In Eric Bechler's sermon 'Behold My Sorrow,' delivered at Barnet Bible Church, he explores the themes of repentance, divine righteousness, and the consequences of disobedience through the lens of Lamentations chapter 1. The sermon highlights the progression of Jerusalem's misery and desolation due to rebellion against God, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging God's righteousness despite personal suffering. Bechler discusses the historical context in which Judah's alliances failed, leading to their exile, and draws parallels to modern-day reliance on earthly security versus trusting in God. The sermon calls for introspection and encourages believers to trust in God's sovereignty, even in distress, while urging them to be supportive to those in need. It underscores the necessity of turning to God for comfort and strength, advocating for faith, repentance, and the importance of being a source of support to others.

Thanks for joining us at Barnet Bible Church. This week Mr. Bechler continues his teaching series in the book of Lamentations. It's good to be here with you again. Why don't we start in the Word of Prayer.

Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this day. Lord, what a joy it is to come together as a church family before you and worship you. Lord, what a joy to sing praises to you. Lord, just such wonderful words in these hymns, Lord, that remind us though troubles assail us, no matter what, Lord, that You will provide. Lord, we remember that this is Your world.

Lord, You are our Father. We are just so blessed to have so many of these great old hymns with such wonderful doctrine in them and such great music as well that just help us praise you in a worthy way. Lord I pray that as we delve into your word this morning, Lord your spirit would be upon us. Open our hearts Lord to receive your word. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

We'll continue in the Lamentations of Jeremiah this morning. This week we'll finish going through chapter 1. As a reminder, The overview of the five chapters of Lamentations in chapter one, we have Jerusalem's misery and desolation. Chapter two, the Lord's anger against His people. Chapter three, Judah's complaint and basis for consolation.

Chapter four, the contrast between Zion's past and present. And chapter five, Judah's appeal for God's forgiveness. We see a nice progression there. My Bible breaks down chapter one into four different sections. The first one in verses one through six, the solitary city.

Verses seven through eleven, Jerusalem's pleasant things. This is remembering the glory days, the days of prosperity. Now they're all gone, they're removed. Verses 12 through 17, which we covered last time, the yoke of my transgressions, the consequences of my choices, my transgressions, the yoke taken captive into subjection, the wine press, the people conquered and destroyed, and the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger. Today we're going through verses 18 through 20.

It's titled, Behold My Sorrow. Please stand as we read together Lamentations 18, chapter 1, 18 through verse 22. The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against his commandment. Here I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow. My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.

I called for my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city while they sought their meat to relieve their souls. Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress. My bowels are troubled. Mine heart is turned within me.

For I have grievously rebelled. Broad the sword bereaveth. At home there is as death. They have heard that I sigh, there is none to comfort me. All mine enemies have heard of my trouble.

They are glad that Thou hast done it. Thou wilt bring the day that Thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me. Let all the wickedness come before thee, and do unto them as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions. For my sighs are many and my heart is faint. You may be seated.

Let's jump into verse 18. The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against his commandment. The Lord is right, Judah is wrong. We have a nice confession here. We see Moses outline the blessings and curses back in Deuteronomy 28 verse 2, and all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

And he lists out a bunch of blessings. In Deuteronomy 28-15, but it shall come to pass if thou will not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee." And then we see a list of a bunch of curses. What are the conditions here that he lays out? If you obey my commands you will be blessed. If you don't obey my commands you will be cursed.

Here's the acknowledgement and the confession that we hear from Jerusalem, from Judah. For I have rebelled. I have not obeyed God's commands. This punishment should not have been a surprise at all to the Jewish people. Not only did Moses foretell these consequences and these curses, but Jeremiah also prophesied what was coming in chapter 4 verses 7 and 8 in Jeremiah.

The lion has come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way. He has gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate, and thy cities shall be laid waste without an inhabitant. For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl. For the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us, and it shall come to pass that day, say it the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder." It's important to note here in verse 18 that it starts, and I like this, it starts with the Lord is righteous. The Lord is always righteous.

What we do, what we think, whether we obey, whether we disobey, none of this has any impact on the attributes of God. God is righteous. If like Judah you are suffering because you have rebelled against God, God is still righteous. God is sovereign. Remember the chastisement of his people is with the goal of restoration, to bring you to a place where you are repentant and will turn back to him to a place where you might now Harken to the voice of the Lord thy God and obey his commands.

