Restore Us, Lord

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Restore Us, Lord

Date: Aug. 27, 2018

Passage

Lamentations 5:1-22 (ESV)

1   Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us;
    look, and see our disgrace!
2   Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
    our homes to foreigners.
3   We have become orphans, fatherless;
    our mothers are like widows.
4   We must pay for the water we drink;
    the wood we get must be bought.
5   Our pursuers are at our necks;
    we are weary; we are given no rest.
6   We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria,
    to get bread enough.
7   Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
    and we bear their iniquities.
8   Slaves rule over us;
    there is none to deliver us from their hand.
9   We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
    because of the sword in the wilderness.
10   Our skin is hot as an oven
    with the burning heat of famine.
11   Women are raped in Zion,
    young women in the towns of Judah.
12   Princes are hung up by their hands;
    no respect is shown to the elders.
13   Young men are compelled to grind at the mill,
    and boys stagger under loads of wood.
14   The old men have left the city gate,
    the young men their music.
15   The joy of our hearts has ceased;
    our dancing has been turned to mourning.
16   The crown has fallen from our head;
    woe to us, for we have sinned!
17   For this our heart has become sick,
    for these things our eyes have grown dim,
18   for Mount Zion which lies desolate;
    jackals prowl over it.
19   But you, O LORD, reign forever;
    your throne endures to all generations.
20   Why do you forget us forever,
    why do you forsake us for so many days?
21   Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored!
    Renew our days as of old—
22   unless you have utterly rejected us,
    and you remain exceedingly angry with us.

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 5:21

Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored!
Renew our days as of old—

1. See our disgrace (1-18)

Chapter 5 is unique in that it is not acrostic. But it contains 22 verses like chapters 1, 2 and 4 and has some similar themes. The author calls on the LORD to remember what has happened to his people. The Promised Land had been given over to strangers. There were many fatherless children and widows. They were pursued on every side. Water, wood and bread were very difficult to obtain. Their women had been raped, their princes hung up and their elders disrespected. Singing and dancing had stopped. He laments their sin which had brought this calamity.

2. The LORD reigns forever (19-22)

After asking the LORD to remember the suffering of the people, the author prays for restoration. God had not lost control. The LORD is eternal and reigns forever. He rules over every generation. God had not forgotten them. The author prays that the LORD would restore the people to himself. He prays to return to God and that the days of blessing would be renewed.

Prayer: Lord, please do not forget us nor forsake us. Please forgive us and restore us to yourself.

One Word: Restore us to yourself, Lord!

God’s Wrath and Justice

Revelation 6:1-17

Key Verse: 6:17

for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Today's Question

What does God require from us to escape His anger and curse, which we deserve for our sin?

See answer and references