Tuesday 19 December 2023

Psalm 38:9-22

Background

Lamentations is a book of five poems and is traditionally said to have be written by the prophet Jeremiah. It was written to express anguish and pain but also to give the community hope and encourage steadfastness in the period following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587–586 BC. It is considered likely that Lamentations was written to be used in public rituals commemorating the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

Today's passage is part of a longer poem within chapter 3. As such you might find it useful to read the whole of chapter 3 to understand how this passage of hope fits in with the sadder, more raw feelings of pain that are expressed earlier and which it relates to.

The part of the poem that we're reading today aims to encourage the people reading it to endure what was happening to them, quietly and with courage, sure in the belief that God would deliver them from it eventually.

Lamentations can be seen to be a poem about enduring hard times with dignity. However, we need to be careful not to see this as an endorsement of all suffering at the hands of others. As verse 33 indicates, God shows love and compassion and “does not willingly bring grief or affliction to anybody”.

Rather the message is that there are times of suffering in life and we need to quietly carry on through them until things become a little better.

To Ponder:

• In what situations is it right, to quietly sit and wait for things to improve?
• In what situations is it right to loudly complain about injustice and do something to change the situation we find ourselves or others in?
• What difference does it make to read this passage, without the rest of the poem?