Put on Sackcloth! Lament!
Opening Prayer
O Lord, always divert my attention to You, the solution of the problem, rather than to the problem itself.
Read Joel 1:13–20
13 Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 Alas for that day!
For the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
16 Has not the food been cut off
before our very eyes—
joy and gladness
from the house of our God?
17 The seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods.
The storehouses are in ruins,
the granaries have been broken down,
for the grain has dried up.
18 How the cattle moan!
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
19 To you, Lord, I call,
for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the wild animals pant for you;
the streams of water have dried up
and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
“When all your face is dark, and your just angers rise, from you I turn to you, and find love in your eyes” (Israel Abrahams, 1858–1925).
If yesterday’s reading was largely descriptive, today’s reading erupts with a string of imperatives. Put on sackcloth! Lament! Wail! Come, spend the night in sackcloth! Sanctify a fast! Call an assembly! Gather elders and people and cry out to the Lord!
The prophet tells priests or ministers to call on all the people of Judah to raise a prayer of lament to God. It is unclear whether Joel calls for a response to what has already happened or to what is about to happen. Nor does Joel yet say that turning to God will turn away the disaster. When trouble comes, we generally turn to the Lord, even if only to complain.
Joel points out multiple causes of calamity. There is drought, crop failure, food shortage and wildfire. All of these may be related to the locust plague. The damage inflicted by locusts would resemble that caused by a raging fire. Yet fire is often associated with the presence of God, and Joel accordingly perceives all of the devastations he describes as the work of God. Ultimately, the day of the Lord is coming and that demands a response.
Three aspects strike me. First, Joel suffers with his people. He experiences the disaster with everyone else. His is not a word from the righteous to the unrighteous but rather one from prophet to fellow Israelite, whose plight and predicament Joel shares. Second, Joel’s connection with the land is such that he personally feels the effect of the destruction on Israel’s fields, flocks, trees and watercourses. Third, in any distress brought on by God (presumably because of the people’s sins), Joel advocates turning to God. If God is behind the trouble, then God can provide the relief.
Apply
Have you ever offered a lament to God in prayer? Do you turn to God in times of trouble? Do you forsake God in times of ease?
Closing prayer
Lord, help me to understand cause and effect. Help me to see the link between straying from Your will and enduring negative fallout.
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