But You O Lord Reign Forever
Lamentations 5:1-22
November 22, 2020
Abraham Hong
Sermon Script
Today I want to focus on just one thing here in Lamentations 5. Next Sunday, Lord willing, we will consider everything else. This will be short and simple. And I guess you could call this a Thanksgiving sermon.
Today’s passage is a prayer to the Lord. The narrator of Lamentations prays for the Lord to remember what happened to his people in the fall and exile of Jerusalem. He prays for the Lord to look and see their disgrace. And he prays for the Lord to restore them to himself.
Prayer does not come easy for most of us. Here are two reasons why that may be the case.
First, perhaps we lack in prayer because we do not realize how bad things really are in life. Perhaps we do not pray to the Lord because we do not really lament.
Second, perhaps we lack in prayer because we do not realize that the Lord reigns forever. Perhaps we do not pray to the Lord because he is not really our king.
This makes a lot of sense. Allow me to speak for myself.
I do not pray to the Lord as I ought to because I think that my life is pretty much good and nice. I make myself happy with things such as food and entertainment. I easily forget how terrible sin is. I am not aware of and I do not care much about the suffering and misery that other people go through. In other words, there is not much for me to lament about in my life. And so therefore, I do not have much reason to pray to the Lord. This is sad.
But there is more. I do not pray to the Lord as I ought to because I do not think much about the eternal reign of the Lord. I trust in my own sovereign wisdom and in my own earthly money. I worry a lot and I am afraid of many things in life. I do not take seriously enough the promises and the word and the gospel and the law of the Lord. In other words, the Lord is not really my king. And so therefore, I do not have much reason to pray to the Lord. This is sad.
The narrator of Lamentations knew how bad things really were in life. You can see it in verses 2-18. He saw an entire nation disappear off the map. He witnessed children becoming orphans and mothers becoming like widows. He wept as women were raped and young men were made to do the work of animals. He was fully aware of sin. He had reasons to lament. He had reasons to pray to the Lord.
The narrator of Lamentations knew that the Lord reigns forever. You can see it in verse 19. With faith, hope and love, he declared these words: “But you, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations.” He turned to the only one who could fix everything. He trusted and depended on God alone. He was fully aware of what was eternal. He had a king to go to. He had reasons to pray to the Lord.
Dear Highland, you have many reasons to pray to the Lord. You just may not realize all of them from time to time. We live in a time and a place that is very good at forgetting about or minimizing or seemingly solving everything that is lamentable. Do you think that these terrible things here in Lamentations 5 do not happen anymore in this world? They still do.
But the truth is this. Christian life on this old and fading earth is a life of lamentation and prayer. To say anything less than this is to be out of touch with reality. People are sinning. People are suffering. People are dying. People are going to hell.
Listen to this story from Luke 18. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ The Pharisee was happy. The Pharisee had nothing to lament about. But the tax collector was sad. The tax collector had everything to lament about. You have many reasons to pray to the Lord.
Listen to these words from Ecclesiastes 7. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting…. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. The wise person mourns with the King of kings who reigns forever. The foolish person feasts with everyone else. You have many reasons to pray to the Lord.
The book of Lamentations ends without any response or answer from the Lord. The prayer just abruptly ends. The narrator does not gives us another poem. There is no Lamentations 6.
But we know the answer to this prayer.
The Lord answered this prayer many centuries after this prayer was lifted up. The Lord came to us. He took on human nature. He lived for us. He died for us. He rose again for us. And now he has ascended and he has taken his throne. The Lord removed our sin and our disgrace. He has an inheritance for us. We have a family and a home. The Lord promises us a sabbath rest and a banqueting table. He has freed us from slavery and hell. He will destroy all evil. There will be total joy in our hearts. The Lord did not forget us or forsake us forever. All the rejection and all the anger was dealt with on his cross. The heavenly Mount Zion, the heavenly New Jerusalem of the new heavens and new earth, shines brightly as a city. The crown will never fall from our head.
And the reason for all of this is because Jesus is our Savior and Lord. Jesus reigns forever. And Jesus has restored us to himself. We know the answer to the prayer. And we look forward to a time and a place and a people with no more lamentation.
Dear Highland, how will you pray and live this Thanksgiving week? How will you pray and live during this second wave of the coronavirus pandemic? How will you pray for yourself and for your fellow church members? How will you pray for the lost in this world who need to know about Jesus? Please remember that there are many things to lament about in life as we wait for Jesus’ return. There are many reasons to pray to the Lord.
Please pray for me because I do not pray as I ought to. I will pray for you so that you will pray as you ought to.
The Lord reigns forever. And the Lord will return soon.
Soli Deo Gloria