Scripture Reading(s)
Lamentations 1:1-6
1:1 How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal.
1:2 She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies.
1:3 Judah has gone into exile with suffering and hard servitude; she lives now among the nations, and finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress.
1:4 The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to the festivals; all her gates are desolate, her priests groan; her young girls grieve, and her lot is bitter.
1:5 Her foes have become the masters, her enemies prosper, because the LORD has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe.
1:6 From daughter Zion has departed all her majesty. Her princes have become like stags that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer.
Reflections
Indwelling sin is a reason for their to be a sense of grief and mourning. This is a passages that touches on the negative impact that sin can cause in our lives.
This passage also touches on how there was once a love for Christ and it was beautiful and full of life. The nation of Israel has once been a nation that sought after God, loved and lived for Him.
Sin had entered in and corrupted the nation. There is now mourning over the punishment that they are facing.
God longs for us to follow after Him and obey His commands for our lives. This is because He loves us and wants the best in mind for us. Let us always pursue to live a life that honours Him, pursue righteousness and Glorifys Him.
Lamentations was written as a representation of grief over Judah being overtaken and exiled by the Babylonians. The cause of such events, as the author puts it, was because of the multitude of their transgressions. More than that, Judah is accused of idolatry. The author refers to it as Jerusalem’s lovers.
She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her (Lamentations 1:2)
Indeed, God had been warning Judah (and previously Israel) that their worship of other Gods would eventually be called in for a reckoning. Lamentations mourns over that reckoning.
Let us learn from the mistakes of the Israelites. Pursue the Lord and not the wealth and vanity of this world. Do not put anyone above the Lord. Moreover, love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and strength. Thank the Lord for your blessings each day and be a blessing to others.
[Featured image from www.homiletic.com]