God, My Loving Savior, Sends Suffering

Rev. Dr. Nathan Jastram, professor of theology at Concordia University Wisconsin, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Lamentations 4:1-11.

In the fourth poem in Lamentations, Jeremiah describes in painful detail the horrific suffering the people experienced during the siege and fall of Jerusalem. Although they had the preaching of Jeremiah to warn them, they hardened their hearts against the Word of the LORD, a greater sin than even Sodom had committed. For this great sin, the LORD had sent this great suffering as punishment. That recognition forces the people back to the LORD as their only help; they must cry to Him in repentance for their sin and look to Him alone for salvation by His grace. In this way, lamentation brings us closer to God, as we cry out to Him for help and trust in Him as the One who has freely won and given our salvation through Jesus taking the wrath of God upon Himself in our place.

“Mercy for Mourners” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Lamentations. As Jeremiah and the people of Judah mourn over the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, they acknowledge God’s just wrath against them, confess their iniquity, and plead for His deliverance. In this way, the book of Lamentations teaches us to pray in repentance and faith so that we would see Christ as the One who has taken the wrath of God on Himself in our place to deliver us by His death and resurrection.