Lamentations: "He does not willingly bring affliction"

I mentioned to a friend that I was rereading the book of Lamentations, and she said to me, "Oh, so you like being depressed?"

Yes. Yes, I do.

But also out of Lamentations comes one particular scripture that has been a powerful encouragement to me during my own recent trials and afflictions, such as they have been. In fact, much of the text was set to music in 1978 and appears in many hymnals under one of the most upbeat and joyful tunes to be found therein. If you have a background in the church, see if any of this sounds familiar. If you don't, see how any of this connects with your own struggles, or think of how different it is from the way you respond to them.



Lamentations 3:19-33

"I remember my wandering and affliction,
the bitterness and the gall.
I remember them well and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD's Great love we are not consumed.
For His Mercies never come to an end.
They Are New every morning.
How Great Is Your Faithfulness!
'The LORD Is my Portion,' says my soul.
'Therefore I will wait for Him.'

And the LORD Is Good to those whose hope is in Him.
It is good to wait quietly on the Salvation of the LORD,
and it is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.
Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him.
Let him bury his face in the dust; there may yet be hope!
Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him;
let him be filled with disgrace.

For the LORD does not cast men off forever.
Though He brings grief, He will show compassion.
For so Great Is His Unfailing Love
that He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men."



One of the most common questions that comes up in theological debates is this: How can God be both all-powerful and yet allow so much suffering to exist in the world? It is an entirely valid question with really no entirely valid answer. This is because often what the person is really asking is not what ends up getting the response.
Usually when a person asks this question he or she means to say, "I have suffered greatly, and I continue to suffer. What could you possibly say about God to ease my suffering?" And the correct answer to this is silence. Anything other than silence can only sound presumptuous and will be met with derision, because for true suffering, mere logical arguments cannot heal.
But in the rare situation where a person who asks the question is disinterested and is actually looking for logical arguments, there are multiple options. The best one, I think, is to acknowledge that in a world with so much suffering there are two possible responses to that suffering.
1) There is meaning and importance behind this suffering.
2) This suffering is meaningless.
Which response do you think is better to believe?
However, while the first response seems on its face to be the more hopeful, C.S. Lewis pointed out a rather frightening truth about it in A Grief Observed. He said that even if God is nothing more than a torturer who delights in hurting us, we can be sure that in time He will eventually tire of us and leave us alone. But if God Is instead a Good Surgeon, we can only expect the cutting to go on until the job is complete. His Desire for our ultimate well-being means that we can expect suffering to go on, but perhaps we can find satisfaction in knowing that it is a meaningful suffering.

Jeremiah, the writer of the book of Lamentations, found an everlasting spring of Hope from within, knowing that his suffering, however constant (as you can read in his other self-named book), was deeply important.

"I remember my wandering and affliction, the bitterness and gall. I remember them well and my soul is downcast within me."

Jeremiah casts these two things, wandering and affliction, together as the culprits behind his sorrow. It is easy to know how he suffered physically (affliction) from reading his books, but less obvious is what he brings up first here the wandering. This sense of being lost and alone is something that has dogged him during these tribulations. We all experience this, no matter what our particular struggles are. And it seems impossible sometimes to not dwell on them, to be obsessed by them, to be overwhelmed with depression and desperation contemplating where we have been and what the future seems inevitably to hold for our sorry lives.

"Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have Hope.

Because of the LORD's Great Love, we are not consumed. For His Mercies never come to an end. They Are New every morning. Great Is Your Faithfulness!"

Jeremiah chooses to believe, in the midst of all this horror, that God still has a plan for him, and therefore God will keep him alive. We are broken, but never beyond repair. Were it not for God's Love and Plan, we could well be driven into a black pit of despair forever, and as sinful Christians we honestly believe that we deserve nothing more. But because of His Love, we are not consumed in the fire that refines us. His Mercies never run dry, but sustain us every new day. Though we are constantly unfaithful to Him, despite our best efforts, His Faithfulness towards us is unending, unrelenting.

"'The LORD Is my Portion,' says my soul. 'Therefore, I will wait for Him.'"

A normal response to this is, "Yeah, it's easy enough to say, not so easy to do when you're going through it." That's absolutely right. It is easy to say and very hard to actually find the hope when everything appears hopeless. But sometimes all you can do is wait for Him. Find what hope you can, even though it doesn't seem immediately satisfying. In the midst of true turmoil, nothing can be an immediate salve. In the long run, God Is the Only Satisfaction. Jeremiah says we should trust that what little hope we do entertain will grow. And then wait.

