Do You Know These Notes? | Morning Worship, Guest Pastor, Jul Medenblik, August 31, 2025

Do You Know These Notes?

Lamentations 3

A “Zen” moment in Music/

Life is not Monotone/

Major Chord - It's a fundamental chord in Western music, often described as sounding "bright" or "happy"./ 

 Minor Chord - It is a fundamental building block in music and often creates a sense of sadness or melancholy./

 Lamentations is a Poem or a Prayer that is in a Minor Key./

 The author of Lamentations has historically been identified as Jeremiah.  A prophet of who warns and testifies about the destruction of Jerusalem and the desolation of Judah./

 Lamentations is made up of 5 chapters – 5 poems./

Laments are a Passionate Expression of Grief or Sorrow/

 Jeremiah had a tough message to deliver and a rough life./

He brough unpopular messages of judgment and calls for repentance to Judah.// He was mocked, rejected, physically abused, imprisoned, and even faced threats on his life. 

 Instead of “I told you so,” he cries out. – Lamentations 3 – 

 I am the man who has seen affliction
     by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.
 2 He has driven me away and made me walk
     in darkness rather than light;
 3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me
     again and again, all day long.

4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
     and has broken my bones.
 5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
     with bitterness and hardship.
 6 He has made me dwell in darkness
     like those long dead.

 The poem provides various images that layer on the images of this heaviness/ – God is my enemy or a warden (imprisons me) or a wild animal (stalking me) or a warrior (battles) or a hunter.  

 Laments are also found in the Psalms – like Psalm 22/ – 

 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
     Why are you so far from saving me,
     so far from my cries of anguish?
 2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
     by night, but I find no rest./

Seekers in the Hands of an Elusive God/

When we are in trouble, we want to be rescued! /

 Most laments do not end with a rescue or even a reason, they end with an expression of trust in a relationship. /

 In the middle of the book of Lamentations and in the middle of Chapter 3, we hear the central message of Lamentations./

 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
     the bitterness and the gall.
 20 I well remember them,
     and my soul is downcast within me.
 21 Yet this I call to mind
     and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
     for his compassions never fail.
 23 They are new every morning;
     great is your faithfulness.
 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
     therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
     to the one who seeks him;
 26 it is good to wait quietly
     for the salvation of the Lord.

 A Key to this Reversal – Remembering/

 Remembering is foundational in the Christian Story/

 Remember Your Baptism/

 Communion – Take, Eat, Remember/

Take, Drink, Remember// 

 We Are Here to Remember – The Life, Death and 

Resurrection of Jesus Christ/

Sabbath/Sunday – reflects the Creative Work and 

Re-Creation by God for all Eternity/

The Ministry of Hillcrest – Creating Faith&