Lord, we come to Your House – but what’s going on in our hearts?

Lord, we come to Your House – but what’s going on in our hearts? Do we come to Your House with Grudge-Giving: “I have to”? Is it “Duty-Giving”: “I ought to”? Do we come to You with “Thanksgiving”: “I want to”? Help us, Lord, to get beyond our religion – our “Grudge-Giving” and our “Duty-Giving”? Help us to find Jesus in Your House. Help us to say, “Thank You, Lord.” Give us a new spirit – a spirit of thanksgiving. Help us to really feel it. Help us to really mean it. Fill our hearts with gratitude. Fill our lives with generosity.

Our strength comes from our Saviour.

"Clothe yourself with strength" (Isaiah 52:1). Our strength comes from our Saviour. In ourselves, there is sin. In Him, there is salvation (Isaiah 53:6,10-12). We look to our Saviour's sacrifice for our sin. From the Cross, we hear His Word of love: "My kindness will never depart from you. My promise of peace will never change, says the Lord, who has compassion on you" (Isaiah 54:10). This Word from the Lord brings strength into our lives. The Lord leads us in His way of victory. He says to us, "Their victory comes from Me" (Isaiah 54:17).

Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Jeremiah’s message had been ignored. His faith was sorely tested. Despite all of this, he was able to say, “Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Jeremiah 20:13). This was not his constant theme. In the very next verse, he says, “Cursed is the day that I was born.” We are pulled this way and that way by a turmoil of confused and confusing emotions. Our heart is a battleground. May the Lord lift us out of depression and defeat. May He lift us into vigour and victory.

A Hopeless Situation?

For Jerusalem, the situation seemed to be hopeless. Humanly speaking, everything looked very gloomy. This was the situation into which the word of the Lord came. Often, our feelings may tell us, “My enemies have triumphed” (Lamentations 1:9). These are the times when we must learn to look beyond our feelings, believing that God has His Word for us, and it is a Word of victory.

There is so much, in Lamentations 2, about God’s judgment. It is, however, encouraging to read the words of Lamentations 2:13 – God’s people are described as the “beloved people of Zion.” Beloved – This is a great word. God used this word to describe Jesus – His Beloved Son. We are in Christ. We are in the Beloved. We are God’s Beloved. We are loved with an everlasting love.

At the heart of this book, in which there is much lamentation, we find words of great encouragement – “Great is Thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:23). The Lord is assuring us that, whatever may happen to us, here is something that never changes: the faithfulness of God.

We hear what Lamentations says to us about God’s judgment. We also hear what it says about His faithfulness. Through our sin, we have brought God’s judgment upon ourselves – This is the bad news concerning ourselves. Through His faithful love, we receive the forgiveness of our sins – This is the Good News of God’s love for sinners.

In Lamentations 5, we have a prayer of the prophet. As he prays for a return to the Lord – “O Lord, bring us back to You …” (Lamentations 5:21), he affirms that the Lord is King – “You, O Lord, sit enthroned for ever” (Lamentations 5:19).

"No-one ever cared for me like Jesus."

"No-one ever cared for me like Jesus": Lord, help us to remember this - when our heads start to go down, and everything seems to be getting on top of us. Help us to remember this: "Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:38-39).

Without the power of the Lord, there can be no Word from the Lord.

"I am filled with the power of the Lord's Spirit" (Micah 3:8). This is what makes true ministry of God's Word so different from 'prophecy' that doesn't come from the Lord. Without the power of the Lord, there can be no Word from the Lord. We need the Word, and we need the power.

You call us, Lord, to be changed by You ...

You call us, Lord, to be changed by You – changed by Your love, changed by Your power. Being changed by You is very different from being changed by the world. How are we being changed? Are we being “conformed to the world” or “transformed by the Lord”? Help us, Lord, to be wary of change that comes to us from a worldly way of thinking and living. Help us to welcome the Godly, Christlike, Spirit-filled change which comes to us when we pray, “Change my heart, O God … ” (Songs of Fellowship, 58).