We see the psalmist writes in a couple places Psalm 119 verses 7 verse 75 I know O Lord that your judgments are righteous and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. And in verse 137, righteous are you oh Lord and upright are your judgments. Jeremiah continues, here I pray you all people and behold my sorrow. Jeremiah repeats the thought expressed in verse 12, is it nothing to you all that pass by? Behold and see that there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.

He calls out to her neighbors with a plea to see her suffering to take note. John Gill comments here she is directing herself to all compassionate persons to hearken and attend to her mournful complaint and to consider her sorrow the nature and the cause of it, and look upon her with an eye of pity in her sorrowful circumstances. Pain and suffering come with disobedience, with rebellion against God. God clearly tells us this, yet we still rebel. Our personal experiences prove this, yet we still rebel.

The plea here is to see, to learn, and to understand the consequences of disobeying God. To use this lesson so that we might obey rather than disobey the voice of the Lord. Continuing on, my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity. This is a part of her sorrow that the flower of her people, the youth, the source of strength, the future growth and prosperity for her nation, have been removed. They've been exiled to a foreign land.

What grief and what sorrow this must have been to the once proud nation. All this is a result of their transgressions, their rebellion against God. Yet the Lord is righteous. In verse 19, I called for my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders gave up the ghost in the city while they sought their meat to relieve their souls.

Here Jeremiah complains to God, she called for help from her lovers, her allies, yet no help came. They deceived me. We saw this expressed in verse two, among her lovers she asked none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her. They are become her enemies.

To give up the ghost, it's a phrase that indicates dying, to breathe your last, to perish. It's used in a number of times in the King James version of the Bible. You won't find it in most Bibles. It was apparently a common phrase that was used throughout England during the time that the King James version was written. The priests were the leaders representing the community to God, and the elders were the leaders in civil matters.

Both groups were those who had more resources and greater wealth than the average person. Yet even these honored persons died from hunger through the siege of Jerusalem. How severe must have been the famine throughout the city and how much suffering and death must have occurred when it includes even the most wealthy in the city. Behold my sorrow. In verse 20, behold O Lord for I am in distress, my bowels are troubled, my heart is turned within me, for I have grievously rebelled.

Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death. Again deserted by men and by her allies she calls out to the Lord behold O Lord for I am in distress This is not your average grief that you're experiencing having a bad day This is severe. It's coming from deep down the descriptive use of bowels inflamed with sorrow and in the heart agitated violently indicating no peace It indicates a distress that goes deep within. So where does this deep distress come from? It comes from the recognition and acknowledgement that, as he says in this verse, I have grievously rebelled against God and his word.

She has not hearkened to the voice of the Lord their God. She has disobeyed God's commands. This last phrase was a little confusing to me. Abroad the sword bereiveth and at home there is death. John Gill explains this in a way that helped me understand it a little better.

I'll share that with you. Abroad the sword bereiveth. This and what follows in the next clause describe the state and the condition of the Jews. While the city was besieged, without it the city, the sword of the Chaldeans bereaved mothers of their children and children of their parents and left them desolate. At home there is as death within the city and in the houses of the city the famine raged which was as death and worse than immediate death it was a lingering one or in a house with certain death for the cough here in the Hebrew is not a mere note of similitude, but of certainty and reality.

To abide at home was sure and certain death. Nothing else could be expected. Because they grievously rebelled, the Jews were dying outside Jerusalem by the sword of the Chaldeans and inside the city by famine and pestilence. How difficult this must have been for Jeremiah to witness and for those who lived through this only to be exiled to a foreign land. No wonder their bowels were troubled and their hearts turned.

John Calvin comments, there is no doubt but that the prophet here showed to the faithful how they were to lament their common miseries, even so as patiently to bear the chastisements of God and also to seek deliverance from him, though they had provoked his wrath. For when we see that we are pressed down by God's hand, we do not murmur, but the knowledge of our sins humble us, and faith moderates our mourning, which would otherwise exceed moderation. And when we thus himmly flee to God we in a manner unburden our sorrows into his bosom as it said in the Psalms cast on God thy cares from Psalm 55 22. So where do you turn when you are in great distress? Do you turn to a friend, to a neighbor, or do you turn to God?

Do you cast your burdens upon the Lord? In Lamentations 21, They have heard that I sigh, there is none to comfort me. All mine enemies have heard of my trouble. They are glad that thou has done it. Thou wilt bring the day that thou has called, and they shall be like unto me." Again, Jeremiah laments to God that her neighbors, her allies, the nations previously who wanted to be her friends during Israel's prosperity have heard her sigh.

