Where Dots Intersect

This past Sunday evening as our college pastor was preaching through Lamentations chapter 3, I found myself sitting on the edge of my pew nearly restraining myself from jumping up and shouting out, "There's a dot connection here." Was he going to tell us about the similar connection between the plight of the author of Lamentations and that of the of the psalmist in Psalm 73? Would he take us to the Psalm and show us how the two connect even though they were different writers in different times and circumstances? Could I contain myself in such a way that I wouldn't look like a lunatic or a know it all? And then...


In past blogs I have shared how the psalmist in Psalm 73 found himself on a downward spiral of  perplexing despair as he contemplated the question, why do the wicked prosper when the righteous frequently seem to suffer. It wasn't until he took his problem to God and saw the destiny of the wicked and his own self righteousness that he could begin to make any sense of the whole thing. At that point there was a God-ward reorientation in his thinking in which he began to understand that God is God. Then, he was able to say, "My flesh and my heart may fail but, God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26


Moving ahead through the pages of time in scripture to Lamentations we find the nation of Israel in captivity. In chapter 3:1-20 the author is describing himself as a man of affliction and losing hope as he contemplates his plight and the judgment of God. Sound familiar? The only contrast between the 2 authors is that we see the writer of Lamentations at rock bottom of his downward spiral and the psalmist was moving in that direction very fast. In verse 19-20 he laments, " Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall. My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me."  Have you ever been that low? Honestly?!  I have!


But, (one of those wonderful transition words so strategically placed), in verse 21, he begins to call to mind and hope is restored. What did he recall? What caused the reorientation in his thinking? He remembered; he began to meditate on the fact that God is God. He began to understand from the ash heap of his despair, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Lam 3:22-23. And then (here comes the biggest dot yet)  he says, "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I hope in Him." Lam 3:24. Does that sound familiar, or what? Like the psalmist he moves from rational thinking to spiritual thinking.


Dear reader, there is one truth I would like for you to take from this- you begin to understand that God is God. In the midst of dark sorrow and suffering there is a glitter of hope found when we come to the place where we can say as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Paul understood that his strength and hope was found in Christ. In both strength and weakness God was his portion forever. Do you know the life transforming power of the gospel that lifts hope from despair? I would invite you to check out www.gracechurchofdupage.org to hear the Lamentations Chapter 3 sermon in its entirety.