The Church of Divine Guidance (CDG) Sunday morning adult bible study group is conducting a study about doubt and the Christian. These posts are my notes for each session. Please study with us. You can participate by asking your questions or making comments below. We welcome your thoughts, questions, comments, and prayers.
Last week we started to talk about a big time doubter, Jeremiah.
Jeremiah was a prophet used by God at a very crucial time in the history of Israel and Judea. God told this man, Jeremiah to tell Israel that they were going to be overrun by Babylon, and that Jerusalem and the temple were going to be destroyed and they would be taken into exile for 70 years. God sent him to do this at the same time that others, who said they were prophets too, said everything is going to be fine. Well you can imagine who they would rather believe. In fact they wanted to kill Jeremiah, he was imprisoned even thrown in a well.
Jeremiah is often called the weeping prophet because he expressed sorrow for the things that God had shown him about what would happen to his people. We looked at the book of Lamentations, which was written by Jeremiah. He wrote this book after the stuff that he said would happen to the nation, to the capital Jerusalem and the temple actually happened. The nation was in ruins, Jerusalem destroyed, it’s wall torn down and the temple, burned to the ground.
Our emphasis is on chapter 3 where Jeremiah bares his heart and sorrow about what has happened. We got through verse 24 last week.
In the first 13 verses Jeremiah says there is only bitterness and frustration. Some of it physical (verse 4), the other affliction from the enemy (verse 5); his freedom is now gone (verse 6) and God is even rejecting his prayers (verse 8).
In verses 14-18 he says he is now the object now of public ridicule and that his peace is now destroyed and he has no hope. That peace and hope that he had lost was in the Lord. Remember when I said that sometimes we wonder if God even cares. Well it looks like that’s what Jeremiah is thinking.
But then when we read verses 19-24 we see that he prayed and asked God to remember him and his circumstances and he remembered that God does love him and he became confident, he had hope.
Lamentations 3:22-24 (HCSB)22 Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end.23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!24 I say: The LORD is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him.
He now has hope. Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. In other words hope is the confident expectation, the sure certainty that what God has promised in the Word is true, has occurred, and or will in accordance with God’s sure Word.
Lamentations 3:25-36 (HCSB)25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.26 It is good to wait quietly for deliverance from the LORD.27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is ⌊still⌋ young.28 Let him sit alone and be silent, for God has disciplined him.29 Let him put his mouth in the dust— perhaps there is ⌊still⌋ hope.30 Let him offer ⌊his⌋ cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with shame.31 For the Lord will not reject ⌊us⌋ forever.32 Even if He causes suffering, He will show compassion according to His abundant, faithful love.33 For He does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind.34 Crushing all the prisoners of the land beneath one’s feet,35 denying justice to a man in the presence of the Most High,36 or suppressing a person’s lawsuit— the Lord does not approve ⌊of these things⌋.
We can wait because we have hope, which means that we are certain that God will be with us and that whatever is going on will work out for our good, so we should try to wait patiently. I know that’s hard but we have to ask for strength and God tells us that when we are weak that the Holy Spirit that is in us gives us strength.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NKJV)7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul tells us that when we are at our weakest we gain strength through God’s grace or favor. That’s how we can be thankful at all times and do what Paul says that we should do in 1 Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)16 Rejoice always,17 pray without ceasing,18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
God just doesn’t forget us. He doesn’t hate us and doesn’t delight in our suffering.
Remember;
Psalm 17:6 (NLT)6 I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray.
Psalm 56:8 (NLT)8 You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.
Lamentations 3:37-39 (HCSB)37 Who is there who speaks and it happens, unless the Lord has ordained ⌊it⌋?38 Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?39 Why should ⌊any⌋ living person complain, ⌊any⌋ man, because of the punishment for his sins?
Nothing surprises God anyway. If something happens to us that’s not our fault, it could be an attack of the enemy allowed by God, it so then we know is that there is a purpose for it. It may be to call attention to something in our lives that needs attention or change, it may be to help somebody else, but whatever it is it will be for His glory.
Lamentations 3:40-42 (HCSB)40 Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD.41 Let us lift up our hearts and ⌊our⌋ hands to God in heaven:42 We have sinned and rebelled; You have not forgiven.
Now it really looks like Jeremiah, realizes that he has been doubting and is sincerely repenting. However he says that God has not forgiven. Could it be there’s still some doubt there?
Lamentations 3:43-54 (NLT)43 “You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down, and slaughtered us without mercy.44 You have hidden yourself in a cloud so our prayers cannot reach you.45 You have discarded us as refuse and garbage among the nations.46 “All our enemies have spoken out against us.47 We are filled with fear, for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”48 Tears stream from my eyes because of the destruction of my people!49 My tears flow endlessly; they will not stop50 until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees.51 My heart is breaking over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.52 My enemies, whom I have never harmed, hunted me down like a bird.53 They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me.54 The water rose over my head, and I cried out, “This is the end!”
