DCLM Daily Manna Saturday, August 6, 2022
TOPIC: Needless Suffering
TEXT: LAMENTATIONS 5:10-22
KEY VERSE: “Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old” (LAMENTATIONS 5:21).
DCLM Daily Manna Saturday, August 6, 2022 OUTLINE
Jeremiah has been labelled ‘the weeping man of God’, on account of the elegy he was inspired to write after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians about 600 years before the time of Jesus Christ. Following his moving literary work recorded in the Old Testament as the book of Lamentations, the world coined the word, ‘jeremiad’, to describe any literature that mourns a tragedy. There are few written works that portray the despair and loss Judah suffered at the hands of the enemy.
In our text, Jeremiah had repeatedly warned of the dire consequences of the disobedience of his people to the laws of God. He spoke of their rebellion and rejection of His ways. Jeremiah delivered the Lord’s stern plea asking them to forsake their apostasy or face the disastrous results of a 70-year captivity. They ignored him and threw the Lord’s messenger into prison, threatening to kill him.
Jeremiah did not budge. He preached until God’s word was fulfilled, with Jerusalem overrun and the great Temple, razed. He lamented in the wake of the massive ruin and desolation of his compatriots. It is impossible for the recalcitrant sinner to escape divine judgment.
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Still, as he concluded his dirge, Jeremiah asked the loving and compassionate God to put upon His people, the spirit of penitence and supplication, so they would ask to return to Him and again experience the joy of the days of old. The believer ought not to learn of the mercy of his Redeemer only after he has been whipped by the devil when he strays into his territory through the sin of disobedience.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: People suffer needlessly through careless living.
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