People often find reading Lamentations to be a difficult and depressing experience. For more than five long chapters the prophet Jeremiah pours out his grief over the people of Judah—grief over their deportation to Babylon and the destruction of Jerusalem, their ancient capitol city.
In chapter four Jeremiah reflects on the extreme suffering and despair of the few survivors left remaining in Judah. They exist in a wasteland of total destruction: a hell on earth where normally kind and loving people are driven to acts of shocking desperation.
How did this happen? What caused all this devastation? Jeremiah points to the profound corruption of Judah’s prophets, priests and kings. The very leaders whom God had entrusted with his people used their positions to their own advantage, trampling on the poor and exploiting the powerless.
In their arrogance, Judah’s leaders thought they were immune to the consequences of their actions. But in the end, they, and everyone else, paid the price: their corruption. Jerusalem, along with her temple, was reduced to rubble by the conquering Babylonians.
But in the end, Babylon does get the last word. Chapter four concludes with a ray of hope—a promise that God will one day deliver his people from exile, restore them to their land and execute justice on the nations who betrayed her.
Often circumstances or even other people can be the cause of our suffering. But sometimes we can be the cause of our own pain. Either way, God has promised that our suffering will not get the last word. In fact, God has promised to deliver us from our pain and our brokenness, and often that means delivering us from ourselves.
Questions for reflection:
- Lamentations shows a prophet in deep grief for his people. What might you need to grieve over?
- Where in life have you experienced suffering? How did you experience God in that suffering? What was that like?
- Can you think of a time where you might have caused your own suffering? Where did God show up in that situation? What did you learn from that experience?