"And the LORD Is Good to those whose hope is in Him. It is good to wait quietly on the Salvation of the LORD."

There can be no proof of this but in the testimony of Jeremiah, and my testimony, and the uncountable testimonies of those who have found hope and meaning in God. But do not think that any of us received instant relief from a mere thought. Healing comes slowly.

"And it is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him."

These lines are both a terror and a comfort to me. Jeremiah suffered some of his worst times while still very young. Perhaps most of us do. But there is something of resilience and hope in youth that we will lose as we age. As we begin to go blind and deaf, a lot of our earlier joys will no longer be what they were. We are guaranteed suffering in our older years that we cannot imagine while in the prime of life. So Jeremiah tells us that it is good for us to practice suffering. It is good that we should bear the yoke, and learn to bear the yoke, now so that we can do so gracefully even when the situation seems far darker. A yoke is an image of burden often used by the Hebrews, and also often an image of companionship. It is the harness that connects the ox to a plow, and usually is shared with one other ox. Who will you be to your fellow-sufferers? Will you be a nagging refrain of misery, or a groan of encouragement? And while alone, will you curse God for giving you hard times, or can you bear to sit in silence, experience the suffering, and trust and wait for eventual relief?

"Let him bury his face in the dust; there may yet be hope! Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him; let him be filled with disgrace."

Most notable in this is the little-known quote that Jesus references in the sermon on the mount: "turn the other cheek." Jeremiah said, and Jesus after him, that it is a noble and fitting thing to suffer graciously, as quietly as possible. We are to do whatever good we can for ourselves, and then submit to whatever pain God has ordained for us, whether that pain is physical or psychological.

"For the LORD does not cast men off forever. Though He brings grief, He will show compassion. For so Great Is His Unfailing Love that He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men."

Despair is always temporary, but its greatest hurt against us is that is seems to be unending. As Lewis pointed out, God Is a Good Surgeon, but even He finds a way to give us new hope in the midst of this long surgery. Healing is on the road ahead, and pain is the only way to find a healing that lasts.

Again, none of this can be confirmed but by individual testimonies. But what will you choose to believe? That your pain is meaningless? Or that your suffering has a purpose, that it will make you more compassionate towards others, more desirable as a yoke-fellow, a help and a hope to your friends in need?

"My flesh and my heart may fail..." Thoughts on Psalm 73

First, a word on this blog.
I have two main goals in writing and sharing my scriptural meditations: to intrigue those who have never read the bible on their own enough to do so if just for the sake of academics, hoping that they ultimately find something more than academics; and also to encourage those who do read the bible to do so more thoroughly, more curiously, more eagerly. Even the most devout Christian may find bible-reading an overwhelming enterprise because culturally we are not encouraged to be good readers. That may be harsh to say, but it's quite true. And it's something I hope to go in my small way to help mend. Many people I know are excited in theory about the bible, and excited about the messages in it that are spelled out simply, but lack the practice to read the less popular parts in a truly engaging way and dig out the truths for themselves. I will go through some of these, repeating the questions that I asked myself while I was reaching for a deeper meaning than I'd been told of before.
I want to stress the acknowledgement that my thoughts on scriptures are not the scriptures themselves. I have no authority, no certificate of expertise, no qualification but in being a careful and consistent reader of the bible for the past 10+ years. I primarily use the NIV English translation, which I know some will object to, and for certain verses I will render a rewording of my own or pull from a different translation where I believe doing so can provide better clarity. I welcome respectful criticisms in any particular circumstances where it's believed that I have meaningfully altered the message, and if I'm convinced that this is the case, I will have learned and change the post to reflect that. I welcome comments of any kind.

I will start with the first large piece of scripture that I ever memorized. It is unique among the psalms because of its clear linear quality. Read the psalm and consider these organizing divisions.

Psalm 73 (a psalm of Asaph)

(Introduction)
Surely God Is Good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.                  (Main idea - "thesis")
But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;                                                     (conflict / argument)
I had nearly lost my foothold,
for I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

(Expanding upon the argument)
They have no struggles. Their bodies are healthy and strong.
They are free from common burdens. They are not plagued by human ills.
Therefore pride is in their necklace and they clothe themselves with violence.
From their callous hearts comes iniquity. Their evil imaginations know no bounds.
They scoff and speak with malice. In their arrogance they threaten oppression.
Their mouths lay claim to heaven while their tongues take possession of the earth.
Therefore many people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance
saying "How can God know? Does the 'Most High' even have knowledge?"
This is what the wicked are like: always carefree, they go on amassing wealth.

