Introduction
We’re beginning a new series of sermons today on the book of Lamentations. The traditional view is that it was written by the prophet Jeremiah. However, it doesn’t actually say so in the text; and so, some scholars question whether Jeremiah wrote it. In one sense, it makes no difference to our understanding of the book whether it was written by Jeremiah or by someone else.
On Wednesday evenings we’ve been going through the psalms since 2019. And a number of psalms are lamentations in which the psalmist calls on the Lord for help because of the trouble he’s in. And that’s what the book of Lamentations is. The writer is calling on the Lord because of the trouble he’s in and because of the trouble God’s people are in. He’s bringing his sorrow to the Lord and he’s describing the suffering of God’s people. He’s expressing his sorrow and the sorrow of God’s people because of the disaster that has come upon them. And he’s looking to the Lord for help.
The fall of Jerusalem
The disaster which had come upon them was the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC. We were reading about the fall of Jerusalem last Sunday night from Jeremiah 39. We also read about the fall of Jerusalem when we were studying 2 Kings not so long ago on Sunday mornings. The fall of Jerusalem is recorded in 2 Kings 25. You can also read about it in 2 Chronicles 36.
Let me remind you of what happened by going back to 2 Kings 23 when Jehoahaz was king of the southern kingdom of Judah. The northern kingdom of Israel had already been invaded by the Assyrians and the people of Israel had been exiled. When Jehoahaz was king of Judah, the Egyptians defeated Judah and the king of Egypt made Eliakim king in place of Jehoahaz and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Judah was now subject to Egypt and had to pay tribute to the king of Egypt. However, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon then invaded Judah and Judah came under his authority and had to pay tribute to him. After Jehoiakim died, he was succeeded by his son, Jehoiachin. However, he only reigned for only three months. During his brief reign, King Nebuchadnezzar and his army laid siege to Jerusalem. Jehoiachin then surrendered to him and was taken prisoner. At that time, Nebuchadnezzar removed all the treasures from the temple and from the royal palace and he took away all the gold articles that Solomon had made for the temple and for the worship of the Lord. And as well as taking these treasures and articles, Nebuchadnezzar also took away all the officers and fighting men; and all the craftsmen and artisans. Only the poorest people were left. In other words, he took away the best of them.
Nebuchadnezzar then appointed Zedekiah as king. But Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. And so, Nebuchadnezzar marched against Jerusalem again and laid siege to it. This siege began in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign and it went on until the eleventh year. By that stage there was a famine in the city. The king and his army then fled, but they were captured by the Babylonians. The palace and the temple and most of the houses in the city were burned and destroyed. They also broke down the walls of the city and carried into exile most of the people who were left, although the very poorest people were left behind. The Babylonians also broke up the bronze pillars which stood at the entrance to the temple; and they broke up the furniture and other items which were once used for the worship of the Lord. They also executed the chief priest and various other officials. And King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah to oversee those who were left on his behalf. He was assassinated and the people who were left fled to Egypt for fear of the Babylonians.
When we were studying 2 Kings 25, I said that, at the beginning of 1 Kings, Solomon was king. God had given him wisdom and wealth and God enabled him to build a magnificent temple and palace. The temple was like heaven on earth. And the people lived in peace and prosperity. And people from faraway nations came, not to attack Solomon, but to honour him and to pay tribute to him. But now, it was all in ruins. It was all in ruins. And our writer turns to the Lord and laments before the Lord because of what had happened to Jerusalem. He pours out his heart in sorrow and sadness and he looks to the Lord for help.
Acrostic poems
If you glance over the five chapters which make up the book of Lamentations, you’ll see that chapters 1 and 2 and 4 all have 22 verses. Each of these three chapters is what is known as an acrostic poem. That means that each verse in each poem begins with each successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. So, the first verse begins with Aleph, which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; and the second verse begins with Beth, which is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet; and so on. Chapter 3 is also an acrostic poem, but it’s longer because each of the first three verses begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; and each of the the next three lines begin with the second letter and so on. And so, chapter 3 contains 66 verses which is 22 times 3. And since it’s different from the surrounding chapters, then it stands out. Chapter 5 is also a poem with 22 verses. But it’s not an acrostic. And that means that it also stands out as different from the others. We’ll get to the significance of those two chapters when we study them.
But what’s the point of having these acrostic poems? Some scholars suggest it was a way to help memorisation. So, if you knew which letter each verse began with, it would help you recall it. However, other scholars suggest that the acrostic was a way to express your suffering and grief in an orderly way. Instead of just pouring it out on the page, the writer was being thoughtful about it and he was making sure that he said everything he wanted to say and needed to say without leaving anything out. When someone has been bereaved, for instance, they often tell the same story over and over again to different people about the events leading up to the death of their loved one. And each part of the story is important to them and has significance and they don’t want to leave any of it out in the re-telling. That’s perhaps what’s going on here. The writer is saying everything he needs to say about his suffering and the suffering of God’s people.
Overview of chapter 1
As we turn now to chapter 1, let me point out that it’s divided into two parts: verses 1 to 11 and verses 12 to 22. In the first part, the writer personifies Jerusalem. That is to say, he writes about Jerusalem as if Jerusalem was a woman. And he refers to Jerusalem in the third person. He refers to ‘she’ and ‘her’. And in the second part, Jerusalem herself begins to speak. So, the writer is once again personifying Jerusalem and he’s depicting her as speaking. She, Jerusalem, is describing her suffering.
And there’s one thought which is repeated five times throughout the chapter. Take a look at verse 2 where it says: ‘there is none to comfort her’. Now look at verse 9: ‘there was none to comfort her’. And verse 16: ‘No-one is near to comfort me.’ And verse 17: ‘there is no-one to comfort her’. And verse 21: ‘there is no-one to comfort me’. Disaster has fallen on Jerusalem. Trouble and sorrow have overwhelmed the city. She is grieving. She is in mourning. And it seems there is no-one to comfort her.
And so, the writer laments on behalf of Jerusalem and he calls on the Lord. And though we won’t get there immediately, we will eventually get to chapter 3 where the writer says that when he was overwhelmed with sorrow and trouble, he remembered something which gave him hope. He remembered the Lord’s great love and his compassions which never fail, but which are new every morning. He remembered the Lord’s faithfulness. He remembered his God. And it gave him the hope he needed to keep going. And so, there was someone near to comfort him and it’s the Lord. And perhaps you sometimes feel friendless. Perhaps you sometimes feel there’s no one to help you and you’re all on your own with your suffering. But there is someone who is near and it’s the Lord whose love for his people is very great and whose compassions are new every morning.
Verses 1 to 6
Having said all that by way of introduction, let’s turn to verses 1 to 6 where the writer begins to pour out his lament to the Lord.
It begins with the word ‘How’. And the Hebrew word is a word for expressing shock. It is a gasp of disbelief. It’s mean: can you believe it? Can you believe what has happened to Jerusalem? The city that was once so full of people is now deserted. The city that was once great among the nations is now all alone like a widow. The city that was once like a queen, with authority over all the provinces, has now become like a slave with someone else ruling over her.
The writer depicts Jerusalem as a woman, weeping at night. Among all her lovers, there is none to comfort her. And all her friends have betrayed her. In fact, her former friends have become her enemies. When the writer refers to her lovers and friends, he’s perhaps thinking of the way God’s people were often unfaithful to him and they went after other gods the way an unfaithful man might go after other women. So, instead of forsaking all other gods and committing themselves to the Lord, the people worshipped and served false gods. It’s possible he’s also thinking of the pagan nations. So, instead of relying on the Lord to deliver them from trouble, the people often turned to the pagan nations for help. However, those false gods and those pagan nations are no help to them now. They provide no comfort to the people of Jerusalem.
In verse 3 he mentions Jerusalem’s affliction and hard labour which recalls their experience in Egypt before the Exodus in the days of Moses. And so, it’s as if the clock has been turned back hundreds of years and they’re back to the way they began in slavery. And he says that she has gone into exile. He means the people of Jerusalem have gone into exile and they now dwell among the nations. The Promised Land was to be their place of rest, where they could settle down and enjoy peace and prosperity. But they have been taken from their place of rest. All who pursue her have overtaken her. Their enemies have gone through the land and they have chased after and captured and enslaved the people.
In verse 4 he refers to Zion, which was the name of the mountain on which Jerusalem was built. It was God’s holy hill, the place where he dwelt among his people. In the past, the roads to Zion were filled with happy people who were making their way up to Zion to worship the Lord. But now it’s as if the roads mourn, because there is no one on them. They are deserted. And so, Jerusalem’s gates are desolate, because no one is gathering there or coming to the city. The priests groan and the young women grieve, when once they laughed, and the city is like a woman in bitter anguish.
Her foes have become her masters. Imagine if your worst enemy became your boss at work. Every day he or she would make your life miserable. That’s what had happened to Jerusalem. He says that Jerusalem’s enemies are at ease and that’s because Jerusalem has been overcome totally.
And look now at the middle of verse 5, where the writer tells us that the Lord is the one who has brought Jerusalem grief. And he has brought her grief, because of her many sins. And so, Jerusalem has been destroyed, not so much because of the power of Babylon, but because of the power of the Lord who has afflicted the people of Jerusalem because of their many sins. Back in the days of Moses, when God made his covenant with the people, he promised to fill their lives with good things if they obeyed him. But he had warned them that he would bring trouble on them if they disobeyed him. And they turned from the Lord and did evil. Again and again throughout their history, he sent his prophets to remind them of his will and to call on them to repent, but they did not listen. And so, because of their great wickedness, he sent the Babylonians to punish them for their sin. And so, it was the Lord who brought her grief. And he brought her grief because of her many sins. And as a result of their disobedience, her children have gone into exile, having been taken captive by their foe.
And so, all the splendour of Jerusalem has departed. Her glory has gone. Her princes, or her leaders, are like deer that find no pasture. So, if a deer finds no pasture, it grows weak from hunger, doesn’t it? And the leaders of Jerusalem were weak. They weren’t able to stand up to their enemies and they had to flee.
Verses 7 to 11
The writer continues to lament before the Lord in verses 7 to 11. In the days of her affliction and wandering, which the Lord has brought on her, Jerusalem remembers the treasures which she once possessed. Think of the days of Solomon when people came from far away nations and they were staggered by Solomon’s wealth. But all her treasures have been taken away. The palace and temple have been ransacked. And when she fell into enemy hands, there was no-one to help her. In other words, the other nations did not help her. And her enemies looked at her and laughed at her destruction. They were not moved to pity her. They did not show her compassion. They only laughed at her suffering.
And in verse 8 the writer once again makes clear that this trouble has befallen Jerusalem because the people had sinned greatly. So, Jerusalem had become like a woman who was unclean in the sight of God. All who once honoured him now despise her, because they have seen her nakedness. That is, Jerusalem had been humiliated in their sight. And so, Jerusalem groans and turns away. She turns away, because her former allies are offering no help.
It says in verse 9 that her filthiness clung to her skirt and she did not consider her future. It’s not clear what the writer means. It’s possible we’re to take her future in a positive light. So, she did not consider the great future which God had in store for her if only she had remained faithful and obedient. And so, she gave up her great future by disobeying him. Or it could be taken in a negative light. So, she did not consider the judgment she would face in the future for not obeying the Lord. In any case, he’s saying that she’s become unclean in God’s sight and she hasn’t done anything to wash away her guilt. And her fall is astounding. And there was none to comfort her. None of her former allies will comfort her. None of the false gods she once trusted can comfort her. There’s no-one.
Or perhaps there is someone? Perhaps there is someone who can comfort her? Perhaps the Lord will comfort her? And so, in verse 9 the writer pictures Jerusalem praying to the Lord, asking him to look on her affliction, because her enemy has triumphed over her. And notice that she’s using God’s special covenant name which appears in our English Bibles as LORD in capital letters. God’s special covenant name speaks of God’s commitment to his people, because he has bound himself to his people with a promise to be their God and to deliver them from their sin and misery. And so, if anyone will comfort Jerusalem, if anyone will help her, it’s the Lord, because he has committed himself to his people with an oath. And, in a sense, the whole of the book of Lamentations is a prayer to the Lord. The writer is appealing to the Lord. He’s going before the Lord and he’s describing their trouble and their sorrow in the hope that the Lord will see and will pity them and will come to their help.
The writer laments in verse 10 that their enemy had taken Jerusalem’s treasures and the pagan nations had entered the sanctuary of the Lord. So, pagans nations entered God’s holy temple. They had desecrated his holy place.
And the people of Jerusalem groan because of their hunger. They barter for food. And the certainly happened during the long siege of Jerusalem. And right at the end of verse 11, the writer depicts Jerusalem asking the Lord to look and to consider what has happened, because Jerusalem is despised. She’s forsaken. She’s been destroyed. She’s been ransacked. And God’s holy temple has been defiled. The writer depicts Jerusalem as a suffering and sorrowful woman, appealing to the Lord for help.
