Suffering Well
The book of Lamentations is a largely ignored and neglected canonical book of the Old Testament. It does not serve much of a purpose in a society so fixated on the therapeutic, like our own. But the growing American obsession with happiness has not seemed to achieve that great of happiness after all. We live in a consumerist culture where satisfaction is the goal of our entire life, whether our sexuality, our careers, our marriages, or even our church life. We are determined to be happy. And yet in a nation that seeks to give your heart all of its desires, satisfaction is still far from guaranteed. But we insist on our ways, and so it is not surprising that the only verses most Western Christians have ever heard of from the book of Lamentations is the singular glimmer of hope found in chapter 3: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (3:22-23). If only we had taken the time to read what the rest of the book was about. Turns out it is a gruesome reflection on the reality of the beloved city of Jerusalem being looted and destroyed while the people within it are either dying or being scattered abroad. Maybe after understanding that context, we could find the beauty of chapter 3 verse 22 all the more striking and profound. Maybe a book like Lamentations could offer a much needed corrective to our therapeutic society.
What no English reader could notice about the book of lamentation is that it is made up of 4 acrostic poems and then concluded in chapter 5 by a typical communal lament that was common in the Ancient Near East. Chapters 1, 2, and 4 are all 22-verse acrostic poems using the consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Standing in between chapters 2 and 4 is the elongated acrostic within chapter 3. Rather than including 22 verses, chapter 3 triples the length of the acrostic, having 3 lines each that all begin with the same letter, and therefore making up 66 verses. It seems that this structure and form of the book of Lamentations might offer us some insight on how to suffer well– a topic that a therapeutic society does not often consider.
The fact that the author of Lamentations wrote such a horrifying reflection on suffering largely in the poetic device of acrostic poems, suggests that the author clings to the reality of order, stability, and beauty despite the chaos and upheaval he sees in the world. The acrostic gives him a way to express his grief, anger, and frustration in a beautiful poetic structure that implicitly reminds him that the disarray he currently experiences will not always triumph. Chaos and suffering will not have the last word, despite the gruesome reality that they indeed are. In this way, the author does not hold back in the slightest in expressing the depth of suffering and grief he has witnessed or personally experienced. But the poetic nature of the acrostic suggests that behind his raw experience of suffering is a confidence of a God who will establish order and peace. Indeed, this seems to be why chapter 3 gets triple the amount of space than any other chapter. It is the focal point of the book. The afflicted man of chapter 3 is the archetype of a suffering believer who acknowledges the severity of suffering and leaves plenty of room for anguish and despondency, but will nonetheless call to mind the steadfast love of the Lord. Verse 20 is clear that the sufferer is not practicing avoidance nor repression. But verse 21 insists that he also does not avoid nor repress the reality of who his God is. And this is where we find the beautiful words of the classic hymn we all know and love: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (3:22-23).
But we do a disservice to the book of Lamentation when we only read verses 22 and 23, or even only read chapter 3 for that matter! There is much to be learned from chapter 1, 2, 4, and 5. And we will only understand the impact of chapter 3 when we have also understood the impact of the rest of the book. The content surrounding chapter 3 compares the suffering of the city of Jerusalem to a widow, a sexually assaulted woman, and a fleeing refugee. It mentions children dying in the streets, people eating garbage, even the reality of cannibalism. The author even proclaims that God has “forgotten” and “abandoned” his people. These are not statements to be taken lightly. May we understand the gravity of such suffering to understand the gravity of such hope shown in chapter 3. And may we grant ourselves the same time to face the reality of suffering fully, instead of hiding from it. But may we also “call to mind” and “therefore have hope” the steadfast love and mercies of our God who turns suffering into flourishing, pain into joy, and death into life. Christ did not stay in the tomb. Neither will we. Better is coming. Even the afflicted man of Lamentations reminded himself of that.
The book of Lamentations ends with a plea for restoration: “But you, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations. Why do you forget us forever, why do you forsake us for so many days? Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us” (5:19-22). The Christian, too, can proclaim these verses of desperation and pleading as they experience suffering and confusion, just as the people of Jerusalem did. But the Christian can utter these questions in a fuller confidence of God’s answer, knowing the Gospel that used great suffering for great good. Take heart. He really is working all things out for good.
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