Lamentations 3:55-57 “I called on Your name, O Lord,
From the lowest pit.
You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear
From my sighing, from my cry for help.”
You drew near on the day I called on You,
And said, “Do not fear!”
Have you ever felt like you were at the bottom of the pit of despair and all you could do was cry out to God for help?
I have been there, in those times when the world overwhelms, darkness seems to close all around and everything seems hopeless. It’s at the weakest moments you utter the faint cry of, “Lord, help me”.
When a sinner who has veered off the path of righteousness and thinks the world offers something good, soon discovers that what truly lies at the end is death—it is then they develop a sense of hopelessness and fear.
Jeremiah found himself in that position, so did David, Elijah, and Moses, and…well, pretty much everyone in the Bible at one point realized the dead end road of sin. It as at those moments of vulnerability that people tend to finally acknowledge the mistakes they’ve made and cry out to God to rescue them once again.
When believers call out to God, they see a different response than the world sees.
“Do Not Fear”
The moment a believer cries out to God for help, they find the Lord is near.
Psalm 42:5 “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.”
The Lord looks upon the repentant heart and casts the light of His countenance upon the wayward sinner. The light illumines the darkness and guides them out of the dreary hopelessness they were lost to.
If you harden your heart, you keep yourself in the same state of despair.
The Lord knows what keeps people from trusting in Him. Pride gets in the way and the desire for happiness overrules God’s path of peace, and so people venture on their own way and it only leads to trouble.
A person might even hesitate to call out to God because they know what they have done is wrong and it can be hard to face the Truth. There are consequences to sin, there always are. Some consequences are temporary while others leave wounds and scars that last for years.
When the Lord draws near, He approaches in Light, He illumines the darkness and sin is exposed. It’s not the sin that brings fear, it is God’s abiding justice that represents all that is Holy.
Psalm 43:5 “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.”
Jesus suffered greatly. The cry of despair in the Psalms was a prophecy of the Messiah’s suffering He would endure. Jesus endured great pain so that we wouldn’t have to die in our sin.
People cannot draw near to God and still sin, sin is an affront to God’s righteousness and it mocks His throne. We can only come to God in repentance and humility, it is then by the blood of the Lamb that people are made acceptable in His sight.
Hebrews 9:14 “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!”
There is something else that scripture reminds us of, if we look closely we see all that God does the moment His people cry out..
Lamentations 3:55 “You drew near when I called on You; You said, “Do not be afraid.”
God immediately responds to our cry.
He doesn’t just wait and watch people suffer in languish of sin for His enjoyment, He allows the destructive nature of sin to show it’s true self so that the sinners heart might be softened to repent. The Holy Spirit brings conviction, it’s up to the sinner to respond. Sure, there must be a recognition of mistakes but ultimately it’s by God’s hand that sinners are rescued from the pit and set free from the embrace of darkness.
The Lord waits for the heart to change.
Before a person can truly grow from experiences, they must first recognize what led them there in the first place. It is at the lowest moments when the repentant draws near in righteousness, and they soon discover where true wisdom is found.
1 Corinthians 1:24 “But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
How many times do the foolish need to fall into the pit of despair before they grow wise to their actions?
The Lord places safeguards in our paths to remind us before we make those errors again. The safeguard is the Word of Truth, revealed through the Spirit or through brothers and sisters in Christ, watchmen on the wall, calling out when danger approaches.
Believers are called to uphold others in this same way and as we go the way of righteousness, like Nehemiah we stand ready with a sword in hand laying the bricks.
Nehemiah recognized the necessity for preparedness. The work must be done but the enemy remains, we can’t lose sight of the dangers that persist while we go about the task that God has placed before us.
Jeremiah 6:17 “I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.”
The Lord calls out, but who will hear His call?
Our Expectation
Yes, the Lord is the protector of His sheep, a shield in in times of trouble, and yet He equips His people for battle. the church has been given resources for accomplishing the work He has set before them, they must only use them as He ordained.
Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”
The Lord leads His people victoriously, but they must not lose sight of His countenance.
God is quick to respond, He is not slow in keeping His promises, He works in ways we cannot see, and He restores His people when they fall.
We would do well to save ourselves the agony of the pit and avoid the despair before we fall into it.
I’ve fallen into those traps far too many times and I now must consider the wisdom needed to press on in victory. I hope you do as well.
U.T. 