Lamentations 3:37-47 says,...Bible reading week 21, day 3

Today's verses are Lamentations 3:37-47, which read,

37 - Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?

38 - Is it not from the mouth of the Most High, that both good and ill go forth?

39 - Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins?

40 - Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the LORD.

41 - We lift up our heart and hands toward God in heaven;

42 - We have transgressed and rebelled, You have not pardoned.

43 - You have covered Yourself with anger and pursued us; You have slain and have not spared.

44 - You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.

45 - You have made us mere offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.

46 - All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

47 - Panic and pitfall have befallen us, devastation and destruction;

Jeremiah is feeling the weight of Israel's sin.  His prayers are not getting to heaven, per say.  He goes into a time to remember and recall all things God.  He recommits to God in a position of submission with his face to the ground.  He goes before the God who is holy, just, and loving with a full confession in which we start today with these verses.

The confession starts with an acknowledgement that God is in charge of it all.  It made me think of last Sunday's sermon and His command over the wind and the waves.  He sent the disciples out into a storm that He already knew about but also a storm that His disciples needed to strengthen their faith.  In the face of God sovereignty, Jeremiah asks why should any man have some excuse for his sin.  Do we think we are going to have a pass before the One who knows all?  Do we think that we are special above all others and that God would treat us differently?  

Confession starts with an acknowledgement of God's sovereignty and our depravity.   It moves onto our inspection of our sin in front of the holy God.  Instead of giving excuses, we examine and probe our ways which puts us before God in a position to repent.  We lift our hearts; we lift our hands; we lift our voices to confess that we have transgressed and rebelled.  

Confession is a lost element of the general church today.  It is rarely heard or seen.  We have grown up in a world of excuses.  We have also grown up in this world that solves by covering up.  Finally, we have grown up in a world that strives to put on a good face no matter what.  We see Jeremiah, face down before God, acknowledging His holiness and his own sinfulness.  The solution to the problem of sin is not redefining it as we are attempting to do today but submission to the God who calls it what it is.

Jeremiah then describes again what happens when we cover up sin rather than confess it.  We are unblessed by God.  We feel God's righteous anger.  We recognize that our prayers get lost in the cloud because they are prayers to excuse and avoidance rather than prayers of confession.  We see that our witness of God among the people is tainted by our sin and consequences of hypocrisy is upon us from them.  We are feeling the persecution from the people because of our disobedience to God.  Jeremiah shows us how remorse he is and how he has a full grasp on what has happened because of this sin.  

Some might say that he is going overboard with it.  On Friday, he will go on and on about the effect it has on his life.  We could say, "Enough, enough Jeremiah, we get the point.  You are going to the extremes with this."  But how many times have we went to the other extreme and treated sin as nothing?  It was a mistake.  It was an error in judgment.  It was not as bad as what others do.  It is not sin anymore.  Sin has become something to laugh at rather than something to mourn over.

Inspect your life today.  Is there anything that you need to come to God with?  You may have chucked it away as something "too small."  Find your knees and use them before God who is waiting for a response from His child to continue to call sin "sin" and confess and repent of it.   Don't take sin lightly but follow Jeremiah's example and go overboard with the God who knows it all and wants you to experience His blessings rather than sins' beatings.  Let us pray.

"Lord, how we have minimized sin.  How we have made it "small" and excusable.  How we have been held by its grip rather than experiencing the loving arms of You.  Open our eyes to come to full and extreme confession before You.  May we acknowledge You and what You say about sin rather than our feeble attempts to make it holy.  Amen."

Pastor Adam