Verses 12 to 16
And Jerusalem continues to speak from verse 12 onwards apart from a brief interlude in verse 17. But in verse 12 she asks: ‘Is it nothing to you?’ She’s perhaps complaining that those who see her suffering are heartless. They’re indifferent. And she wants them to understand that no one has suffered as she has suffered. And her suffering is because of God’s fierce anger. And so, from on high, or from heaven, God sent fire into her bones. In other words, the whole of the city has been wrecked because of God’s fierce anger. She says that God spread a net for her feet and she was not able to turn back or escape. In other words, the people have been taken captive. And they are desolate and faint.
Jerusalem says that her sins have been bound into a yoke. In other words, the punishment God has inflicted on them is a like a heavy yoke. It’s a burden they’re suffering and their strength has gone. And God has handed them over to their enemies.
God has rejected Jerusalem’s warriors. So, he’s working against them. And he’s summoned an enemy army against them to crush their young men. And the Lord has trampled Jerusalem in a winepress. He means that God has crushed them.
And so, this is why Jerusalem weeps. This is why her eyes overflow with tears. And there is no-one to comfort her and there is no-one to restore or revive her spirit. Jerusalem refers to her inhabitants as her children. And she says about them that they are destitute because the enemy has prevailed. And so, Jerusalem weeps. She weeps and there’s no one to comfort her.
Verse 17
In verse 17 the writer speaks again and he agrees with Jerusalem that there is no-one to comfort her. He says that the Lord has decreed for his people that the neighbouring nations become their foes. So, God has turned the nations against his people. And Jerusalem has become unclean in their sight. And that means the nations want nothing to do with her. They have forsaken her. They will not help her or comfort her. She’s on her own.
Verses 18 to 22
And now, in verse 18, Jerusalem begins to speak again. And what does she say? She says that the Lord is righteous. In other words, the Lord is right. He is right to treat Jerusalem this way. We might expect Jerusalem to complain that God has mistreated her and she doesn’t deserve this suffering and it’s wrong of God to treat her this badly and to bring this suffering on her. But that’s not what she does. Instead she says that the Lord is righteous. He’s right. He’s done what’s right. It was right for him to treat Jerusalem like this because the people of Jerusalem had rebelled against his command. So, she’s saying: Yes, I’m suffering. Yes, the young men and women have gone into exile. But we deserve it. We deserve it, because we rebelled against the Lord’s commands. We went astray. He sent us prophet to teach us his will and to call on us to repent, but we did not listen. And therefore the Lord was right to punish us, because we have done wrong.
She says in verse 19 that her former allies have betrayed her. Her priests and elders have perished because of hunger. She says that she’s in distress and in torment and her heart is disturbed within her. But again, she confesses that it’s because she has been rebellious. And so, because of her rebellion, the sword and death have come on her.
In verse 21 she says that people have heard her groaning, but there is no-one to comfort her. Her enemies have heard what has happened to her and they have rejoiced because of what God has done to her. And at the end of verse 21, where she says, ‘May you bring the day you have announced’, she asking the Lord to punish her enemies for what they have done to her. Yes, the Lord sent the Babylonians against her, but the Babylonians also deserve to be punished for their cruelty towards the people of Jerusalem. And so, she’s saying to God: deal with them as you have dealt with me. Do not let them get away with their wickedness, but repay them. And once again, in verse 22, she confesses her sins. And she concludes by saying that her groans are many and her heart is faint.
Application 1
That’s the chapter and the first poem of the book of Lamentations. What lessons can we learn? The first lesson is that lamentation is permissible. God did not make us blocks of wood that feel nothing. No, God made us flesh and blood with a heart that feels; and which feels, not only happiness, but also sorrow and sadness and pain and suffering.
Years ago I read a book with the title, Why Do Christians Find It Hard To Grieve? The author felt compelled to write this book because he was aware of many Christians who thought that it was wrong for believers to grieve. He quoted one person who said that if she were a real Christian, she would not get so upset. Some believers think that since we believe in the hope of the resurrection and of eternal life in the presence of God, then it’s wrong to feel sorrow for a believer who has died, because that believer has gone home to glory. And so, we should rejoice a not mourn. And so, the author wrote the book to teach us that death is our enemy and it snatches our loved ones from us and it’s appropriate for us to grieve and to be sorrowful and to weep.
