Lamentations 5:19-22 :

You, Yahweh, remain forever.
Your throne is from generation to generation.
Why do you forget us forever,
and forsake us for so long a time?
Turn us to yourself, Yahweh, and we will be turned.
Renew our days as of old.
But you have utterly rejected us.
You are very angry against us.

Here we are at the end of Lamentations. Jeremiah wrote the book of Jeremiah and Lamentations, but as you can see, Lamentations was very short. This illustrates to us a part of God’s amazing character toward mankind. The Bible tells us that our crying and God’s anger is much shorter than His favor to us. Let’s look at that again:

Psalm 30:4-5 :

Sing praise to Yahweh, you saints of his.
Give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment.
His favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may stay for the night,
but joy comes in the morning.

Even though this is true, weeping about our sin is necessary. That’s another thing we have learned as we have taken this short journey through Israel’s sorrow. This particular passage reminds us that even though God’s discipline is actually short, it feels like “forever.” We were never meant to be separate from God, even for a moment! That’s another important thing for every single human to come to grips with before it is too late.

Sin is very, very serious. It is truly amazing how easily we ignore the horror of it. Studies like this one remind us of what faces us when we sin. God’s anger is the worst thing a man can experience and I don’t want anyone to experience it anymore. That’s one of the biggest reasons why I do this, but I also know that there’s nothing you can do about it without God’s help.

Let’s be careful not to think that coming to God is an act of mankind. If you are stuck in a pit, you need someone to get you out. It’s pretty ridiculous to think that we can get ourselves out of the pit. If we could, we wouldn’t be stuck in it! Look at what God put in this prominent place at the end of this book of sorrow: “Turn us to yourself, Yahweh, and we will be turned.” We know from the rest of the Bible that if God doesn’t turn us, we will never be turned. The fact that you can repent, is a gift of God. If you are able to repent now, do it! You may never have this chance again.