When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12.

He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. Isaiah 25:8.

We come to the Book of Lamentations, written soon after the fall of Jerusalem by Jeremiah in 586 B.C. Jerusalem is destroyed. The temple of the Lord is destroyed. Most of the people of Judah are dead or taken into captivity. And Jeremiah was witness to all of it and the prophesying of it from Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit. Because of the sins people refused to turn away from, Judah, like Israel before her, is no more. How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave…The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her appointed festivals. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she is in bitter anguish. Her foes have become her masters, her enemies are at ease. The Lord has brought her grief because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile, captive before the foe…Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean. All who honored her despise her, for they have all seen her naked; she herself groans and turns away…The Lord is righteous, yet I rebelled against His command. Listen, all you peoples; look on my suffering. My young men and young women have gone into exile…See, Lord, how distressed I am! I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is only death…Let all their wickedness come before You; deal with them as You have dealt with me because of all my sins. My groans are many and my heart is faint. v. 1, 4-5, 8, 18, 20, 22.

Yesterday at our Ladies Bible Study we dove into Forgiving What You Can’t Forget, the book and study guide by Lysa Terkeurst, who, just like you and me, and just like Jerusalem then and now, just like every single human being – we need to see the root causes of our pain and suffering. We find those root causes in Scripture because Creator God does not leave us without the help we need to see and understand. Two things resonated deeply with me. “Forgiveness isn’t an act of my determination. Forgiveness is only made possible by my cooperation. Cooperation is what I’ve been missing.” Cooperation with who? Cooperation with Creator God who knows what is needed for our healing! And this: (Genesis 4:7)…”If you do what is right = To make a thing good, or right, or beautiful.” It wasn’t very right or good or beautiful in Jerusalem as Jeremiah walked and lamented and penned these words of sorrow and pain. It isn’t very good or right or beautiful when lives are shattered by war, addiction, divorce, death, sin. And listen to these words of David that Lysa shared in our study: Psalm 36 I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good. Even on their beds they plot evil; they commit themselves to a sinful course and do not reject what is wrong. Your love, Lord reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, Your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is Your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They feast on the abundance of Your house; You give them drink from Your river of delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light. Continue Your love to those who know You, Your righteousness to the upright in heart. May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. See how the evildoers lie fallen – thrown down, not able to rise! God’s love and justice are like the greatest deep and we find in turning to God what was said this morning in our Friday Retreat listening to a video by John Ortberg: “The greatest opportunity for a human being is to follow Jesus.” And this…”Keep showing up!”

It’s good to remember we each of us need God. The “wicked”? That’s us. Let all our wickedness come before You? How else can we be healed? We, the wicked, need our Creator God to bring the healing He longs to give. When He looks at you, He looks at His child dearly loved and in need of His help. And He is so right and kind and compassionate. He hurts when we hurt, He cries when we cry. And He gives us His strength and His love. And, He helps us see our greatest need is for Him. And then…take His hand! Let His love enfold you and bring you His peace so you can begin a journey with Him that brings understanding of just how great is His love for you. That, my fellow children dearly loved, is how we cooperate with Him!