Lift Up Your Hearts in Repentance

Rev. James Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Lamentations 3:40-66.

Jeremiah calls upon the people to return to the LORD in repentance. Together they lament that their transgressions have brought the LORD’s punishment upon them. This has happened because they have rejected the preaching of Jeremiah and persecuted him instead. Jeremiah recounts his suffering at their hands, yet prays for the LORD’s justice. Jeremiah’s experience mirrors Jonah’s and foreshadows what Jesus did in His own death and resurrection. Christians today are right to take up Jeremiah’s prayer in the book of Lamentations, confessing their sins and praying for the LORD to win the victory over their enemies.

“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.