reasons to lament

How lonely sits the city

that was full of people!

How like a widow has she become,

she who was great among the nations!

She who was a princess among the provinces

has become a slave.

Lamentations 1:1

Three themes emerge quickly from the opening verse of the book of Lamentations. They set the tone for what Jeremiah laments as he processes the pain of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. They show us now seasons in which God’s people should also voice complaint and sadness, turning to God for perspective in crisis, hardship, loss, and personal pain.

THEME ONE: From full to empty — the lonely city. How interesting it is that emptiness and loneliness are the minor key opening lyrics to this song of sadness. Nothing evokes more emptiness than city blocks abandoned in rubble. It is a picture of decimation. And Jerusalem had been ransacked. By the time Babylon came in, the strongest warriors were dead, the brightest minds were taken captive to exile, and the people who were left in the ruins were too feeble to make the forced march to Babylon. And that imagery moans mournfully in all the lonely today! Loneliness is the worst. Personally, it feels like every day, one is walking through the carcass of an empty city where once life thrived. All around is the death of so much… so much potential, now dead… so much vibrancy, now lost… so many memories of social interaction… all gone… all alone.

THEME TWO: From married to widowed — lost prosperity. Jeremiah grieves the fact that, in judgment, God has widowed Jerusalem. Widows were the poorest of the poorest, reliant completely upon family and charity. And in an empty city, a widow stood no chance of survival. Her life’s love? Gone. Her provider? Gone. Her position? None. There is no greater earthly grief even today than the loss of one’s spouse. Consolation comes slowly, but never fills the void left behind. Emotional and relational bankruptcy are the result. A soul is left begging for something… anything… that helps.

THEME THREE: From princess to slave girl — loss of respect. One horrible outcome of grief is the way in which other people often have no words to give the grieving, struggling to find a way to relate. Jerusalem, once the royal city, is a smoldering ruin. What could be said to try encourage survivors used to prestige, but now worse than slaves? And slave girls tended to be used for one thing — forced prostitution… the souls of the grieving can feel like they are trafficked from vain hope to vain hope… looking for any love, support, or help. Taking what they can get, then forgotten. The grieving can feel used sometimes. For Jerusalem, there was nothing left to respect. God had leveled it all, so that He could become everything to His people again. No pride can stand in lament then… just humble acceptance… low position… eyes off of what people can do since they cannot satisfy like God does. Thus looking up from the bottom of the soul, the grieving person looks heavenward where hope can be found. God can make a slave-girl a princess again.