Bitterness Turned Sweet

In Lamentations 3:15, 19, Jeremah wrote, “He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drink wormwood.” “Remember my affliction and roaming, the wormwood and the gall.” 

Why is the prophet Jeremiah experiencing such bitterness? Why is he drinking wormwood? Why is he afflicted? Why is he restless and roaming about? Why does he want the Lord to remember the wormwood and gall that he is drinking?

“The Lord said, it is because they have forsaken My Law which I set before them. They have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it.” Instead, they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals [idols], which their fathers taught them, therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.” Jeremiah 9:13-15

Jeremiah’s people had disconnected themselves from the Lord, and lived as though He didn’t exist. They falsely assumed that their Creator’s thoughts about them did not matter. Jeremiah is experiencing the same affliction and bitterness that his nation’s people are experiencing.

Gall and wormwood are very bitter. Gall was the poppy from which came the juice called opium. Morphine, codeine, and other alkaloids are extracted from opium. Wormwood was a green shrub which was used to produce very bitter medicine. Wormwood is an antiseptic and antispasmodic used to treat indigestion and fever.

Wormwood and gall were mixed in sour wine (vinegar) to give to those who were dying to numb their pain. During the crucifixion, Jesus Christ was offered a drink of vinegar mixed with gall and myrrh. He refused it, choosing rather to bear the full pain of sin’s consequences.

The judgments of God on sin in Jeremiah are reflected in the Book of Revelation. In Revelation 17:4, wormwood symbolizes abominations in the cup of Prostitute Babylon. Wormwood is the demonic brew that people drink because they have forsaken the Lord and gone their own way.

What does Jeremiah do to ease the pain of his affliction and bitterness?

In Lamentations 3:21-24, Jeremiah says, “This I recall to my mind therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him!”

Jeremiah has hope because God is merciful, compassionate and faithful. The Lord is the portion who satisfies his soul. He survives because the Lord is his helper. The Lord’s grace and love outweighs bitterness and pain.

In Lamentations 3:25-26, 28, 31-33, amidst his trials, Jeremiah declares, “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Let him sit alone and keep silent because God has laid it on him. For the Lord will not cast off forever. Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.”

In other words, don’t panic. Don’t frantically try to resolve your trials! Rest in the Lord! Wait patiently on Him! Be silent before Him! Let the Lord’s compassion and the multitude of His mercies come to you and lift you up. The Lord delights in blessing His children. When we wait on Him, He comes through for us.

In Lamentations 3:40-41, Jeremiah looks beyond himself and says to those around him, “Let us search out and examine our ways and turn back to the Lord. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven.” Yes, do it. Take stock of what you have been doing, where it has landed you, and agree that you need the Lord’s help. Like a flower that turns its face toward the sun to absorb its rays, turn to the Lord and absorb all His mercy and compassion for you.

Psalm 139:16 says, “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book, they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” So many books have been written about high achievers, whether they achieved great good or great evil, but what about us? Here, the Lord tells us that He wrote about us even before we were born. He is interested in us. He knows all about us. The Creator and Sustainer of the whole universe wrote about us and knows our story.

In Exodus 15:23-25, “Then they came to Marah, but they could not drink its waters because they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah (bitter). The people grumbled at Moses, saying, ‘What are we going to drink?’ Then he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, which he threw into the waters, and the waters became sweet.” That tree reminds me of the cross of Jesus Christ. He took on the bitterness of sin’s consequences, ensured that our sins were forgiven by God, and afterwards conquered death by resurrecting from the dead. He did not have to do this, but He wanted to turn our bitterness into sweetness. He had mercy and compassion on us.

The Lord is fully able to turn the page on whatever unpleasant experience we are going through at the moment. In Psalm 30:11-12, David testified, “You have turned my mourning into dancing for me. You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.”

The Lord does miracles! He turns mourners into dancers. He replaces the sackcloth of the repentant sinners with garments of praise. At first, we had nothing to say, but now we are singing and cannot keep silent. We are lifting our hands and giving thanks to our merciful and compassionate Savior and Redeemer. He gave us the victory once again! Praise the Lord!