained. Some would look at this as our persecutors are at our neck.

A number of translations use the word pursued rather than persecution. In that rendering, there is a picture of the Babylonians gaining fast upon the fugitives, the Jews, always close behind to drive them ahead or hunt them down. They labor and have no rest. It was common for prisoners of war to be made slaves. As such, the Chaldean troops gave them no rest.

They were put to hard incessant labor. Number five, they were cruelly extorted. We have given the hand to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians to be satisfied with bread. Verse six, The New American Standard translates this, we have submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. To give the hand is a sign of submission or subjection.

This could have been to Egyptian and Assyrian traders passing through. Regardless, starvation awaited the Jews unless they gave the hand or submitted to one of their historical foes. Six, they faced difficult confessions. Our fathers have sinned and are not, and we have borne their iniquities. Verse 7.

Ezekiel 18, verse 20 tells us, we are responsible only for our own sins and must bear the punishment for them. We're not supposed to bear the punishment of our Father's sin, yet it says here we have borne their iniquities. What is meant here? It's maybe an idea that the sins of the past have caught up with them. The consequences of sin can extend from one generation to another.

If children walk in the footsteps of their wicked parents, even surpass their wickedness, they can expect to have an even greater judgment. James E. Smith in his commentary states, the passing of time gives more opportunity for hearing and obeying the word of God. Therefore, the generation of Jeremiah was even more guilty than previous generations because they had neglected more opportunities, more warnings, and ignored more judgments than their fathers. Verse 7 then is not an excuse for the people, but an explanation of the severity of their suffering.

And there is a biblical principle here that greater knowledge and responsibility come with greater accountability as seen in Luke 12, 48, where Jesus teaches that to whom much is given, much will be required. Number seven, they had unworthy rulers. Servants have ruled over us. There is none that doth deliver us out of their hand. The fall of Jerusalem led to a great disruption in their society's order.

The rulers and leaders and the priests were exiled to Babylon. Now only lowly men, even previous slaves of the Jews, ruled over them. And there was no way to relieve the people from their hand. Some have said that to add insult to injury, the Chaldeans sent those who filled menial offices in their courts to rule over the Jews. And to make matters worse, the Chaldeans were descended from Ham and were thus to be servants of Shem." Genesis 9 27.

Now because of their sin, their positions have been reversed. Number eight, they were exposed to great dangers. We get our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. Some have suggested this alludes to the difficulties of acquiring food during the siege of Jerusalem. However, the phrase the sword of the wilderness could point to marauding tribes or the Bedouins who would attack those who were left in the land to gather harvest or to tend to their flocks or herds.

There was great danger in gathering their daily bread. They experienced great hunger. Our skin was black like an oven because the terrible famine in verse 10. The reference here to an oven is not so much to its blackness, but to the fire burning in it. The words paint the hot fever of hunger rather than the paleness of exhaustion.

The people suffered greatly from the severe famine resulting in disease and fevers. Some suggested the people were sick and suffered under even sunstroke. Number 10, the women were defiled. They ravished the women in Zion and the maids in the cities of Judah. Verse 11.

This was a fulfillment of the predictions by Moses in Deuteronomy 28, 30 and 32. You shall betroth the wife, but another man shall lie with her. And by Jeremiah 612, and their houses shall be turned over to others, fields and wives together. The Chaldean soldiers raped and brutalized the women in Jerusalem and other cities throughout Judah. Number 11, the princes and elders were abused.

Princes are hanged up by their hand. The faces of elders were not honored. Verse 12. This can be interpreted two ways. One, that the princes were hanged by the hand of their enemies.

Or it can be understood as being hung by their actual hands, causing more sharp and lingering death. Regardless, hanging was not an unknown method of putting people to death in the ancient world. We can refer to Genesis 40, chapter 40, verse 19. The second part of this indicates that age, dignity, and or station in life would protect you from these such atrocities. Number 12, their youth suffered.

They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood, in verse 13. Rather than join the military and fight, the young men, those who had survived the siege, were tasked with grinding grain, a task previously done by women and slaves. It's possible they even had to carry the millstones back to Babylon. We see here also that the children had to carry the wood pieces for the mills or even firewood, which were too much for them. So burdened were they that they staggered or fell under their loads.

