David Bahn – Reflections

Listen to today’s devotion

Today’s readings: Jeremiah 52, Lamentations 1-2, Psalm 76.

Lamentations 2:17-20

The LORD [YHWH] has done what he purposed;
    he has carried out his word,
which he commanded long ago;
    he has thrown down without pity;
he has made the enemy rejoice over you
    and exalted the might of your foes.

¹⁸ Their heart cried to the Lord [Sovereign God].
    O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let tears stream down like a torrent
    day and night!
Give yourself no rest,
    your eyes no respite!

¹⁹ “Arise, cry out in the night,
    at the beginning of the night watches!
Pour out your heart like water
    before the presence of the Lord [Sovereign God]!
Lift your hands to him
    for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
    at the head of every street.”

²⁰ Look, O LORD [YHWH], and see!
    With whom have you dealt thus?
Should women eat the fruit of their womb,
    the children of their tender care?
Should priest and prophet be killed
    in the sanctuary of the Lord [Sovereign God]?

As I was reading Lamentations 2, I thought the typesetters had made a mistake. The name of God appears both as LORD in small caps and Lord, with only the L capitalized. But that’s intentional. In most English Old Testaments, LORD represents the Hebrew name YHWH—commonly pronounced Yahweh—the name God revealed to Moses at the burning bush (cf. Exodus 3:13–15). Lord, on the other hand, usually translates Adonai, meaning Lord, Master, or Sovereign.

Maybe the easiest way to keep it straight is this: there have always been many people called lord, but there is only one LORD—YHWH, the great I AM. In these verses I’ve tried to distinguish the two with the bracketed words [YHWH] and [Sovereign Lord].

Both appear in Lamentations 2. This is no typesetting error, nor does it mean that the Sovereign Lord and the LORD are two different gods. They are the same God. And therein lies an important lesson.

Things are really difficult. We’ve slogged through chapter after chapter of Jeremiah’s warnings, God’s oracles of judgment, and promises of Jerusalem’s demise. Now Lamentations gives voice to the grief that followed Jerusalem’s destruction. There is no pretending everything is fine. The suffering, devastation, sin, and guilt are real.

We may even want to give up on this reading program under all this weight. That’s especially true in a world of prosperity preachers, no-guilt psychologists, and politicians’ cheery sound bites (cf. Lutheran Study Bible, p. 1295). But Lamentations gives us permission to acknowledge the crushing weight of human sin, guilt, suffering, and grief. They are real. We deceive ourselves if we deny them.

But that’s not the whole story—not even close. For the Sovereign Lord who has brought judgment upon his people is the very LORD to whom they are told to cry out. It is the same God. The God whose judgment they are experiencing is still the God to whom they must cry for mercy.

During Jesus’ ministry, there came a time when many people deserted him and went their own way. Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Do you want to go away as well?” Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:67–68)

That’s the question, isn’t it? Where else would we go? In Jeremiah’s day, in Jesus’ day, or today, there is no other to whom we can finally turn. He is the LORD—the Sovereign Lord who judges sin and the merciful God who saves sinners. He is the One to whom we cry for mercy, and in Jesus Christ he has answered that cry with forgiveness, life, hope, and salvation.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.

Click here, or on the image below to watch the Bible Project video overview of Lamentations