Today you should read: Lamentations 2
When you have grieved over sin, whether it was yours or the brokenness we see from the world, what was your conversations with God like? We know we should lament and grieve over sin because its consequences are deadly and that sin ultimately cost Jesus’ life. However do you truly grieve over it? Sometimes I’ll see students recognize sin in their life or in the world and they dismiss it pretty quickly and easily. We need to view sin the same way that God does and when we repent of it, we need to be honest and transparent to God of our hatred toward it. Lamentations chapter 2 shows a picture of that grief in the author’s heart when reflecting on Israel’s sin and God’s judgment on that sin.
The first 10 verses show the effect of God’s justice as He allowed Israel to be attacked and captured by Babylon. Vs. 11-19 shows the grief that they feel but also we see the author cry out for help from God in the midst of his lamenting.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let tears stream down like a torrent
day and night!
Give yourself no rest,
your eyes no respite!
19 “Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.” –Lamentations 2:18-19
That’s the difference between guilt and depression over one’s sin and true repentance. God will be just and his righteous anger will pour out over sin. It poured out on His innocent Son on the cross. However the purpose behind that lamentation of sin is to bring us to a point to respond with hope that we can be saved by all loving Father through the Gospel. Do you grieve over your sin? Does that cause you to desire God’s restoration? Even in the most depressing book of the Bible, we see glimmers of hope as the prophet point them to a God who will restore them.
Posted by: Erik Koliser
JumpstartCPC.com 