June 3, 2022
Passage Read: Lamentations 1-4
Meditation Verses: 3:58-62
Thought
Jeremiah goes from how good it is for a man to bear the yoke while he is young, how good it is for him to sit in silence because the Lord has done this, to the Lord seeing the judgment poured out and rising to defend and deliver His people. They deserved their punishment, they did wrong and received the due penalty. They should accept it, endure it, learn from it. But at the same time, the Lord sees what they've suffered, sees the pain of their punishment, and sees how those who punished them felt no grief, but delighted in their suffering, and He is jealous for His people. He is provoked to anger on behalf of His humbled people, and promises to take vengeance on their behalf.
Application
What does that mean to me? Whether the accusations against me are true or false, whether they are mostly true or mostly false, the Lord has brought this about and I need to sit alone in silence and mourn over my sin, accept and endure the punishment decreed for me and wait patiently for the Lord. He has not done this willingly, but I need it and so He has allowed it. If I accept it and learn from it, He will in time be free to turn His attention to those who reveled in my humiliation, who dealt harshly with me, and He will turn on them. So let me accept my judgment, so that when He is finished with my discipline, He can turn and lead me in triumph over those who hated me. But may He have mercy on those who did this to me, that they might see their own wrong and repent, rather than bear worse wrath than I did.