Day 4
Memory Verse – Isaiah 35:10 And those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
I woke up feeling sad today. Lots going on – lots out of my control…it all added up, and I just felt…sad. The state of the world, the state of the body of Christ – storms, wars, earthquakes, fires, disunity, lies…there’s a lot to be sad about. And I feel tremendous sorrow for my mistakes. I make so many. I hurt people, even when I don’t mean to. Worst of all, I hurt the Lord.
Lament is actually a beautiful thing in scripture. It’s appropriate sometimes. Many times. As we saw in the Psalm of David yesterday, lament was his reaction to his sin. And in repentance, he found salvation and restored presence with God. Let’s face it, we have lots to lament for and repent of. As humans we should lament the atrocities committed by other humans all around the world. As Americans we should feel sorrow for injustice committed in the name of our country. As Christians we should repent of the times when horrors are committed in the Name of Jesus. And we ourselves should regularly confess our sins to God and to one another to receive forgiveness and restoration.
Matthew 5:3 Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.
Perhaps you have read this verse before and found peace knowing that we will be comforted when we have reason to sorrow. And this is so true! But scholars believe that what Jesus was implying here is that we will be comforted when we mourn over our sin and when we see injustice and suffering. Then we will find comfort as we are forgiven and restored.
Read Nehemiah 8
In this passage we see the people of God returning from exile to reestablish the city of Jerusalem, finally! There was much to rejoice over…that is until Ezra the scribe read to them the book of the Law and explained what it meant to them. He read all day long, and as he read he gave the explanation. The people’s response was deep sorrow and grief. You see, they had not been living as God had commanded them for some time. The reading of the Word highlighted all the mistakes they had made and their many, many ways they had rejected their God. They saw, perhaps for the first time, why they had been led into exile – how great had been the sins of their ancestors!
But God and Ezra did now want them to stay there, in their lament and grief.
Nehemiah 8:10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
The holiness of the Lord, the presence of the Lord brought them through the sorrow and grief and into feasting and joy. The joy of the Lord was their strength!
Isaiah predicted this would be the case. In our memory verse we see that the prophet saw a time when the people would return to Jerusalem from exile with singing, and their time of mourning would “flee away!”
So tonight, I will go to bed full of joy. My circumstances have not changed. The world is still a mess. People are hurting. I am still hurt. But I take time to repent and lament, and the Lord meets me. In His presence is fullness of joy. And I am strong. And I wear a crown of joy on my head!