And here’s Jeremiah, or whoever the writer is, and he’s grieving before the Lord. He’s lamenting the suffering of God’s people. He’s going to the Lord and pouring out his sorrow and sadness because of what has happened to the people of Jerusalem. And since this book is part of Holy Scripture, since it was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, then that means God is teaching us that God’s people can weep, God’s people can grieve, God’s people do feel sorrowful. And more than that, we can bring our cares and concerns and our sorrow and sadness to the Lord. We can pour out our sorrow to him and we mustn’t feel that we need to hide it or deny it.
Application 2
But then, we also learn from this chapter that Job’s suffering is not the only kind of suffering in the world.
The suffering we see in the book of Job is the suffering of an innocent man who had done no wrong. Job’s three friends were sure that Job must have done something wrong and that he deserved what had happened to him. But the reader knows from the opening of Job that Job was blameless and upright, a man who feared God and shunned evil. We know that he was suffering, not because he had done evil, but because he was good and the devil was attacking him. And so, we can’t say thay everyone who suffers deserves to suffer. We can’t say that, because there may be some other reason for our suffering.
However, not all suffering in the world is the suffering of an innocent man. Sometimes people suffer because they have done wrong. They suffering because their have sinned. That’s the suffering we read about in Lamentations 1.
The people of Jerusalem suffered because they refused to turn from their wickedness and return to the Lord. And because they did not turn from their wickedness, the Lord sent this trouble on them. If they had confessed their sin and turned from it, offering the right sacrifices, and asking for forgiveness, God would have forgiven them. But because they continued in their sin, and would not turn from it, God eventually sent the Babylonians against them.
And the Lord treats his believing people in a similar way today. When we sin, we’re meant to confess it and turn from it. And when we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. However, if we continue in our sin, without confessing it or turning from it, God may well punish us in this life. But when he punishes his believing people in this life, it’s not because he hates us, but it’s because he loves us and needs to discipline us so that we will return to him. Just as parents will discipline a wayward child, so the Lord disciplines his wayward children.
And so, because of God’s love for his people, he may well discipline us when we go astray. And that means that, whenever we suffer, we should ask ourselves whether we have been sinning against the Lord. Have we wandered from him? Have we gone astray? Might he be disciplining us because we are sinning against him?
It may be that we have not sinned and our suffering is the kind of suffering which Job suffered. But it may be the case that we’re suffering because we have turned from the Lord and become disobedient. And if that’s the case, then the thing to do is to confess it and to turn from it and to ask the Lord to forgive you.
And, before moving on, let’s also remember and rejoice that because Christ was punished in our place, God will not punish his people in the life to come. Though God may discipline us in this life when we sin and don’t turn from it, he will never ever punish us in the life to come. For those who are in Christ, there is no condemnation, because Christ has paid for our sins with his life in full. Through faith in him we are justified: pardoned and accepted. And so, we need not fear the day of judgment, because we know that, because we’re united with Christ by faith, we will not be condemned, but acquitted and brought into the presence of God to enjoy perfect peace and rest for ever.
Application 3
And the final lesson is this. God inspired the writer of Lamentations to lament before the Lord and to pray for God’s people. That’s what the whole of chapter 1 is, isn’t it? It’s a prayer to God. It’s an appeal to him. We can imagine Jeremiah, or whoever it was, bowing before the Lord and pouring out these words to him and interceding to the Lord on behalf of his people. ‘Look, O Lord, on my affliction.’ ‘Look, O Lord, and consider, for I am despised.’ ‘See, O Lord, how distressed I am!’ He’s speaking on behalf of the people of Jerusalem and he’s appealing to God for help.
And that’s what the Lord Jesus is doing for us right now in heaven, where he appears before the Father on our behalf to intercede for us. After he gave up his life to pay for our sins, he was raised from the dead and he was exalted to heaven where he continually represents us before the Father in heaven. And he brings before the Father all our cares and concerns and needs and he asks the Father to help us. And because he was made like us in every way, apart from sin, he knows what it’s like for us to suffer and to grieve. And he’s able to go to the Father on our behalf and appeal to him for us.
And because the Father loves his Son, he’ll answer his prayers and he’ll send you the help you need, which is why, when you’ve suffered in the past, when you’ve been knocked down, when you’ve been in despair, you have not been crushed. You have not been crushed, because Christ the Saviour has been praying for you that your faith will not fail. He gives you the strength to keep going. And he will continue to uphold you and to help you and to send you the relief you need. And then, when he comes again, he’ll bring you into the new and better world to come and he’ll wipe the tears from your eyes and he’ll take away all your sorrow for ever and he’ll give you everlasting happiness in his presence for ever.
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