He really feels that God has come down on Israel. Even though they have repented God hasn’t forgiven. God doesn’t even care. It’s all over for them and for him. He says it’s over. He was at rock bottom. We get there too when we are really going through, crying out to God for something and nothing changes or even gets worse. We think God doesn’t care. Well keep crying out. You’ll get some kind of answer even if it’s my grace is sufficient for you. That may not be what you want to hear but what that does say is that God will be with you. Think about those things you say when this gs are going good.
Romans 8:28 (NKJV)28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Romans 8:31-39 (NKJV)31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?33 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Remember when we studied spiritual warfare through the life of Samson what happened
when he reached rock bottom. What did he do?
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| Bottom of the Barrel |
He called on the Lord.
Judges 16:28 (NLT) Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “Sovereign LORD, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.”
Well that’s what Jeremiah did.
Lamentations 3:55-66 (NLT)55 But I called on your name, LORD, from deep within the pit.56 You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!”57 Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear.”58 Lord, you are my lawyer! Plead my case! For you have redeemed my life.59 You have seen the wrong they have done to me, LORD. Be my judge, and prove me right.60 You have seen the vengeful plots my enemies have laid against me.61 LORD, you have heard the vile names they call me. You know all about the plans they have made.62 My enemies whisper and mutter as they plot against me all day long.63 Look at them! Whether they sit or stand, I am the object of their mocking songs.64 Pay them back, LORD, for all the evil they have done.65 Give them hard and stubborn hearts, and then let your curse fall on them!66 Chase them down in your anger, destroying them beneath the LORD’s heavens.
Jeremiah says that he prayed and the Lord came to the rescue.
Can you name somebody else who was in a tight spot and prayed and was rescued?
How about Jonah?
Jonah 2:1-10 (HCSB)1 Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish:2 I called to the LORD in my distress, and He answered me. I cried out for help in the belly of Sheol; You heard my voice.3 You threw me into the depths, into the heart of the seas, and the current overcame me. All Your breakers and Your billows swept over me.4 But I said: I have been banished from Your sight, yet I will look once more toward Your holy temple.5 The waters engulfed me up to the neck; the watery depths overcame me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.6 I sank to the foundations of the mountains; the earth with its prison bars closed behind me forever! But You raised my life from the Pit, LORD my God!7 As my life was fading away, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came to You, to Your holy temple.8 Those who cling to worthless idols forsake faithful love,9 but as for me, I will sacrifice to You with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD!10 Then the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
David throughout the Psalms
Psalms 23, 30, 121, 125, 126, 91
Jeremiah was even confident that God would avenge the wrong done to him. When people do things to us u justly we should let the Lord to avenge us. We can let our emotions get the best of us and do unwise things. Remember Samson when he got angry because the guys answered his riddle. He went out and killed 30 people. When he found out that his wife had been given to his best man, after he left her by the way, he tied some foxes together and burned down the Philistines grain fields ending with the death of his estranged wife and his father in law.
Romans 12:19 (NLT)19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the LORD.
Believers are not to take their own revenge but rather to give the wrath of God an opportunity to work out its purpose. The OT points out that vengeance and recompense belong to God. He is now confident that Jehovah has observed his plight and will become his Redeemer, Advocate, and Vindicator - The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.
Deuteronomy 32:35 (NLT)35 I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will overtake them.’
From Charles Spurgeon Morning and Evening Devotions
Lamentations 3:58
0 Lord, Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul.
Observe how positively the prophet speaks. He doth not say, "I hope, I trust, I sometimes think, that God hath pleaded the causes of my soul"; but he speaks of it as a matter of fact not to be disputed. "Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul." Let us, by the aid of the gracious Comforter, shake off those doubts and fears which so much mar our peace and comfort. Be this our prayer, that we may have done with the harsh croaking voice of surmise and suspicion, and may be able to speak with the clear, melodious voice of full assurance. Notice how gratefully the prophet speaks, ascribing all the glory to God alone! You perceive there is not a word concerning himself or his own pleadings. He doth not ascribe his deliverance in any measure to any man, much less to his own merit; but it is "thou"-"O Lord, Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; Thou hast redeemed my life." A grateful spirit should ever be cultivated by the Christian; and especially after deliverances we should prepare a song for our God. Earth should be a temple filled with the songs of grateful saints, and every day should be a censor smoking with the sweet incense of thanksgiving. How joyful Jeremiah seems to be while he records the Lord's mercy. How triumphantly he lifts up the strain! He has been in the low dungeon, and is even now no other than the weeping prophet; and yet in the very book which is called "Lamentations," clear as the song of Miriam when she dashed her fingers against the tabor, shrill as the note of Deborah when she met Barak with shouts of victory, we hear the voice of Jeremy going up to heaven-"Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life." O children of God, seek after a vital experience of the Lord's lovingkindness, and when you have it, speak positively of it; sing gratefully; shout triumphantly
When we admit, confess, and ask forgiveness for our doubt is should eventually lead us to the knowledge that God does love us and will be with us and deliver us.
Romans 8:28 (NLT)28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
