Lamentations is a small book full of grief, mourning and shame, on a level few of us can comprehend. (La 1:12) The first four of the five chapters are elaborate acrostic poems; chapters 1, 2 and 4 each have 22 verses, one for each Hebrew letter; the 3rd chapter, has 66 verses, three per letter.
Though the verse sequence in chapter 1 follows the Hebrew alphabet, the ע (ain, letter 16) and פ (pe, letter 17) are out of sequence for the rest of the poem. This is striking, and easily overlooked. God is evidently inviting us to pay attention and ponder, offering us a clue into the dynamics of evil and suffering. (Mt 7:7)
Perhaps this is an open invitation to tackle the most obvious and difficult question triggered by unjust suffering: Why? If God is Love (1Jn 4:8), why doesn’t He prevent evil?
Most of us think we already know the answer: How can a good God possibly allow so much cruelty and injustice in the world? Some conclude there is no God, or decide He isn’t good.
But Jeremiah doesn’t ask Why? at all, anywhere in the book, and this is also significant; instead, he freely admits Israel is being punished for her sins. (1:18) He is grounding his grief in the ultimate goodness and justice of God. (3:39)
This may be key to the misorientation of the letters ע (ain) and פ (pe) in chapters 2 through 4: ע (ain) comes from an ancient pictograph resembling an eye and is associated with seeing and understanding; פ (pe) comes from a symbol resembling a mouth and relates to speech, expression or communication. So, the correct order of the Hebrew alphabet places understanding before speaking: speaking without first understanding gets us into trouble. (Pr 18:13)
So, even though Jeremiah gets the alphabet right as he starts out, in the midst of his intense grief he evidently loses focus, putting speaking before understanding. Perhaps he’s saying it’s easier to start out in suffering without claiming injustice (Job 1:8, 2:10), but extended durations of unspeakable horror test what we think we know about God to the core; as we lose trust in God, as our earthly expectations of His protection and love are dashed, we begin to doubt God and put our complaining ahead of our understanding. (19:7) Yet, in the end, regardless what we’ve been through, what will God Himself have to say about it? (38:1-2)
In the midst of Lamentations, Jeremiah finally does remind us of God’s ultimate mercy and faithfulness. (3:23); he’s evidently refocusing on God in the midst of suffering, encouraging us to turn to God in our pain. (40) But he still gets the letter sequence incorrect in chapter 4; in chapter 5 he doesn’t even try poetry, it’s just words.
Similarly, in the midst of intense misery and pain, the Psalmist is troubled at the very thought of God: he’s absolutely overwhelmed (Ps 77:3), speechless. (4) Though he tries meditating on the works of God to reconcile them with his calamity (5-6), he just can’t shake the cruelty and injustice of it all. (7-9)
When he finds he is unable to make sense of his suffering on his own, he concludes it must be his own fault; his lack of understanding amounts to a personal infirmity – he just can’t see things from God’s perspective. (10a)
In faith, despite what he sees and feels, he continues meditating on how God reveals Himself and encourages himself in God. (10b-13) This doesn’t make his pain go away, but at least he can suffer in a little dignity and honor rather than in bitterness and despair. (Job 19:25)
Suffering can be bewilderingly debilitating, but defying God in the midst of it doesn’t improve our situation. (Ps 27:13) The key is to keep our eyes on God, trust He knows what He’s doing (14), and expect Him to keep His word (Ps 18:30) to the very end. (Job 13:15)
This is easier said than done; we can’t do this all on our own. Yet Jesus is able to suffer perfectly (He 12:3); He can suffer in and through us (2Co 4:10), giving us grace (He 4:16) to overcome. (Jn 16:33) He is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before God with joy. (Ju 24)
In Heaven, we won’t be complaining about God allowing evil and suffering, even our own; we will have His perspective, that it’s all about Him, and worship Him in glory. (Re 4:11)