1 How lonely sits the city
That was full of people!
She has become like a widow
Who was once great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the [a]provinces
Has become a forced laborer!
2 She weeps bitterly in the night
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has none to comfort her
Among all her lovers.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into exile [b]under affliction
And [c]under [d]harsh servitude;
She dwells among the nations,
But she has found no rest;
All her pursuers have overtaken her
In the midst of [e]distress.
4 The roads [f]of Zion are in mourning
Because no one comes to the appointed feasts.
All her gates are desolate;
Her priests are groaning,
Her virgins are afflicted,
And she herself [g]is bitter.
5 Her adversaries have become [h]her masters,
Her enemies [i]prosper;
For the Lord has caused her grief
Because of the multitude of her transgressions;
Her little ones have gone away
As captives before the adversary.
6 All her majesty
Has departed from the daughter of Zion;
Her princes have become like deer
That have found no pasture;
And they have [j]fled without strength
Before the pursuer.
7 In the days of her affliction and homelessness
Jerusalem remembers all her precious things
That were from the days of old,
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary
And no one helped her.
The adversaries saw her,
They mocked at her [k]ruin.
8 Jerusalem sinned greatly,
Therefore she has become an unclean thing.
All who honored her despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness;
Even she herself groans and turns away.
9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
She [l]did not consider her future.
Therefore she has [m]fallen astonishingly;
She has no comforter.
“See, O Lord, my affliction,
For the enemy has magnified himself!”
10 The adversary has stretched out his hand
Over all her precious things,
For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary,
The ones whom You commanded
That they should not enter into Your congregation.
11 All her people groan seeking bread;
They have given their precious things for food
To restore their [n]lives themselves.
“See, O Lord, and look,
For I am despised.”
So begins Jeremiah’s first funeral/mourning song for Jerusalem, Judah, and all his people–including those fallen, exiled, or even left behind and despised (v. 11). Of course we don’t see it in English, but this song or poem is in acrostic form, each verse beginning with a letter from the Hebrew alphabet. Judah’s “lovers” or gods have abandoned her, those foreign nations (like Egypt) from whence she sought aid became enemies (v. 3) and she is forsaken.
It’s not a very hopeful thing, nor should it be, as it represents the judgment of God for their many sins. It is the sorrow of a nation bereft of comfort, and filled with groaning, affliction, and bitterness (v. 4). Yet afterward they would read these laments every year, to remind them of their folly (or that of their ancestors), so that they might not repeat the sins of the past.
Though we read these seldom, and I don’t recall ever hearing a sermon on Lamentations, we would do well to remember them. Though the people of Israel received earthly punishment for their sins, Paul reminds us that the “wages of sin is death”, which is even worse. Naturally, we will all die at some point, but the spiritual separation from God, that results from our sin, is far worse as it lasts for eternity.
That is not something to be wished on your worst enemy, and thus God also does not desire that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). As Jesus told Nicodemus, for this reason did God send His Son into the world, giving Him in our place to bear the punishment of our sins. For sinless are none, and our sins plunge us into darkness that only the Light can vanquish.
So yes, remember the people of Israel and Judah, remember their sorrow and pain that it be not yours also. Put your trust in God and His Son Jesus, who did not despise us. Rather, He bore our shame and affliction gladly, so that we could be restored to the Father. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Seek Him while He may be found.” (55:6)