Lamentations 5 -- Never Going There Again

Jeremiah’s prayer included pronouns that were plural, indicating that he was praying not just for himself, but also for those left in the land and those in Babylonian captivity, according to my commentary.  He asked, “Remember, Lord, what happened to us.”  Of course God hadn’t forgotten.  “He and the people wanted the Lord to act on their behalf and deliver them from their painful and humiliating situation.  Jeremiah knew that the Babylonian captivity would not end for seventy years, but he still asked the Lord to be merciful to the poor people left in the land and to the exiles in Babylon.”

In verse 7, we read, “Our ancestors sinned against You, but they are gone;  now we suffer because of their sins.”  That wasn’t quite right, but in verse 16, we finally read, “How terrible it is because we sinned.”

They asked hard questions in the last verses, with the book ending on a pessimistic note:  “Why have You forgotten us for so long?  Have You left us forever?  Bring us back to You, Lord, and we will return.  Make our days as they were before, or have You completely rejected us?  Are You so angry with us?”

Just prior to those verses, though, they said, “But You rule forever, Lord.  You will be King from now on.”  My commentary said, “Though the throne of Judah was disgraced and destroyed, by faith Jeremiah and the remnant saw the living and unchanging God on His throne in heaven, and this gave them courage.  Yes, they felt forsaken and forgotten, but they knew God would return to them if they would return to Him… Without God’s presence and power, their lives could never be renewed, and they didn’t want to go back to the old ways that had caused so much trouble.”

It must have been terrible knowing that 70 years would have to pass before they could begin returning home and rebuilding their destroyed nation.  Like the Hebrews who’d left Egypt for the Promised Land, most of those living would never see those promised good times return.  That’s what sin can do.  It is blinding, binding, and grinding according to my commentary.  Give me a healthy fear of ever going there again, Father!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford