When God is silent, faith is hard. The book of Lamentations offers language for times when God is silent. When you feel alone in your sorrow. When you can’t hear God answering your cries. Do you struggle to sense God’s presence in difficult times?
Lamentations is a lament for the destroyed city of Jerusalem, after the exile of the people of God to Babylon. It is unique among the Old Testament prophetic writings in that, for the entire book, God is silent. Instead of God’s word to the people of Israel, it is the words of the people to God—words of longing, grief, and repentance, full of unrequited pain and unanswered questions.
In this 15-day series, read the book of Lamentations. Pour out your most difficult emotions in prayer. Listen for God’s silence. When God is silent, seek answers in the rest of the Bible, where God answers abundantly.
Read: Lamentations 3:19-26 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end. (v. 22) One of my privileges as a pastor is getting to know
Read: Lamentations 3:27-33 The Lord will not cast off forever. (v. 31) The film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is based on events from the life of children’s entertainer Fred
Read: Lamentations 3:37-50 Let us test and examine our ways. (v. 40) The Hebrew verb often translated “repent” means, literally, “to turn” or “to return.” Repentance, in other words, isn’t simply
Read: Lamentations 3:55-66 I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit. (v. 55) During the Second World War, Dutch citizen Corrie ten Boom and her family
Read: Lamentations 4:11-17 We watched for a nation which could not save. (v. 17) In December 2008, Bernard Madoff was arrested for fraud. For years, Madoff promoted a massive Ponzi scheme
Read: Lamentations 5:15-22 But you, O LORD, reign forever. (v. 19) At the conclusion of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton is about to be executed for a
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