TITLE:
LAMENTATION AS PRAISE!
Memorise:
For his anger endureth but a moment; in
his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but
joy cometh in the morning.
Psalms 30:5
Read: Psalms 30:7-12
LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to
stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was
troubled.
Psalms 30:7
I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made
supplication.
Psalms 30:8
What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to
the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy
truth?
Psalms 30:9
Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be
thou my helper.
Psalms 30:10
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing:
thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with
gladness;
Psalms 30:11
To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and
not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto
thee for ever.
Psalms 30:12
Bible in one year
Ezekiel 19-20
Revelation 7
Message:
A lamentation is a song of mourning or sorrow. In the
Bible, lamentations were usually motivated by
national disasters (2 Chronicles 35:25), by
bereavement (2 Samuel 3:33-34), personal suffering
(Psalm 102:1-11) or by the judgment of God (Amos
5:1-2). Lamentations could also be inspired by
repentance as shown in Daniel 9:4-20.
A lamentation can contain praise to express
thanksgiving and gratitude to the Almighty God. Such
was the lamentation of Daniel in Daniel 9. It was
laced with praises to God even though He was
mourning the captivity of the children of Israel. No
wonder the Lord heard his lamentation and quickly
dispatched an archangel to comfort him. Jesus in
Matthew 5:4 said:
"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be
comforted."
This reveals that there is blessedness even in
mourning. There is still a reason to glorify God for
His goodness and His mercy even in mourning. It
shows that though there is lamentation, there will be
clear reasons to praise God at the end. Singing songs
of sorrow can therefore lead to comfort.
An example of sorrow leading to comfort is seen
when we lament for our sins, mistakes and errors in
such a way that leads to genuine repentance. Such
repentance leads to righteousness:
"Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that
ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry
after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage
by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh
repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the
sorrow of the world worketh death."
2 Corinthians 7:9-10
In the above passage, the lamentation and sorrow of
the Corinthians led to repentance. Paul rejoiced to
see this genuine repentance take place in the life of
the people.
Godly sorrow brings repentance unto
salvation. What started as lamentation or a song of
sorrow, produced reasons to praise God at the end.
Lamentation becomes a source of praise when godly
sorrow produces genuine repentance. Such
repentance leads to the joy of salvation, divine
approval and blessing.
Prayer Point:
Father, let your Church experience godly sorrow that
leads to genuine repentance in Jesus’ Name.
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