Slap Me If You Must

Lamentations 3:26 through Lamentations 3:30 (NASB)

²⁶              It is good that he waits silently

             For the salvation of the LORD.

²⁷       It is good for a man that he should bear

          The yoke in his youth.

²⁸       Let him sit alone and be silent

          Since He has laid it on him.

²⁹       Let him put his mouth in the dust,

          Perhaps there is hope.

³⁰       Let him give his cheek to the smiter,

          Let him be filled with reproach.

This particular part of the Jeremiah’s lament is very difficult to accept. It is good that the aim is “the salvation of the Lord,” which is, in this context, God’s deliverance from the mess caused by the young or the older folks who failed to amend the bad habits they pick up earlier in his or her life.

There is the possibility of personal growth and the changing of our ways, but, according to the passage, it does not come immediately. This is good to remember. If we apply it to ourselves, we might become more patient with our own imperfections. If we apply it to others, we might become more patient with theirs. Which is easier for you? Are you more patient with your shortcomings or with those of others?

The phrase, “yoke of his youth,” refers to those long-standing character flaws. They are what a past generation called “besetting sins.” Our repentance begins with sitting alone, in silence. We may feel the pressure of these flaws. Others, we love, may find them unbearable. The pressure comes from knowing that something about us, something we cannot easily change, is hurting those we love or worse hurting those who love us.

There is hope. A remedy comes by way of tasting the dust. Hope comes when we give our “cheeks to the smiter.” This is another way of saying, “Hope comes when we face the music.” Who would gladly invite his or her being “filled with reproach?” This means to invite criticism.

Lord, these are difficult word. Amen

An unrepented sin is a continued sin.

Corrie ten Boom (1892–1983)

Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement; he is a rebel who must lay down his arms . . . This process of surrender—this movement full speed astern—is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death.

C. S. Lewis (1898–1963)

If your sorrow is because of certain consequences that have come on your family because of your sin, this is remorse, not true repentance. If, on the other hand, you are grieved because you also sinned against God and his holy laws, then you are on the right road.

Billy Graham (1918– )