Depths Of The Pit

Lamentations 3:55-57 - I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: "Do not close your ears to my cry for relief." You came near when I called you, and you said, "Do not fear."

Psalm 30:1 - I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

Psalm 116:2 - Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.

Jeremiah 1:8 - Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.

Application:

· Do I exalt the Lord?
· Do I trust in Him?
· Does the promise of God's presence calm my fears?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Great Is His Unfailing Love

Lamentations 3:22-23,32 - Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness…Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.

Application:

• He is my Judge, my Restorer, He is faithful and He unfailingly loves me!
• The Lord is faithful to His promises!
• God's faithfulness is beyond measure!

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

The Lord Is My Portion

Lamentations 3:24 - I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

Psalm 73:26 - My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Genesis 15:1 - After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."

Application:

• Do I wait for the Lord?
• Do I confess the Lord as my Sustainer, My Preserver, my very life?
• Though I am rich, is God Himself my greatest treasure?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Tears Flow Like A River

Lamentations 2:18-3:3 - The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. O wall of the Daughter of Zion, let your tears flow like a river day and night; give yourself no relief, your eyes no rest. Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street. "Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have you ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cared for? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? "Young and old lie together in the dust of the streets; my young men and maidens have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of your anger; you have slaughtered them without pity. "As you summon to a feast day, so you summoned against me terrors on every side. In the day of the LORD's anger no one escaped or survived; those I cared for and reared, my enemy has destroyed." I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.

Jeremiah 9:1 - Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.

Lamentations 3:22 - Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

Psalm 82:5 - "They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Application:

• Do I weep for others?
• The Lord is faithful to His promises!
• Do I share in the wisdom of God or am I devoid of understanding?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Long Ago

Lamentations 2:15-17 - All who pass your way clap their hands at you; they scoff and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: "Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?" All your enemies open their mouths wide against you; they scoff and gnash their teeth and say, "We have swallowed her up. This is the day we have waited for; we have lived to see it." The LORD has done what he planned; he has fulfilled his word, which he decreed long ago. He has overthrown you without pity, he has let the enemy gloat over you, he has exalted the horn of your foes.

Nahum 3:19 - Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal. Everyone who hears the news about you claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?

Deuteronomy 28:58-59 - If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God--the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.

1 Samuel 2:1 - Then Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.

Application:

• Do I clap my hands when people fall?
• Do I revere the glorious and awesome name of the Lord my God?
• Is my supreme joy in God who answers my prayers?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

False Prophets

Lamentations 2:11-14 - My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within, my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city. They say to their mothers, "Where is bread and wine?" as they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city, as their lives ebb away in their mothers' arms. What can I say for you? With what can I compare you, O Daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you, O Virgin Daughter of Zion? Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you? The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The oracles they gave you were false and misleading.

Jeremiah 9:1 - Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.

Jeremiah 23:10,23,28-29, The land is full of adulterers; because of the curse the land lies parched and the pastures in the desert are withered. The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly…"Am I only a God nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away?... Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the LORD. "Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Application:

• Do you weep for others?
• Do you mislead people?
• Do you feed and nourish others?
• Has God's Word tested your work and judged your heart?
• Have you violated the Lord's covenant?
• God lives in a high and holy place and…He lives with you!

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Prophets No Longer Find Visions

Lamentations 2:7-10 - The Lord has rejected his altar and abandoned his sanctuary. He has handed over to the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast. The LORD determined to tear down the wall around the Daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withhold his hand from destroying. He made ramparts and walls lament; together they wasted away. Her gates have sunk into the ground; their bars he has broken and destroyed. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and her prophets no longer find visions from the LORD. The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have sprinkled dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.

Amos 8:11 - "The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, "when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.

Job 2:13 - Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

Application:

• How is the Lord communicating to me?
• In my distress, does God answer with hope and guidance or silence?
• When encountering those who are suffering, do I comfort people with my presence, or do I take a chance by adding words?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible