Call on the Lord from the Depths

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Call on the Lord from the Depths

Date: Aug. 25, 2018

Passage

Lamentations 3:40-66 (ESV)

40   Let us test and examine our ways,
    and return to the LORD!
41   Let us lift up our hearts and hands
    to God in heaven:
42   “We have transgressed and rebelled,
    and you have not forgiven.
43   “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
    killing without pity;
44   you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
    so that no prayer can pass through.
45   You have made us scum and garbage
    among the peoples.
46   “All our enemies
    open their mouths against us;
47   panic and pitfall have come upon us,
    devastation and destruction;
48   my eyes flow with rivers of tears
    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49   “My eyes will flow without ceasing,
    without respite,
50   until the LORD from heaven
    looks down and sees;
51   my eyes cause me grief
    at the fate of all the daughters of my city.
52   “I have been hunted like a bird
    by those who were my enemies without cause;
53   they flung me alive into the pit
    and cast stones on me;
54   water closed over my head;
    I said, ‘I am lost.’
55   “I called on your name, O LORD,
    from the depths of the pit;
56   you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
    your ear to my cry for help!’
57   You came near when I called on you;
    you said, ‘Do not fear!’
58   “You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
    you have redeemed my life.
59   You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD;
    judge my cause.
60   You have seen all their vengeance,
    all their plots against me.
61   “You have heard their taunts, O LORD,
    all their plots against me.
62   The lips and thoughts of my assailants
    are against me all the day long.
63   Behold their sitting and their rising;
    I am the object of their taunts.
64   “You will repay them, O LORD,
    according to the work of their hands.
65   You will give them dullness of heart;
    your curse will be on them.
66   You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
    from under your heavens, O LORD.”

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 3:57

You came near when I called on you;
you said, ‘Do not fear!’

1. Examine your ways (40-54)

God's judgment should not embitter us or make us angry toward God. Instead we should become introspective and reflect. The author calls on his people to examine their ways and test them. He urges his people to return to the Lord by confessing their sin and rebellion in prayer. God had covered himself with anger and pursued his people. They became like scum. Terror, pitfalls, ruin and destruction became the norm. The author felt like a hunted bird. What could the people do?

2. Call on the name of the LORD (55-66)

During his deepest suffering, the author had called on God. God heard his plea for relief. He came near and told him, "Do not fear." The Lord redeemed him. The LORD saw the injustice and heard the insults the man experienced. The author was mocked by his enemies. So he prays that the LORD would bring about justice. God hears us and redeems us when we call on him with a humble and repentant heart.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your grace of redeeming me from the deepest pit of sin. Help me to encourage others to call on your name for mercy and help.

One Word: Call on the Lord from wherever you are

A New Heaven and a New Earth

Revelation 21:1-8

Key Verse: 21:2

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Today's Question

What does the sixth commandment require?

See answer and references