Scriptural text: Lamentations 5:1-22
“Lord, Remember Us”(Lamentations 5:1-10).
The book of Lamentations was written by the Prophet Jeremiah. The book of Lamentations is a book of sorrowful songs or poems. The name implies that the topic is expressing grief over something (to lament). Jeremiah, also known as the “weeping prophet”, writes this after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. It was written after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., Jeremiah was an eyewitness. This chapter, chapter 5, is a prayer indicated by the language in verse 1. There is a sense of desperation and urgency in these words. Of course, God has not forgotten His people. He is not oblivious of their suffering. But when God hesitates to deliver one from reproach and difficulty it often seems that he has forgotten. Jeremiah stands as a petitioner before a judge to present his case. The prophet is pleading with God to demonstrate by divine intervention that He is aware of what has happened to His people. The condition of Israel was truly pitiable (5:2). Their reproach was great. They had lost everything. Their “inheritance” (land) and their houses had been given to strangers probably as payment for aiding in the Chaldean conquest in Jerusalem. We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are widows. (5:3) With the male population practically decimated, those who remained were virtually widows and orphans. Scarce essentials (5:4) Such essentials items such as water and wood were so scarce that they had to be purchase from the captors. Painful confession (5:7) Our fathers sinned but they are dead. We have borne their iniquities. This is not a complaint but a confession. The consequences of sin are cumulative. The Jerusalemites recognize that the sins of the past have caught up with them.
The Ravaged People of Zion (Lamentations 5:11-14).
All sections of the populations had suffered immeasurably. The women of Judah had been raped (verse 11). It was unsafe for a maiden to walk the streets of Jerusalem. What few young men that survived the siege and capture of Jerusalem were forced to grind grain which was usually the work of women and slaves. Even the younger boys were compelled to serve the enemy by carrying huge loads of wood (verse 13). Elders no longer assembled to conduct their business in the gates of the city. Young men could no longer get together to make merry (verse 14).
The Crown Has Fallen (Lamentations 5:15-18).
The once joyous people were now experiencing only bitter sorrow. (5:15) Like a crown toppling from the head of a monarch, so the glory of Judah had suddenly and completely been removed. The nation experiences misery and woe because we have sinned against God.