Lamentations 4 & 5

Lamentations 4 & 5

These psalms depict the very heart of one who tasted the benefits of wealth, good food, safety, health, satisfaction, security, and God's favor. But now everything is the opposite. 

Starvation, desolation, wretchedness, exile, abuse, death, and absence of God's favor are experienced by the people in Jerusalem after the Siege.

This can also happen to us sitting right here in our homes in Ohio. We may not realize how much we take for granted. We even hear bits of threatening scenarios to our freedom, yet unless we have lived it, we still have not tasted it.  If we live in America, we do not live this kind of desperation, regardless of our situation.

So what can we do about this? We can look at Israel and reflect. They shrugged off God's Word. They persecuted the prophets who forewarned them. They continued to look to themselves and served other more important 'gods' in their lives. They taught their children to do the same. For generations, God was patient with their adulterous ways as He gently re-instructed them. What loss they encountered when they lived in disobedience. What they imagined they were doing was good, yet it was actually part of their self-destruction.  How? Simply because of their not following God, not obeying Him, worshiping other gods, thinking they knew better.

Although we may have Jesus as our righteousness and won't experience God's wrath, do we live in the blessing of obedience to Him? Do we know better than God what we need to focus on? 

Lord, I pray for your wisdom, strength, and ears to hear, do, and listen to You and You alone. Let me not fear man's opinion of me. Let me know only Your desires today. Nudge me when my flesh falls astray and draw me back to Your heart. Amen