May I suggest, that it's more than the attitudes we should have when repenting and how to approach God when asking for forgiveness. I think there's a richness beyond those things. Lamentations is primarily a book of great faith and hope.
In the first two chapters, Jeremiah mourns the fate of his beloved city and nation. However, overcome by those thoughts and the suffering he himself went through while trying to serve God, in chapter 3 we see the prophet mourning his circumstances, ringing his hands, bemoaning his condition, and wishing he were dead. But then ... but then he calls to mind the faithfulness of God. And from verse 21 to verse 33 we see the prophet exulting in the hope God gives.
An interesting truth can be learned from two of the words that are used in this specific passage-- the words for "hope" and for "wait" found in verses 24 and 25. Using the New King James, verse 24 reads:
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”
And verse 25 reads:
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.
The word translated "hope" in verse 24 is
yachal (יָחַל - pronounced yaw-KHAL) and means to hope in eager expectation while waiting patiently for that hope to arrive. The word translated "wait" in verse 25 is
qavah (קָוָה - pronounced kah-VAH) and means to wait for something expectantly, in other words to wait in hope. Do you see how the ideas expressed by those two words are linked in the Hebrew? Hoping involves waiting patiently; and waiting involves hoping expectantly. I find this both beautiful and instructive. It tells me the attitude I should have in trials: both hoping expectantly and waiting patiently.
This idea is also found in the Hebrew of verse 26, where it is expanded on. The English reads:
It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
The word translated "hope" in this verse is a different word than used before: it is the word
chuwl (חוּל - pronounced khool). It means to whirl, writhe in pain, fear, wait. The word translated "wait" (actually "wait quietly") in this verse is also different than the one used earlier. Here the Holy Spirit laid the word
dumam (דּוּמָם - pronounced doo-MAHM) on the prophet's mind. It actually means "to be still", "to be silent". How instructive is this! The correct attitude when our circumstances have us whirling this way and that without a solid anchor, or writhing in pain, or fearful, we are to silence ourselves and be still. You see, silence and stillness before God is the ultimate proof of our faith in God, of our trust in His love for us, His goodness toward us, and the faithfulness of His character. As Isaiah 50:10 says:
Who among you fears the LORD, and obeys the voice of His Servant? Yet walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and lean upon his God.
In other words, you are God's child, you hold him in reverence, and you walk in obedience; and yet you find yourself in total darkness will absolutely no light. In that case, the Holy Spirit tells us through Isaiah to trust in the name of Yahweh and rely on Him. Now, to trust in someone's name is a Hebraism that means to "trust in everything you know them to be, everything that they have proven themselves to be." Since we know that God is love, that He is truth, that He is faithful, that He will never change, that He will never leave us or forsake us, and that all that happens in our lives is permitted by Him and has as its goal our ultimate good and His glory, then we can fully trust in Him. Indeed, we are to recall His proven character to mind and therefore to trust Him in the storm.
I particularly like the way the King James translates that last phrase. It says:
... and stay upon his God.
I love that old fashioned word "stay". In the Middle Ages that word meant to stand firm, to remain fixed upon, to be solidly anchored. And that is exactly the attitude we are to have within ourselves when it comes to our God. Despite the trial we do not understand, in spite of the loss of all sense of the presence of God, regardless of the utter darkness that surrounds us and the total absence of light, we are to recall exactly who God is and the promises He has spoken to us and, therefore, firmly anchor ourselves on Him and everything we know Him to be.
What great instruction God has given us in His Word for the inevitable times of tribulation that come into all of our lives at some point or another! Brother, I hope you can see Lamentations in this light: our God is faithful and therefore we can always have hope. And while we may not understand why our circumstances may be as they are, we can trust fully in the goodness of God. Therefore, we can come to the place in our heart that King David found, and described in Psalm 131:2--
Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Yes, when we truly trust God we can calm ourself, quiet our soul, and rest in the knowledge that He is in control and that He loves us more deeply than we can imagine.
I pray this helps you, brother, and anyone else who reads it.
:
