Friday after the Tenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 18, 2023 by under
Scripture: Lamentations 1:1-12 (NKJV)
1:1 How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow is she, who was great among the nations! The princess among the provinces has become a slave!
2 She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears are on her cheeks; Among all her lovers she has none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into captivity, under affliction and hard servitude; She dwells among the nations, she finds no rest; All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits.
4 The roads to Zion mourn because no one comes to the set feasts. All her gates are desolate; Her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.
5 Her adversaries have become the master, her enemies prosper; For the Lord has afflicted her because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.
6 And from the daughter of Zion all her splendor has departed. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture, that flee without strength before the pursuer.
7 In the days of her affliction and roaming, Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the enemy, with no one to help her, the adversaries saw her and mocked at her downfall.
8 Jerusalem has sinned gravely, therefore she has become vile. All who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness; Yes, she sighs and turns away.
9 Her uncleanness is in her skirts; She did not consider her destiny; Therefore her collapse was awesome; She had no comforter. “O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy is exalted!”
10 The adversary has spread his hand over all her pleasant things; For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom You commanded not to enter Your assembly.
11 All her people sigh, they seek bread; They have given their valuables for food to restore life. “See, O Lord, and consider, for I am scorned.”
12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which has been brought on me, which the Lord has inflicted in the day of His fierce anger.”
Devotion
Jeremiah reflects on the desolation of Jerusalem. Over the span of four decades, he had seen the hustle and bustle of the great capitol. But in spite of all its physical vibrancy, she was spiritually desolate. Jeremiah had a disappointing and frustrating ministry in this once great city. Her leaders had put their trust in foolish alliances, which backfired against them. God had asked, even begged them to remain allied to Him, but the people went their own way, both politically and spiritually.
This is how sin operates. It first dulls our senses to the truth. Sin encourages us to take our blessings for granted and become smug in our present comfort. Often without realizing, we drift away from the truth and lose the spiritual discipline of worship and prayer. Before long, we become anchored to gods of our own making. “Sin” is no longer “sin”, but a personal choice that suits our own fancy. In the end, such a temporal choice leads to eternal destruction. Diligence in our spiritual discipline is the antidote for drifting. An active prayer life and regular participation in God’s Means of Grace are the tools He gives us to ward off the Evil One.
Prayer: O God, Who declarest Thine Almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of Thy grace, that we, running the way of Thy commandments, may obtain Thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of Thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
