Walk Through the Bible: Lamentations
Text for Sermon: Lamentations 1:3-5; 2:17; 3:19-33
Introduction.
The 66 books of the Bible are like a small library with several sections, several genres or types or kinds of literature.
We started off with the five books of the Law,. Then we had the 12 books of historical narrative from entering the Promised Land in Joshua to departing the Promised Land in exile in II Kings. Then there were the five books of Wisdom literature, practical wisdom for living and dealing with issues such as suffering, worship, common sense, despair and marriage.
Now we are in the seventeen books of the prophets, four major and 12 minor.
But tonight we come to a book tucked in the major prophets between Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Lamentations reveals another sub-genre of literature, the lament. We didn’t say much about lament in the Psalms but there are at least 65 songs or psalms of lament, almost half.
Jesus said in this life you will have suffering and hardship.
Laments are a specific and specialized form of Biblical literature inspired by the Holy Spirit. The lament portions of Scripture tell us two things.