Lamentations 5:1-22
1 Remember, O LORD, what has come upon us;
Look, and behold our reproach!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens,
And our houses to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans and waifs,
Our mothers are like widows.
4 We pay for the water we drink,
And our wood comes at a price.
5 They pursue at our heels;
We labor and have no rest.
6 We have given our hand to the Egyptians
And the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers sinned and are no more,
But we bear their iniquities.
8 Servants rule over us;
There is none to deliver us from their hand.
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives,
Because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our skin is hot as an oven,
Because of the fever of famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion,
The maidens in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hung up by their hands,
And elders were not respected.
13 Young men ground at the millstones;
Boys staggered under loads of wood.
14 The elders have ceased gathering at the gate,
And the young men from their music.
15 The joy of our heart has ceased;
Our dance has turned into mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our head.
Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our heart is faint;
Because of these things our eyes grow dim;
18 Because of Mount Zion which is desolate,
With foxes walking about on it.
19 You, O LORD, remain forever;
Your throne from generation to generation.
20 Why do You forget us forever,
And forsake us for so long a time?
21 Turn us back to You, O LORD, and we will be restored;
Renew our days as of old,
22 Unless You have utterly rejected us,
And are very angry with us!
Israel yearned for restoration. This book ends on a dismal note while yet looking for hope and restoration in a prayer of deep contrition and apparent confession of sin with repentance. They cried out through the prophet to the LORD to beg Him to consider their sorry state and hear their groanings of suffering. What God had promised as an inheritance in that promised land now was in the hands of strangers and foreigners not of God’s people. It did not seem to make sense unless they considered it was their rejection of the LORD and His word which earned them these wages of their sin (Romans 6:23). They thought back on how their trust in Him was replaced with the feeble leanings on worldly Egyptian and Assyrian might for their protection from the Babylonian invaders. That sin cost their nation and people dearly in addition to their idolatry and immortality. Their food and shelter were no longer blessings given by God and they only had the bare minimum of food which they had to scrape up in hard labor to obtain. The good old days were gone. The invaders had molested their women, young and old, and defiled them in humiliation. All respect and fair treatment to honor their elders and leaders was gone. The joy of their hearts had ceased and mourning overtook their dancing and happiness. They then admitted and confessed their sin to Him after reflecting on their sad state. It took the loss of all good things to look back to the LORD for sustenance and life. They fainted from all strength when faced with their offense against God and lost hope in the vision that once was fixed on Him. Yet they admitted His sovereign rule and eternal existence while begging to not be forgotten as the ones He once chose for His name and glory. Yes, they begged for aged to turn them back in repentance to reconcile and restore them as it once was, yet still they wondered if it was too late and they had been forever rejected for rejecting Him. This contrite heart (Psalm 34:18, 51:17, Isaiah 57:15, 66:2) is what the LORD desired and does still desire from all His people. If we confess our sins and humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord He will lift us up!
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