 How lonely sits the city
that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. 2 She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies. 3 Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. 4 The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly. 5 Her foes have become the head; her enemies prosper, because the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe. 6 From the daughter of Zion all her majesty has departed. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer. 7 Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wandering all the precious things that were hers from days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was none to help her, her foes gloated over her; they mocked at her downfall. 8 Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore she became filthy; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns her face away. 9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future; therefore her fall is terrible; she has no comforter. “O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!” 10 The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious things; for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom you forbade to enter your congregation. 11 All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. “Look, O Lord, and see, for I am despised.” 12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger. 13 “From on high he sent fire; into my bones he made it descend; he spread a net for my feet; he turned me back; he has left me stunned, faint all the day long. 14 “My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they were set upon my neck; he caused my strength to fail; the Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot withstand. 15 “The Lord rejected all my mighty men in my midst; he summoned an assembly against me to crush my young men; the Lord has trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah. 16 “For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed.” 17 Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her; the Lord has commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should be his foes; Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them. 18 “The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word; but hear, all you peoples, and see my suffering; my young women and my young men have gone into captivity. 19 “I called to my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city, while they sought food to revive their strength. 20 “Look, O Lord, for I am in distress; my stomach churns; my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword bereaves; in the house it is like death. 21 “They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. You have brought the day you announced; now let them be as I am. 22 “Let all their evildoing come before you, and deal with them as you have dealt with me because of all my transgressions; for my groans are many, and my heart is faint.” Meditation God’s sovereign grace gives believers space to ask questions about God’s character and promises in the places of suffering, transforming “how?!” into hope through the work of Jesus. Lament is a voice of faith crying out to the Divine from a place of destitution, and the Bible gives us language for lament. “How?!” is the first word and the historic Hebrew title of the book, emphasizing the depth of Jerusalem’s devastation after the deportation of her citizens to Babylon. God had promised to use Jerusalem as a light (Isaiah 2:1-5) but their unfaithfulness left them in the dark. Jerusalem’s majesty had departed (6) in her devastation, destruction at the hands of her enemy (1-11). The mention of enemy (2, 10, 16, 21), pursuers (3, 6), and foes (5, 7, 17) emphasizes the hand of Babylon dealing fatal blows to Jerusalem while pointing beyond to the work of Christ. Lament will be our language while living in a fallen world until we look at the work of Jesus who, through His resurrection, conquered the last enemy which is death itself (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). Jerusalem’s sin was the catalyst for their suffering (8-9) as was our sin for the suffering of Jesus. Judah’s cry for help (12-22) was to move their eyes from their loss to their only hope, the Lord (3:24). When we cry from the sin and struggle of our life, our hope is in Jesus who alone understands our devastation (Hebrews 4:15) while also triumphing over the darkness. Jesus alone transforms the question of “how?” to HOPE! Richly Dwelling -Which descriptions of devastation stand out to you? How do you feel about the Bible giving language for lament in the difficulties of life? -Where do you turn during devastating times and dark days to look for hope? -Jesus defeated death and the enemies of God so through Him our hearts can hope. How can you deepen your faith in Him by crying out in lament, moving your heart from “How?!” to HOPE through His finished work? Key Verse 18 “The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word; but hear, all you peoples, and see my suffering; Comments are closed.
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