Finally, 13, normal life ceased. The elders have ceased from the gates, the young men from their music in verse 14. In the East, it was common for the elders to gather at the gates of the city to conduct business, to pass judgment, to give counsel, or just to have social conversations. The music was part of the social joys of the young. This significant and pleasant part of life for both the old and the young was taken away from them.

And having experienced all these reproaches, Jeremiah declares, the joy of our heart is ceased. Our dance has turned to mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. There is no joy, there is only bitterness, pain, suffering, and shame. They were deprived of their Sabbaths, their festivals, and solemn feasts.

John Gill states, all their honor and glory as a nation were gone. The glory of their kingdom and the priesthood to both which a crown or mitre belonged, and the glory of the church and state is gone. We read, the joy of our heart is ceased from verse 15. The Jews lost their joy. What about you?

Have you lost your joy? Do you have joy? Is it gone? Is it there? Are there circumstances in your life, pain, tragedy, illness, busyness that seem to rob you of your joy?

As Christians, our joy doesn't come from our outward circumstances, It comes from God. Personally, I believe there's always struggle with the idea of we should have joy in every circumstances, and perhaps you have also. But we're supposed to have joy and gratitude regardless of life situations. But to do this, we must understand God's sovereignty, His faithfulness, and the eternal hope found in Jesus Christ. Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord always.

And again, I say rejoice, Philippians 4.4. No matter what is happening to us, we should find joy in the Lord. We find joy in the Lord, not in ourselves and not in our circumstances. Paul also tells us to rejoice at all times, to pray without ceasing, to give thanks in every circumstance for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus, 1st Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18. Here Paul links rejoicing with continual prayer and gratitude.

This gets easier to do when we turn our focus onto God rather than on ourselves and our circumstances. Even the psalmist declares, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will always be on my lips. Psalm 34, one. Is that you?

I wish that was always me. At all times, that's a high bar. At all times. In the past month, most of you know I've had some difficult things to face and I have very much appreciated all of your prayers. They've been so needful.

Despite these challenges, I've tried to stay focused, not on the difficulties, but on how God keeps orchestrating all that is happening and how smoothly so many things have gone and all just at the perfect time. God has been good to me and my family. We've especially watched it this past month. Knowing this has helped me to keep praises, His praises on my lips. Try keeping your focus on God as you go through your trials.

Now we move on to the next section. Is here Jeremiah makes it clear, woe unto us that we have sinned. The Jewish people had sinned. They had sinned for generations and were now reaping what was sowed. They justly deserved what has happened to them.

They justly deserved these reproaches, this judgment, this cup of wrath. Now acknowledging this, they throw themselves at the mercy of their judge and implore for His divine compassion. Jeremiah began with, Remember, O Lord, what has come upon us. For 15 verses, Jeremiah summarizes all they went through and concludes that these calamities came upon them because of their sin, because of their sin against God. Jeremiah declares, Woe unto us that we have sinned, for this our heart is faint, for these things our eyes are dim, for Mount Zion which lies desolate with jackals prowling over it.

Verse 17 and 18. We have suffered justly, woe to us. Calamities reproaches disgrace have befallen us. Because of these miseries, our spirits fail us. Our heart is faint.

Because of these miseries, our eyes are dim or darkened from the tears, from the weeping, and from the faintness. What Jeremiah had prophesied has come to pass in Jeremiah 9 11. I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of Jackals and I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there. Mount Zion has become desolate. It has become a heap of ruins.

What is significant here about Jackals? Why are they mentioned? Jackals symbolize desolation and desperation. They are known for their mournful howling and how appropriate God would fill the air each night with the mournful cries of jackals as his city lies in ruins. Now having presented the miseries suffered by God's people and having confessed their sins against him and acknowledged the justice in his judgments, Jeremiah now praises God.

He declares, but you, O God, reign forever. Your throne endures to all generations. Verse 19. This is a great place for Jeremiah to start, to acknowledge the everlasting, sovereign rule of God. Kingdoms may come and go, but God is eternal.

