GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
LAMENTATIONS 3:37-38
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37 Who has spoken and had it happen,
unless the Lord commanded it?
38 Do not both adversity and good
come from the mouth of the Most High?
Verse 38 opens the door to the problem of evil. If God is good, where did evil come from? First, we recognize that sin came into existence through the fall of Satan and the other evil angels that fell with him. He had been created with the ability not to sin. But, evidently out of pride (Proverbs 16:18), Satan fell. “Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin” (Proverbs 21:4). Then he tempted Adam and Eve, who had also been made with the ability not to sin, and they sinned too. The difference is that they were tempted to sin by Satan; Satan had fallen all on his own.
In his wisdom, God has permitted the sinful and fallen human race to remain, so that his creation would not be completely destroyed by the devil. Instead of wiping out his creation like a potter squishing a fallen pot still on the wheel, God chose to save mankind; to rescue us through Christ. And so, even in the sinful world, God rules all things for the good of those who love God, and who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). God rules so that everything must serve his glory and the welfare of his people. Here we can also apply what our prophet says in verse 37: “Who has spoken and had it happen, unless the Lord commanded it?” The things that happen in the world happen because God has commanded that they serve his good purpose. When we have sinned, he calls us back to him through hardship and trouble. Under the cross of the exiles in Babylon, this meant a lot of hardship and almost uncountable tears.
On the second cross, the cross of Jesus on Calvary, we see the will of God the Father punishing sin. But we see the compassion of God the Son, leaping in to take up the burden of our sin and to receive the full and holy wrath of the Father himself.
He presented himself as the perfect sacrifice for us. He had been declared innocent by Pilate, who is the one who handed him over for execution. He had been prophesied by Caiaphas (although unwittingly) as the one who would die for the people when he said, “It is better that one man die for the people than the whole nation perish” (John 11:50). He was crucified in the same place where a substitute had been provided when God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac, the place where it was said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided” (Genesis 22:14). This was the place where David built an altar when the destroying angel stopped the death-plague that God sent upon the nation after David’s prideful sin (2 Samuel 24:25). There is no one else who has fulfilled all of these things. And Christ himself prophesied his own death over and over again with details only his own death fulfilled. His blood dripped down just as the blood of the ram had run in place of condemned Isaac. It was indeed better– best– for Christ to die and atone for sin than for all mankind to perish. And the blood of David’s sacrifices ran red over the threshing-floor of Arauna the Jebusite after God stopped the sword of the destroying angel on top of Mount Moriah. This was where Christ’s blood ran red to atone for our sins, all of our sins, forever.
The Christian runs to the cross of Christ every day with sin in mind– sin that weighs down the heart with guilt, shame, and grief. I should have been a better husband. I should have been a more understanding father. I should have been a better friend. I could have given help, or I could have given more selfless help, not the half-hearted help I gave. I should have stood up for my friend but I laughed like a schoolboy instead.
When Martin Luther was still a monk, he wore out his priest with his long and detailed confession of sins, not weekly but often daily. Sometimes he would come back right after finishing and have more to say. There are two ways of looking at that little bit of church history. We can sigh and think, “He just didn’t know his Savior yet.” And then we are delighted to find that it was soon, in those same years as a monk, that he learned the truth from the Scriptures. But there is another lesson to be learned from that young Luther. He knew how to think about and agonize over his sins. He took sin seriously, and he knew he needed forgiveness. We need the same forgiveness, and it is not itself a sin to number our sins in prayer before God. It is the best use of the Ten Commandments and the Catechism: to let the law of God convict us of our wrongs, so that the gospel of God will thoroughly soothe us, refresh us, heal us, and deepen our love for Jesus.
From our Lord God come both adversity and good. The cross of this lifetime is a cross of struggle against the flesh, it is a cross of counting and numbering our sins. It is a cross of fighting against the temptations that come flying our way, of asking the Holy Spirit for help, and of turning to Christ. Discipline is painful (Hebrews 12:11), but our Lord disciplines us as a loving Father, to guide us on the path of following him, of loving him, and yet even obeying his holy will. Forgiveness is ours, and a life of pleasing God is the path ahead.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Lamentations 3:37-38 both adversity and good