Godly Lamentation, Mourning and Woe Benson Skariachan

Benson Skariachan

Godly Lamentation, Mourning and Woe

In many areas we are so often go wrong like making our lives too much about 'I' and not enough about 'God.' The 'God' I am referring to is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In John 3:30 it is written, “ He must increase, but I must decrease.” We seem to have overlooked or forgotten this most beautiful scripture, John 3:30, that acts as a bridge to heaven. Instead, it is so often, “me, my life, my desires, my family, my money, my parents, my assets, my car, my studies, my career, my prestige, my feelings, my emotions, my pain, my hurt, my expectations, my church, my friends, my house, my...my...my...my.” Look around.... we are filled with everything that makes us slaves to the idols of this world. Mathew 10:37 says, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Note that in Mathew, Jesus says 'worthy of me', thus if we idolize any earthly person or thing, we are not worthy of God and if we are not worthy of God then how can Christ's message of “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30) be fulfilled. I would like to draw your attention to Mathew 4:8-10 which says, “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and said unto him, all these things will I give thee, if thou wilt Kingdom Perspectives | May-June 2020 16

fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Unfortunately, we have all fallen short of the true love and fear of God that is required of us (humility, meekness, brokenness, selflessness and of dying to self) and many of us have turned to the very opposite of it. Somewhere in our lives, perhaps among achievements in our life, our work life, family life, ministry life etc. pride entered in either with or without our knowledge. Proverbs 16:18 says: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Please bear with me, I do understand I am delivering truths that our flesh does not wish to hear, however, that which pains our flesh eventually brings about the crucifixion of our flesh and, in turn, the liberation of our soul unto Christ, life and blessing. Let me now direct your attention to Ezekiel 2:8-10, “But thou son of man, hear what I say unto thee; be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth and eat that I give thee. And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and lo, a roll of a book was therein; and he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning and woe.” Here we see God asking Ezekiel to eat the roll of a book which had three words written inside and outside.

Just three words: Lamentations, Mourning and Woe. Even though we are given three words they all signify the same sentiment: to regret deeply, grieve audibly, sorrow, groan; to experience heartache and distress. After God personally fed Ezekiel this roll, it is written in Ezekiel 3:2-3, “So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. “Can you imagine putting into action what God is saying: to lament, mourn and woe and whilst doing so, experiencing sweetness? Does that make sense to us? How is it rational? Well don't worry if it doesn't make complete sense to us, as 1 Corinthians 1:25 says, “Even the foolishness of God is wiser than men,” so we can really only begin to fathom the depth of what God was trying to tell Ezekiel. We can, however, ask ourselves why God might ask Ezekiel to practice lamentations, mourning and woe. Was not Ezekiel one of the

“Then Jesus went about all the cities and village, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:35-36).

prophets, possibly one of the holiest among the living at that time. I may not know the true depth of Gods infinite wisdom, but one thing I am sure of, is that God chose Ezekiel to lament, mourn and woe for the people of the land. Yes, as we can see this is one of the very things God calls of us, as believers: Moses was called to Lament, Mourn and Woe for the People Elijah was called to Lament, Mourn and Woe for the People Ezekiel was called to Lament, Mourn and Woe for the People Jesus was called to Lament, Mourn and Woe for the People Paul was called to Lament, Mourn and Woe for the People. Yes, my dear brothers and sisters we are all called, in fact, encouraged to lament, mourn and woe for the people of our land. For this is our purpose and calling here on earth and it starts with repentance; giving birth to lamentations, mourning & woe in seeing the children of God being deceived, cheated, killed and destroyed in the world by the destruction and devices of Satan. Acts tells us that Paul's spirit was “stirred in him, when he saw the city given to idolatry” (Acts 17:16). Furthermore, the devil similarly uses the distractions and lusts of this world and our flesh to Kingdom Perspectives | May-June 2020 17

blind us of this calling and responsibility to true Godly sorrow. Sadly, The art of Lament, mourning and Woe is long forgotten. Washed or hidden away under bright multicolored spotlights, loud music or production value now found in churches today that serve to make us feel good, entertained and appeal to our flesh or self. Why are we not experiencing the honey in our mouth that comes from lamentations, mourning and woe? Did God do or say anything to Ezekiel that made him feel good, Did Jesus say anything to his disciples that made them feel good in their flesh? Why did Jesus attempt to wake his disciples up and then proceed to ask them to pray in the middle of the night, requiring them to resist their flesh or desire to sleep? Jesus expected his disciples to sacrifice their sleep and instead to remain awake and pray. So much of the kingdom of God requires first dying to our flesh, denying things that makes our flesh feel good and instead feeding and giving power to the Spirit in us and in order to serve purposes outside of ourselves and of much greater worth. Romans 8:13 says, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Similarly, Colossians 3:5 urges us to “put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” The art of lamentation, mourning and woe is for all of us, for it is our cross to bear. Let us learn to lament, to stand up against temptations, for the sake of our lost brothers and sisters, for our lost churches, for the lost people, for the sick, poor and needy, those in broken relationships, broken marriages, and broken families. Let us learn once again to cry out to God, humbling ourselves on behalf of others, to heal the people and restore the land through sacrificial prayer and heartfelt supplications. For Joel 2:12-13 says, “Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and weeping and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God.” If we are finding it hard within ourselves to reach a place of lamentation, it's high time we introspect our hearts on when it did harden, in other words; when or where did our pride set in. Let us pray and ask God to break us, break our pride, remould us and soften our hearts, before we or others are led to destruction. Let us draw near to the Lord with genuine heartache for others; lamentations, mourning and woe. Let us be soldiers unto our Lord where our battles are fought on our knees, selflessly dying to our flesh and, rather, lamenting & mourning our way to victory through spiritual warfare and heartfelt prayer. As is written in James 5:16 “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” And it is then we will start to experience true sweetness in our mouths. God bless you all. Amen.

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