People may come and go, but God is still here. All the riches and glory God had given his people were destroyed and taken away because of their sin against him. Yet Jeremiah remembers that earthly things may pass away but God remains. His throne cannot be overthrown. It is on this foundation that Jeremiah places his hope and expectation that God will restore his people.

Jeremiah now confesses they have sinned, but it took a full cup of wrath poured out on them. It took great tragedies and suffering to bring them to this point. Is that what it will take for you? Is there a sin in your life that you're hiding, keeping secret? Sin that you haven't confessed?

Will you wait as the Jews did until the cup of wrath is poured out on you? Don't be deceived. The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Don't put it off any longer. Your sin will find you out.

Be assured. Repent today. Turn to Christ and confess your sins. Ask for forgiveness. It is natural for a people enduring tragedy and suffering to ask if God has forgotten them.

We forget that God's time frame is rarely ours. This causes us to be impatient. And Jeremiah expresses this. Why do you forget us forever? Why do you forsake us for so many days?

In verse 20, the Jews wondered where God had gone. Suffering seems to always give, to give us a sense of abandonment. He was their shield, and yet God was not there to protect Jerusalem, his city. God was not there to protect Jerusalem, his city. God was not there to protect his people.

And now they were to be exiled for 70 years. Where was God? Had God forgotten them, forsaken them? Of course, he hadn't. He had not forgotten them.

He was punishing them. He was trying to bring them back to restoration. And now finally we get to Jeremiah's petition in verse 21. Turn now us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned. Renew our days as of old.

I really like that. He didn't start with free us from our captivity. He didn't start with restore our riches and glory. He started with turn us back, O Lord, knowing that if God turns us back to him, we shall be turned. It is our relationship with God that is the most important.

What Jeremiah is describing here is repentance, a turning of their hearts away from sin and back to God. Repentance is not something that we can do by ourselves. Jeremiah knew this and asked it properly, that God would turn our hearts back to him and only then would they be restored. If we have backslidened or fallen away, we also should pray that God would grant us repentance so that we may be restored and that we may renew our days as of old. Matthew Henry comments here, troubles may cause our hearts to be faint and our eyes to be dim, but the way to the mercy seat of our reconciled God is open.

Let us in all our trials put our whole trust and confidence in his mercy. Let us confess our sins and pour out our hearts before him. Let us watch against repinings and despondency, for we surely know that it shall be well in the end with all that trust in fear, love, and serve the Lord. It's interesting to me that Jeremiah finishes with what appears to be a down note unable to end on a positive hope for the future. So much so that the synagogues commonly repeat verse 21 after, after we're verse 22, just to have a more hopeful ending.

But let's read verse 21 and 22 together. Different versions have it differently. The ESV I like how it presents it. Restore us to yourself, O Lord, so we may return. Renew our days as of old, unless you have utterly rejected us and you remain exceedingly angry with us.

John Calvin comments, the call in verse 22 for God to forgive Judah unless he had utterly rejected them is key. Calvin says that any thoughtful reader would know that such a complete and final rejection was impossible on the part of the Lord, who centuries before had promised to love Abraham's seed forever in Genesis 12. The unless of verse 22 is not really a condition, but rather a pointer to God's steadfast covenant love. Turn now us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned. This should be our cry and our prayer as well.

Don't let anything get between you and God. Throughout life, we constantly get distracted. We constantly get pulled off the right path the narrow way, idols get in the way, circumstances get in the way. Be in prayer, Be in prayer constantly and be thankful for all things as Paul was telling us. Ask God to turn your heart back to him.

And I'll end with some words from a table talk devotional from 2013. Prayer is a vital sign that our relationship with God is true and strong. The desire to call upon the name of the Lord can only be granted by the Lord himself. And so when we pray to him with sincerity, acknowledging our sins and hoping in His mercy. We demonstrate that we remain in His hand.

Prayer also looks forward in hope to the future God has for us. In asking him to be with us and to meet our needs, we show our confidence that the best is yet to come. If you are discouraged this day, pray. Amen.