20th January 2025
Pray (ACts) Read (Ezekiel 19 focus v1) Message (Alan Burke) This is introduction six for this devotion, the others have all been scraped because I was over thinking things. So I’ll keep this one simple, when was the last time you lamented about anything? The loss of a loved one? What is happening in this world? The failure of the Church in many places to preach the truth of the Gospel? You could put anything in there, when was the last time you lamented? I don’t mean feel sorry about something, some compassion, share a few tears but filled with a grief that hurt you to your very core. I’ve seen this in a few people recently when they have lost a loved one but when it comes to the state of our leaders, the decline of the church, the sinfulness of our society it’s like we have all become so accustomed to it that we barely bat an eyelid. We pick up today after chapter 18 obviously where the people had mocked the Lord God with a proverb how “ ‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? (Eze 18:2). In truth it was their ways that were unjust, they as a people while in exile were blaming their plight on father’s sin, that God was punishing them for their fathers sin but was just as much their own sin that had caused it. The Lord had given his sinful people exactly what they deserved. There we learnt that the Lord God by his grace had always welcomes the sinner who turns from their wickedness, lives in accordance to his laws and following his decrees but the problem was his people they had not done this. As chapter 18 finishes and 19 begins it is a continuation of the word of the Lord, he now tells Ezekiel to “Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel.” What God’s people are to do is repent so that they would live as chapter 18 made clear but they are also to lament their present circumstances, the princess of Israel as well as the decline of the nation. Instead of protesting their innocence and blaming God they were to respond with repentance and lamentation. To lament in Ezekiel’s day was to do more than to cry a wee tear or feel the heart strings pang it was a very public manifestation of grief. Those who lamented would have wailed, sung, chanting a dirge, slapped their chest, tore their clothes. Have we ever been driven to such extremes? While may seem a little strange to us it was normal to have such a public manifestation of grief and the people, and those who were in exile to whom the Lord speaks to through Ezekiel were to lament. First they were to lament their leaders and then they were to lament themselves, they were to lament that their sin had brought this upon themselves. We will get into the passage in more detail as the week goes on but for now there is a place for us today to lament the sinfulness of our leaders, the sinfulness of us as a people, the sinfulness of this nation. How we continue to reject the word of the Lord, despising his truth. While our lament doesn’t need to be shown in wailing, singing, chanting a dirge, slapping our chests, tearing our clothes but it should be seen in how we speak of the continuing decline of morality, of the evil of our nation, we know that his word is true above the emotive arguments that are given. It should be seen in how we seek to mortify our sin for we all know the hidden wickedness of our hearts. Jesus said “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Mt 5:4). He wasn’t talking about the grief of the loss of a loved one but those who come mourning over sin. While we mourn we find comfort in the Lord our God, because in spite of our sins there is forgiveness. There is hope in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and what he has done for us so that our sins might be forgiven. Pray (acTS) Sing WSC Q92. What is a Sacrament? A. A Sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ; wherein, by sensible signs, Christ and the benefits of the new covenant are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.
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