Lamentations 1-2 All Moan And No Apology

These are hard chapters to read.  God had warned Israel from the beginning of exactly what would happen if they failed to obey.  Now it has come to pass.

God tells them that their sins have brought them to this point.  Yet all the people can say is that God withdrew His protection from them.  The closest they’ve come in these chapters to agreeing with God is in 1:14 – “He has noticed my sins; they are tied together by His hands; they hang around my neck.”  God is making them acknowledge that their sins and not His punishment are the root cause of their distress.

I also saw, “My heart is troubled, because I have been so stubborn.”  Yet the repentance is not there.

Father, I think of our nation as I read this.  We are in dire straits and we don’t want to admit that our sins have put us there.  And even if we acknowledge our sins, there’s no movement towards repentance.  Father, grant us leaders who will shepherd us back to You rather than pulling us farther away.  Enable us to experience true repentance as a nation.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford