Year 9, Day 118: Lamentations 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Lamentations gives us what we expect.  In this book of the Bible, Jeremiah speaks about the abandonment of Jerusalem.  Here is a city that was once God’s beloved.  It now is a joke among the nations because Babylon has laid it low.  Babylon has exiled it wealthy and its useful.  Babylon has put the destitute in charge.

The fact that this book is in our Bible should speak volumes to us.  Mourning is a part of our life.  Things will go wrong.  We will experience loss.  We will be sad.  There will be times in our life when we simply don’t know joy.  God knows this.  He expects it.  He will walk with us through those moments.

Second, if we aren’t careful we can read these words and get the wrong idea.  At points in this passage it sounds like Jeremiah is blaming God for the devastation.  That is not true.  Jeremiah does understand that God is the power behind the exile, but He is not the cause of it.  God brought the exile because of the sinfulness of the people.  God would have preferred the people listen and obey so that He could have celebrated with them instead of bringing judgment upon them.

Third, we understand that human beings bring our own judgment upon ourselves.  God brought the punishment, but He brought it in response to our actions.  He brought judgment upon Jerusalem because they would not listen, they would obey, and they would not repent.

Jeremiah mourns what is lost.  But he mourns properly.  He mourns by recognizing God’s authority and righteousness.  He mourns by seeing guilt where it truly resides.  Here is a prophet modeling godly mourning for all.

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