| The City of Speaks
(chapter 1) The Lord Speaks (chapter 2)
The Prophet Speaks (chapter 3)
"Even when I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my
prayer." (3:8)
"I have become a laughingstock to all my people, Their mocking song
all the day. (3:14)
"He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drunk with
wormwood." (3:15)
My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness. (3:17)
So I say, "My strength has perished, And so has my hope from the
Lord." Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness. Surely my soul remembers And is bowed down within me.
(3:18–20)
This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. (3:21)
The Lord’s Lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never
fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. (3:22–23)
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him. It is
good that he waits silently For the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he
should bear The yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and be silent Since He has laid it on
him. Let him put his mouth in the dust, Perhaps there is hope. (3:25–29)
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1. Jeremiah Remembers
Life’s Failures Read through
Lamentations chapters 1-3 and describe the
Circumstances (chap. 1)
The Lord’s Complaint (chap. 2)
Jeremiah’s feelings (chap. 3)
Jeremiah acknowledged and deeply experienced whatever feelings were in his heart
at any given moment. He gives us an excellent model to use in working through our grief
and hurts.
Can you identify with some of Jeremiah’s feelings? Have you cried out to
the Lord for help when it seemed as if He did not answer your prayers? (cf. 3:8)
When were the times when you felt desolate and forsaken?
Have there been times when you felt you were the laughing stock of the
community? (cf. 3:14)
Have you felt full of bitterness and gaul of wormwood? (3:15) When?
Have there been times when you have forgotten what happiness was like? (3:17)
Please explain.
Have you been so low emotionally and spiritually that you have felt that all
hope from the Lord was gone? (3:18-20)
2. Jeremiah Recalls God’s Faithfulness (3:21-5:22)
Jeremiah’s hope was restored by
calling to mind God’s love and faithfulness (3:21). You get the sense of hope and a
song in the prophet’s grieving heart as he reminds himself of God’s
faithfulness.
Write down examples of how God has been faithful to you (cf. 3:22-23).
When did you first become aware of His love for you?
When have you experienced God’s compassion’s during difficult times?
Jeremiah experienced God’s love and compassion as fresh with each new day
(vv. 22-23).
God is faithful (3:23). Here are some examples in Bible.
What are some examples of His faithfulness in your life?
3. Jeremiah’s Recovery
Jeremiah had to stop running. Are you
sometimes seized with panic? We have to wait and sit silently before Him (3:25-26, 28).
It is during these times that we must experience His discipline (3:27).
This becomes a refreshing time to submit willingly to His will (3:29).
Hope slowly begin to return to Jeremiah. And if we are patient it will for us,
too. (Cf. 3:31-43; 5:19-22, 55-57) |