Prophet With a Broken Heart

 

Friday, June 25, 2021

The Lord in his anger has cast a dark shadow over beautiful Jerusalem.  The fairest of Israel’s cities lies in the dust, thrown down from the heights of heaven.  In his day of great anger, the Lord has shown no mercy even to his Temple.  Without mercy the Lord has destroyed every home in Israel.  In his anger he has broken down the fortress walls of beautiful Jerusalem.  He has brought them to the ground, dishonoring the kingdom and its rulers.  All the strength of Israel vanishes beneath his fierce anger.  The Lord has withdrawn his protection as the enemy attacks.  He consumes the whole land of Israel like a raging fire.  He bends his bow against his people, as though he were their enemy.  His strength is used against them to kill their finest youth.  His fury is poured out like fire on beautiful Jerusalem.  Yes, the Lord has vanquished Israel like an enemy.  He has destroyed her palaces and demolished her fortresses.  He has brought unending sorrow and tears upon beautiful Jerusalem.  He has broken down his Temple as though it were merely a garden shelter.  The Lord has blotted out all memory of the holy festivals and Sabbath days.  Kings and priests fall together before his fierce anger.  The Lord has rejected his own altar; he despises his own sanctuary.  He has given Jerusalem’s palaces to her enemies.  They shout in the Lord’s Temple as though it were a day of celebration.  The Lord was determined to destroy the walls of beautiful Jerusalem.  He made careful plans for their destruction, then did what he had planned.  Therefore, the ramparts and walls have fallen down before him.  Jerusalem’s gates have sunk into the ground.  He has smashed their locks and bars.  Her kings and princes have been exiled to distant lands; her law has ceased to exist.  Her prophets receive no more visions from the Lord.  The leaders of beautiful Jerusalem sit on the ground in silence.  They are clothed in burlap and throw dust on their heads.  The young women of Jerusalem hang their heads in shame.  I have cried until the tears no longer come; my heart is broken.  My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people.  Little children and tiny babies are fainting and dying in the streets.  They cry out to their mothers, “We need food and drink!”
Their lives ebb away in the streets like the life of a warrior wounded in battle.
They gasp for life as they collapse in their mothers’ arms.  Lamentations 2:1-12

The fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC was unimaginable to its citizens.  Israel was the greatest nation on earth, and the Holy City the prized jewel of David’s crown.  That any king could conquer her, or would even try, was unthinkable. 

Yet, it happened.  Ten years prior, the city had been taken by Babylon’s forces, and a straw man king (Zedekiah) installed.  Jeremiah could see the writing on the wall (so to speak), and prophesied the total destruction of Jerusalem, along with the heart-wrenching scenes of starvation and pain as the spirit and pride is gutted from Israel’s national heart.  When it came to pass, it was as Jeremiah’s lamenting broken heart predicted.  The great city lay in ruins, including the great Temple of Solomon.

And it was all done with God’s permission.

What?

The short story on the WHY of Jerusalem’s destruction at JHWH’s direction is no different than the opening of Scripture in Genesis.  The city of God (like the Eden God had created for Adam and Eve) was inhabited by people who enjoyed God’s blessing, and promptly forgot how they got there.  The city rulers (as the Garden dwellers) reached for that which didn’t belong to them.  In national arrogance and pride they deemed themselves in charge, usurping a position to which they had no claim.

For You Today

July 4^th is not far away.  We celebrate independence on that day.  Certainly, we focus on independence from an English dynasty’s tyranny.  But, could it be, that we are not much different in Washington (and every other American city) than the first citizens, or Jerusalem’s kings?  History’s lesson is that those who are  most vulnerable are those who think themselves invincible.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!   

[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

A Fortress Like No Other

 

Friday, January 22, 2021

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.  My victory and honor come from God alone.  He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.  O my people, trust in him at all times.  Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.  Psalm 62:5-8

      ·       Note – often, when writing these devotionals, I check back to see what I’ve written before on the same text, so I can list other posts on the same Scripture.  ^{(Hint:  check the footnotes)}.  This morning the check-back proved painfully fruitful.  Here’s what I wrote in October 2019 about Waiting in a Small Place:

When alone, particularly early in the morning as this moment can attest, I think of the life I’ve lived, and those small places that I return to…

·      stubborn, not submitted to Christ’s changing power

·      willful, hardly obedient, except if it can be seen by others

·      selfish, less than generous, except if it can be seen by others

·      fearful, not depending on the Rock of Jesus’ saving power

·      wavering, looking for a way out that I can see instead of faith-walking

·      wobbly-kneed, untrue, and crabby…hardly a tower of graciousness. 

Before I begin a day, I must always cover this ground in my prayers.  Like David, I know myself too well to imagine I’ll be just fine without God’s constant hand leading, and His Spirit forming me from the inside-out.

Now, what I wrote a year ago was true about Russell (and perhaps you as well).  And it was true about King David when he wrote Psalm 62 three-thousand years ago.  Truth doesn’t change, especially about human nature’s fragility.  Honestly most human beings spend more time than not in small places, inside our bubble, either denying vulnerability, or, perhaps, planning how to achieve safety in a scary world. 

King David knew both vulnerability and the false feeling of invincibility.  He began life as a sheep-tender, spending much time alone in the wilderness.  He spent some time in the company of a madman (King Saul), the object of a paranoid schizophrenic’s fear of losing his throne.  David also had to live with his sins, adultery, conspiracy, and murder of an innocent man.  As king, David was the most powerful man on earth at the time.  However, when he was alone with his thoughts, all David’s strength paled by comparison to the righteous, omnipotent power of Jehovah-God.  It’s easy (and right) to feel quite small at such times.

And yet David could write about that God, Jehovah, as the very reason to feel safe, to know safe and secure; this God of David’s was a fortress like no other.  And so the shepherd-turned-king could encourage his flock, Israel, to always trust God, and pour-out their hearts in prayer to Him. 

No matter what kind of scale you use to measure the importance of political views and policies, this world has always been a scary place. 

·       It is scary for Republicans to see the Democrats control, and the reverse is also true. 

·       It was hard, as a young child, for me to hear about the Russians dropping a nuclear bomb on my head. 

And when, at such times, I spend too much time inside my head, figuring out how I will survive, or what the government, or pandemics, or my own sins can do to unravel my life, it is time to stop that maddening process and run like a surprised jackrabbit to the fortress of my soul.  It is time to practice what I preach, placing all my trust in God.

For You Today

What does your fortress look like?  And, who built it? 

King David assures us that if your fortress is any place, person, or thing other than Christ’s outstretched arms, you’ve built yourself a house on a foundation of sand.  Better something built on the solid rock!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

GO TO VIDEO

[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For other posts on Psalm 62 see Lightweights in the Wind and Waiting in a Small Place