(Initial conclusion from the argument)
So surely in vain have I kept my heart pure.
In vain have I washed my hands in innocence.
For all day long I am afflicted. I find new struggles every morning.
But if I had spoken out like this, I would have betrayed Your children.

(Answer to the argument)
When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me
until I entered the Sanctuary of God. Then I understood their final destiny.
Surely you place them on slippery ground, ultimately casting them down to ruin.
How suddenly they are destroyed! Completely swept away by terrors!
As a dream when one awakes, so when You arise, Oh LORD,
You will despise them as mere fantasies.

(Analyzing the heart that had made the argument, and God's Response to it)
When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and arrogant. I was as a brute beast before You.
And yet, somehow, I am always with You. You hold me by my right hand.
You guide me by Your Counsel, and afterward You will take me into Your Glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You? And the earth has nothing I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but the LORD is the Strength of my heart
and my body's Portion forever.

(Final Conclusion)
Those who are far from You will perish
just as surely as You destroy those who are unfaithful to You.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.                                                       (Refined thesis)
I have made the Sovereign LORD my Refuge.
I will tell of all Your Deeds.


It's easy to blow through this, get the general idea of the message, pick out the couple of encouraging memory verses that end up getting thrown into a song, and not take the time to really struggle with how this writer sees the world. It's not all so easy and pretty, though the conclusion of this psalm is more encouraging and final than of some others. And for those who are paying attention, Jesus Is Incredibly Present in this psalm. But there are a lot of questions we should ask, which lead to a lot of ideas that the writer Asaph refers to without saying everything directly.


Psalm 73

Surely God Is Good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
What does Asaph mean by "Israel" here? Is he implying that every individual of this nation (meaning of course the Israel of roughly 1000 BC, not the modern country) is "pure in heart?" The bible is very clear that much of Israel's history is tainted with horrific sins, making it comparable to the nations surrounding it. Is this a shallow 3,000-year-old rendition of "God Bless America?" Or is it possible that he means something deeper, and is it possible that sometimes maybe when someone says "God Bless America," they mean something deeper also?
But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold,
for I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
"But as for me..." what is the purpose of this? Is he questioning his identity as one of the people of "Israel?" He's setting himself aside because he feels he doesn't belong with that group that "God Is Good" to. But he is of the Hebrew people, therefore in Asaph's eyes, it does require a moral standard for somebody to be considered one of Israel, and a standard that he has not lived up to. He doesn't deserve to be called an Israelite because he seriously considered altogether rejecting the commands and values of God when he grew jealous of the "prosperity of the wicked."

The next section is LONG. Why is it so long? After a few lines it's like, "Ok, Asaph, I get it. Bad people seem to be doing really well, I get it. Move on." Asaph is actually using a really advanced literary pacing technique. To read through all these lines does give us a kind of depression, the kind of mental oppression that Asaph mentions at the end of the section. This isn't just an academic argument, this is a soul-grinding anger at how the world seems to work. And there really is a lot of good stuff that you'll miss if you read it casually and assume that every line is just a repetition of the last.

They have no struggles. Their bodies are healthy and strong.
They are free from common burdens. They are not plagued by human ills.
Therefore pride is in their necklace and they clothe themselves with violence.
From their callous hearts comes iniquity. Their evil imaginations know no bounds.
They scoff and speak with malice. In their arrogance they threaten oppression.
What kind of people do you think of while reading this? I think of drug lords, pimps, some celebrities. They seem to lead a charmed life. Asaph points at that "therefore pride is in their necklace" meaning that prosperity has actually led to their becoming conceited and evil, an interesting point. Incidentally, the image of a necklace is fascinating, as a thing that hangs in a circle around you, it's a thing that can be seen on you from any direction. These people have never known an enemy whom they were unable to immediately devour. All of the images of the kinds of people we have in our mind are certainly accurate to what Asaph is speaking, but his next line is a sudden turn in a new direction, if you take the time to consider what it means.
Their mouths lay claim to heaven while their tongues take possession of the earth.
First of all, it's always worth noting in the bible when you see the juxtaposition of "heaven" and "earth." Another good literary technique, Asaph. More importantly, this adds a new dimension to the wicked ones we've been envisioning--they are religious!
Or, at least, they claim to be. These wicked people are ones who say that God is on their side, that they are definitely going to heaven. They claim heaven for themselves, and because of this supreme confidence, this arrogance, they are able to take possession of the earth (but, incidentally, recall for a moment who Jesus said would ultimately inherit the earth). With this new description, I must add evil, abusive priests and clergy to the list of wicked kinds of people I'm thinking of.
Therefore many people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance
saying "How can God know? Does the 'Most High' even have knowledge?"
This is what the wicked are like: always carefree, they go on amassing wealth.

Because of this strength and confidence, everybody seems to bend over backwards to please them, and then also receive material life from them. They have no choice. They serve a wicked master, but the master gives them the commodities they think they need to survive. And in the midst of all of this oppression, where is God? Does He even see? Does He even know? The italics and quotation marks are my addition, because I absolutely believe it is meant to be spoken sarcastically. These people are thinking, "Right, as if we can call this God 'Most High' when He's allowing this to happen."

But remember, this is not a description of what Asaph finally believes to be true, all of this is still only what he was thinking when his "feet had almost slipped." 

So surely in vain have I kept my heart pure.
In vain have I washed my hands in innocence.
For all day long I am afflicted. I find new struggles every morning.
Have you ever felt this way? I'm sure that to some degree we all have. Just when it seems that things couldn't get any worse, they do. A new problem presents itself every day we get up. So why do I even bother trying to do what's right? I used to think that God would bless me for living according to His Word, but apparently not. I might as well have been wicked. Maybe then my body would not be so ill, and I would have power against my enemies. Surely it was in vain, worthless, that I lived a life of selfless denial.
Depressing. But the next line tells me more about Asaph than anything else in this psalm.
But if I had spoken out like this, I would have betrayed Your children.
This is an incredible line that you will just blow past if you don't stop to consider it.
Who are "Your children?" It could be just all the people of Israel, but I think he uses that label to emphasize those who are extremely innocent in their trust and love for God. Even at his worst, Asaph is thinking of others. He could have just become nihilistic and preached it to all his friends, family, and neighbors, trying to get them to agree with him. He could have approached literal children who may be singing about God's Love and told them, "Don't bother. Don't you see what happens in the real world? You could be killed tomorrow, as innocent as you are. Then, where would God be?" He could have done far worse than destroying his own faith, he might have destroyed the faiths of countless others. But even at his worst, Asaph didn't do that. He chose not to betray God's children, even while he questioned and doubted whether God was really God after all. 

When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me
until I entered the Sanctuary of God. Then I understood their final destiny.
Finally. This is the turn in the poem. But again, why was that downer section so frustratingly long? Because it represented well that stage of Asaph's life. It must have seemed interminable indeed, having all these doubts but restraining himself from publicly declaring them lest he betray God's children. "Oppressive" is the only word for it. There is no way to make human sense of the horrific things that God allows to happen in this life.
But then he entered "the Sanctuary of God." What does sanctuary mean in this context? Israel did likely have a temple in Jerusalem by this time. But even more important is the Sanctuary that we have with God wherever we meet with Him. At any rate, it required Asaph stepping out of his day-to-day life, taking a conscious moment to meet with God, no longer relying on his own powers of reason, but putting all of that away and laying everything--his doubts, his anger--at the feet of the Almighty. Then he understood.
Surely you place them on slippery ground, ultimately casting them down to ruin.
How suddenly they are destroyed! Completely swept away by terrors!
As a dream when one awakes, so when You arise, Oh LORD,
You will despise them as mere fantasies.
The prosperity of the wicked does seem evident, but it is all built on a foundation that is ready in a moment to topple. Evil leaders are supplanted by evil up-and-comers, and sometimes also by good people. They seem strong and immovable one moment, but in the very next they come crashing down. And they are not just defeated; they are destroyed so thoroughly that we will not even remember whether they were real or fantasy. One day in the future they will have no more effect on us than if they were nothing but a bad dream.

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and arrogant. I was as a brute beast before You.
And yet, somehow, I am always with You. You hold me by my right hand.
You guide me by Your Counsel, and afterward You will take me into Your Glory.
Now Asaph turns back to rethink how he behaved in that situation. To that long part of the psalm where he was just obsessed with the idea that the wicked prosper while the righteous are weak, he has the insight to go back and realize, "What was I thinking? How could I have doubted God's goodness? I was as foolish and disrespectful as a brute beast." Have you ever seen an animal trying to be captured for its own good, how it struggles violently to get away, a slave to its base instincts of survival? That's what I was like, thrashing and clawing and biting at the One who was trying to save me. 
And yet, somehow, none of that mattered to Him. He stayed with me anyway. He didn't give up. He held my hand, like I was a child. These are the lines where that unmistakable Jesus-quality, the Unfailing Mercy of God, is shown most obviously. We are evil, but He Is Good, and that's enough. In this life, He guides us with Counsel, and in the next life we enter His Glory (another juxtaposition of earth and heaven).
Whom have I in heaven but You? And the earth has nothing I desire besides You.
You guessed it: juxtaposition. These are such beautiful lines. If there are any other powers in heaven, none of them care for us or have the power to help us that He has. God is our Only Hope. And more than that, even while we remain on earth there's nothing Asaph desires other than God.
How can that be? Is he talking literally? Does he seriously mean to suggest that he can satisfy his longing for food or water or entertainment or sex with just God? There's a lot of depth in this line. It's certainly not that we can become hermits and never eat or drink again, and just be satisfied with God for the remainder of our short, pitiful lives. That would be no life at all. 
But C.S. Lewis got to the bottom of this idea really well. This is what he calls "joy." It is the idea that every time we long for something in this world, it's really an extension of our longing for God. We see the majesty of a mountain, but if we see it for too long, the majesty wears out until we see it in something completely different. Nothing in this world satisfies permanently, because all of it is designed to point to the One Who actually does satisfy. Is it likely that Asaph had some version of this idea in the line he wrote? Possibly not, but I think so.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but the LORD is the Strength of my heart
and my body's Portion forever.
Flesh and heart--another juxtaposition. Why does he speak of them separately? Why doesn't he just say "even though I fail...?" What do they actually mean?
The flesh is our body, and the heart is our inner-selves. And this is something that completely blew my mind something like ten years ago: my heart will fail, and that's ok. For some reason, I'd believed in my old, handed-down religion that Jesus covered the sins of my body, but that it was up to me to keep my inner-self in peak condition, and only in this way was Salvation available to me. But Asaph is saying something radical: that God Himself is the Strength of his heart. When my heart, my inner-self has failed, God comes in to revive me. Jesus forgives us ALL our sins when we come to Him--it's such an old teaching, yet so new in this context. It's not up to me to believe perfectly, to trust perfectly, to love perfectly. He provides what is lacking in our hearts, and he provides what is lacking in our bodies. He is our Portion, and all we must do is eat It (possibly a foreshadowing of communion).

Those who are far from You will perish
just as surely as You destroy those who are unfaithful to You.
Ok, so that sounds a bit rough, doesn't it? Yeah, it does. And there's nothing I can write to soften it. But I do think that when he says "unfaithful to You" he means specifically those who know what God wants for them and reject it, choosing sin and death even knowing what all of it means. In fact, we might look at this in the context of baptism: that God destroys our old unfaithful self when the new person is born. But all that aside, this line is actually still incredible. Asaph says, "Obviously, if people know what God wants them to do and are unfaithful, God will hand them over to destruction, but even those who just want nothing to do with God, those who want to be left alone, will perish." That's the real point of it--that the solution to God's difficult plan is not just to ignore it and try to live on our own plans. On our own, we fail in our heart and in our body. 

But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my Refuge.
I will tell of all Your Deeds.
Did you see what he did there? One last literary device, Asaph basically bookended this poem with the simple phrase "but as for me," emphasizing the different contexts. Initially he was doubting himself, doubting God, calling into question God's Goodness, calling into question his own status as a man of Israel. But now, he's saying something totally different. "Other people reject God, or attempt to go far away from Him, and they will suffer because of it. But as for me, it is good to be near God." He uses the device that at the beginning alienated him from God to now bring him close to God. He isn't going to be unfaithful to what he knows God is calling him to do, and he won't try to be far from God, knowing that if he did so he would perish. Instead, God will be his Refuge, his Peace.
And because of what God has done Asaph feels this calling, this duty. Not to go on and speak endlessly about what Asaph has done, because Asaph hasn't done anything. His flesh and heart fail constantly. But he will speak of what God has accomplished. 
And that is the Gospel, the Good News. There is nothing that we have done; there is only what Jesus has accomplished.



If you had the endurance to read all of this, congratulations and thank you very much.
Comments and criticisms, dissenting opinions and interpretations are welcome in the comments.