They have heard of her troubles and they probably witnessed the events or even joined in with the Chaldean army to destroy the Jews. No one is there to comfort her. Again verse two, she hath none to comfort her and all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies. Not only was there no pity nor comfort, they were actually glad to see that the Jews were conquered, that they suffered, and that they were exiled. Her enemies rejoiced.

They seemed also to know that this came from God, that he was displeased with his people, that this was God's wrath upon them. Knowing that God is righteous and that God is sovereign, she proclaims that there is a day coming that her enemies shall experience what she herself is currently experiencing. In fact, Jeremiah prophesied this back in Jeremiah chapter 30 verses 15 through 16. Why do you cry about your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable.

Because of the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you. Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured. In all your adversaries, every one of them shall go into captivity. Those who plunder you shall become plunder. And all who pray upon you, I will make a pray." And in verse 22, let all their wickedness come before thee and do unto them as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions, for my size are many and my heart is faint.

Here we have a prayer to God, a prayer for righteous retribution. God acknowledges her many sins, her rebellion, and has suffered God's wrath, his judgment. God used the Chaldeans as an instrument of his wrath, his judgment. Now Judah is praying that God would turn the tables, that he would judge the Chaldeans for all of their wickedness. This is called an imprecatory prayer and is an appropriate prayer if the foe be an enemy of God and the concern be not for our own personal feelings but for the glory of God and the welfare of his people.

There are a number of Psalms and other scriptures throughout the Bible that would be classified as imprecatory prayers. For my size are many and my heart is faint. Her size were many because of the numerous afflictions. She had no strength left. Her heart was faint.

She was not in a position to fight back or to punish the Chaldeans. Junah knew that her suffering was due to her rebellion against God. She deserved what God had done to her. God is just. Yet she prays that God will judge the Chaldeans for what they had done, just as she was judged for her sins.

As we finish chapter 1, we remember the great sufferings of God's people. Jerusalem and the temple both destroyed, her people exiled, her friends and allies became her enemies. They offered no support, no comfort. And through all this Judah acknowledged her great rebellion against God, that she deserved the punishment God afflicted her with. So what can we learn from these passages in chapter one?

First, putting trust in earthly alliances for security does not yield security. We see that today with Ukraine. They received promises from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Russia for their security and subsequently invaded by Russia. Didn't work out too well to trust there. The only one who is trustworthy is God.

He is our ultimate protector. We need to trust in the Lord. I would ask who are you trusting in? I would ask that you take time to meditate on this in the coming week. Are you really trusting in the Lord?

Examine your priorities, examine your choices that you make each day. Do they reflect this reality or do you say one thing and do another? Next, you must get to a point where you really believe God is righteous. As Matthew Henry states, whatever our trouble which God is pleased to inflict upon us, we must own that therein he is righteous. Nothing happens that is not ordained by God.

He is sovereign, and his ways are perfect, and his timing is perfect. Even through hard times we need to keep our eyes on him. And finally, Are your sighs many? Is your heart faint? Turn to God.

It is from God you will find ultimate peace and comfort. Having said that, it really helps to have a friend who offers kind words, comfort, support, and or prayers. From the other side, if you know someone who's suffering, be a friend. Everybody's really busy. Make time to offer support, prayers, comforting words to a friend in need.

Maybe this takes the form of offering meals, watching children, or even just sitting next to a brother in the hospital. Every situation will be different, and what each person can do will be different. The point here is to love, and to love one another. Amen. Let us pray.

Gracious Heavenly Father, you are righteous God. You are just and you are sovereign and we just praise you Lord for being who you are. We thank you Lord for those those painful times that we find ourselves being chastised by you. Lord help us get back on track. Help us see where we have disobeyed, see where we have fallen short.

Lord that we might repent and turn back to you, turn from our wicked ways. Help us to reflect the love that you pour out on us, to be a friend, to help others who may be in great sorrow or trouble. Lord, help us in times of struggles where we don't see any connection, Lord, with our behavior whether we obey or disobey. Lord our life just seems hard. Lord help us persevere.

Lord you call us to find joy in all circumstances. Lord sometimes it's just hard to feel joy when we feel so terrible. But Lord help us keep our focus on eternity or not on the daily but on what is before us. Lord we know that you are our God we know that you are faithful we know Lord that you hear our prayers And we know how faithful and a loving God that you are. Lord, help us trust you.

When all others fail us, help us to know that you will always be there, Lord, and that you will never fail us. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.