Hello friends! Today we finish the book of Lamentations and while it does not end on what I would call a particularly happy note it is positive. I really do find it pretty similar to the situation we are in now we the vaccine becoming more available. "You will come out of your exile...soon" What have you thought of Lamentations? What parts of it did you connect with or wrestle with?
Scripture to Read
Audio Bible
Questions to Consider
What does this teach me about God?
What does this teach me about humanity?
What does this teach me about the relationship between the two?
What about Lamentations was meaningful to me?
- My Thoughts -
It's not terribly often that the psalm and primary reading so wonderfully speak to one another but I found that to the case with this reading. Lamentations is written in response to the temple falling while Psalm 30 is written in praise of the temple being erected. The idea that his anger lasts only a moment while his favor lasts a lifetime in contrast with a group of exiles that have spent many lifetimes waiting for that favor. The book can be read in two ways I suppose, either a word of hope that whatever struggle we experience presently won't always last or it could read as a forewarning that nothing is truly secure forever except God. I think it's tempting to kind of fall to one side of that interpretation based on your mood but it's probably most healthy (and Biblically accurate) to read it as both.
Why do you think the book of lamentations was included in the canon? What timeless message do you think the great church leaders of the past thought we needed to know from it?
Prayer
Our prayer today is inspired by hymn "When Morning Gilds the Skies"...if you are fan of the "high church" hymns with loud organs and high notes of praise with rich theology than this one is fitting for you! It also works really well with Psalm 30 in my opinion, especially verse 2. Enjoy! :)
1. When morning gilds the skies
my heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer,
to Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
2. The night becomes as day
when from the heart we say:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The powers of darkness fear
when this sweet chant they hear:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
3. Let all the earth around
ring joyous with the sound:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
In heaven's eternal bliss
the loveliest strain is this:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
4. Be this, while life is mine, my canticle divine: May Jesus Christ be praised! Be this th' eternal song through all the ages long: May Jesus Christ be praised!