My Favorite Bible Verses and Quotes

Part: 17: Punishment, Repentance, and Hope

Punishment, Repentance, and Hope 

I am one who knows what it is to be punished by God. He drove me deeper and

deeper into darkness and beat me again and again with merciless blows. He has left

my flesh open and raw, and has broken my bones. He has shut me in a prison of

misery and anguish. He has forced me to live in the stagnant darkness of death. He has

bound me in chains; I am a prisoner with no hope of escape. I cry aloud for help, but

God refuses to listen; I stagger as I walk; stone walls block me wherever I turn. He

waited for me like a bear; he pounced on me like a lion.  He chased me off the road,

tore me to pieces, and left me.  He drew his bow and made me the target for his

arrows.  He shot his arrows deep into my body. People laugh at me all day long; I am

a joke to them all.  Bitter suffering is all he has given me for food and drink.  He

rubbed my face in the ground and broke my teeth on rocks.  I have forgotten what

health and peace and happiness are.  I do not have much longer to live; my hope in the

LORD is gone.  The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison. I think of

it constantly, and my spirit is depressed.  Yet hope returns when I remember this one

thing:  The LORD's unfailing love and mercy still continue, fresh as the morning, as

sure as the sunrise.  The LORD is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.  The LORD

is good to everyone who trusts in him,  So it is best for us to wait in patience—to wait

for him to save us— And it is best to learn this patience in our youth. When we suffer,

we should sit alone in silent patience; We should bow in submission, for there may

still be hope. Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it all.  The Lord is

merciful and will not reject us forever.  He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is

sure and strong.  He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain.  The Lord knows

when our spirits are crushed in prison; He knows when we are denied the rights he

gave us; When justice is perverted in court, he knows. The will of the Lord alone is

always carried out. Good and evil alike take place at his command. Why should we

ever complain when we are punished for our sin?  Let us examine our ways and turn

back to the LORD.  Let us open our hearts to God in heaven and pray, “We have

sinned and rebelled, and you, O LORD, have not forgiven us. You pursued us and

killed us; your mercy was hidden by your anger, By a cloud of fury too thick for our

prayers to get through. You have made us the garbage dump of the world.  We are

insulted and mocked by all our enemies. We have been through disaster and ruin; we

live in danger and fear. My eyes flow with rivers of tears at the destruction of my

people. My tears will pour out in a ceaseless stream Until the LORD looks down from

heaven and sees us. My heart is grieved when I see what has happened to the women

of the city. I was trapped like a bird by enemies who had no cause to hate me. They

threw me alive into a pit and closed the opening with a stone. Water began to close

over me, and I thought death was near. From the bottom of the pit, O LORD, I cried

out to you, and when I begged you to listen to my cry, you heard. You answered me

and told me not to be afraid. You came to my rescue, Lord, and saved my life. Judge

in my favor; you know the wrongs done against me. You know how my enemies hate

me and how they plot against me. You have heard them insult me, O LORD; you

know all their plots. All day long they talk about me and make their plans. From

morning till night they make fun of me. Punish them for what they have done, O

LORD; Curse them and fill them with despair! Hunt them down and wipe them off the earth! ”

Lamentations 3:1-66