In The Word
Lamentations 5
A Prayer for Mercy
Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
Look, and see our reproach!
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
Our houses to aliens.
We have become orphans without a father,
Our mothers are like widows.
We have to pay for our drinking water,
Our wood comes to us at a price.
Our pursuers are at our necks;
We are worn out, there is no rest for us.
We have submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
It is we who have borne their iniquities.
Slaves rule over us;
There is no one to deliver us from their hand.
We get our bread at the risk of our lives
Because of the sword in the wilderness.
Our skin has become as hot as an oven,
Because of the burning heat of famine.
They ravished the women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.
Princes were hung by their hands;
Elders were not respected.
Young men worked at the grinding mill,
And youths stumbled under loads of wood.
Elders are gone from the gate,
Young men from their music.
The joy of our hearts has ceased;
Our dancing has been turned into mourning.
The crown has fallen from our head;
Woe to us, for we have sinned!
Because of this our heart is faint,
Because of these things our eyes are dim;
Because of Mount Zion which lies desolate,
Foxes prowl in it.
You, O Lord, rule forever;
Your throne is from generation to generation.
Why do You forget us forever?
Why do You forsake us so long?
Restore us to You, O Lord, that we may be restored;
Renew our days as of old,
Unless You have utterly rejected us
And are exceedingly angry with us.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
In this chapter, Jeremiah cried out to Yahweh for restoration. Deep down inside, he knew that Yahweh did not bring Israel to this point to leave them in ruin. There had to be more than what the eye could see. This is a wonderful place to be when we reach a point of hoping against hope. This great God loves for us to look to Him and say, “God, You are bigger than this situation.” Someone once said, “When you are flat on your back, you have nowhere to look but up.” I have participated in several death-bed conversions over the years. Stubborn people will not yield to the Lord unless they are flat on their backs with nowhere else to turn. The children of Israel had no other hope than to turn to Yahweh and to hope for the best during the Babylonian captivity. Yahweh raised up great men to answer Jeremiah’s cry for restoration. During the captivity, Daniel the prophet was given amazing revelation concerning Israel in his time and even concerning the end of the ages. We base our beliefs on the end time prophecy that Yahweh had revealed to Daniel during this time of captivity.
Through Israel’s misfortunes, we have been made the beneficiaries of being able to know God’s ways. We learn from our own mistakes, but it is much better, sometimes, to learn from someone else’s mistakes (Romans 11:1; 11-15; 17-22). The Scriptures teach that, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).