For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, and the particular theme, as with studies elsewhere, each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read on the main Bible page.

Passage:  Lam 5:1-10

1 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;
    look, and see our disgrace.
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
    our homes to foreigners.
3 We have become fatherless,
    our mothers are widows.
4 We must buy the water we drink;
    our wood can be had only at a price.
5 Those who pursue us are at our heels;
    we are weary and find no rest.
6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria
    to get enough bread.
7 Our ancestors sinned and are no more,
    and we bear their punishment.
8 Slaves rule over us,
    and there is no one to free us from their hands.
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives
    because of the sword in the desert.
10 Our skin is hot as an oven,
    feverish from hunger.

A. Find Out

• 1. What is his cry to the Lord? v.1
• 2. How are they under other people? v.2,5,8,9
• 3. How have they been decimated as a people? v.3
• 4. How are they suffering shortages? 4,9,10
• 5. Why had this happened? v.6,7

B. Think:

• 1. If you picked up this chapter alone, not knowing anything else about it, what picture would be conveyed?
• 2. In what ways does the writer show their plight?
• 3. What awareness does he give of the reason for it?

C. Comment:

In many ways this chapter seems a summary or synopsis of what has gone before. In this first section of it the writer calls to the Lord (v.1) to look and see the effect of His judgement and in this part he focuses on their plight as caused by foreigners.

He reminds the Lord that Israel and Jerusalem was their inheritance and (implied) it was given by the Lord. But now, this land given to God’s people has been taken away from them and given to foreigners (v.2). These aliens had come and decimated the population of Judah and Jerusalem and so now the few that are left have had whole parts of their families taken and they alone are left (v.3). The enemy still pursued them (v.5) and the land is in the hands of slaves, those under the rule of Babylon (v.8).

Economically they are in dire straights. Water now costs them (v.4) and the only wood available has to be bought. If they want bread (v.9) they have to go looking for someone in the countryside who might make it and in doing this they expose themselves to the risk of being hunted and killed. In the heat of the day, without food (v.10) they are feverish. And the reason for all this? They sinned (v.7) and had turned to Egypt and Assyria (v.6) and not the Lord for help and provision. Rejecting His help they fell to the enemy, hence their present plight.

D. Application:

• 1. Do we look to people or the Lord for our provision?
• 2. Is God our protection and security?

Passage:  Lam 5:11-18

11 Women have been violated in Zion,
    and virgins in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes have been hung up by their hands;
    elders are shown no respect.
13 Young men toil at the millstones;
    boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The elders are gone from the city gate;
    the young men have stopped their music.
15 Joy is gone from our hearts;
    our dancing has turned to mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our head.
    Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our hearts are faint,
    because of these things our eyes grow dim
18 for Mount Zion, which lies desolate,
    with jackals prowling over it.

A. Find Out

• 1. What had happened to their women? v.11
• 2. What had happened to their leaders? v.12,14a
• 3. What was the place of young men and children now? v.13,14b
• 4. How has life changed and why? v.15,16
• 5. How has that left them feeling about Jerusalem? v.17,18a
• 6. What is the closing picture of Jerusalem? v.18b

B. Think:

• 1. How does looking at people tell of the disaster?
• 2. What is their emotional state at the end of all this?
• 3. What does the final picture convey?

C. Comment:

If you go to an art shop you may find a ‘painting by numbers’ kit that enables the person with no painting skill to fill in the picture with the right colours. The writer of Lamentations is a bit like that. He fills in bit by bit the terrible picture that is Jerusalem at the time of his writing.

The earlier verses had more generally conveyed the plight of Jerusalem but here he paints in more detail. Women had been ravaged by the plundering hordes, the leaders had been summarily dealt with or just cast aside as worthless, and the generation of older men had been decimated so that only young men and children are left to scrabble for survival in the ruins. A city that once knew joy and noise is now silent and mourning. The city that once wore a crown as a city that stood out with authority and prosperity has been brought down.

Consider what those remaining now feel about Jerusalem in the twofold description: first their hearts faint. There is no strength left in them, they feel weak. But then, “our eyes grow dim for Mount Zion”. Their hopes and dreams for this once wonderful city are dashed and they wonder if there is any future. No wonder as they look at the piles of burnt stones with the wind blowing through with no resistance. It is a city left to the wild animals to have free access. The walls have gone and the people are decimated. It is now a ruined place for the wildlife!

D. Application:

• 1. Calamity should act as a warning to us.
• 2. We thus need to understand and feel the extent of the calamity.

Passage:  Lam 5:19-22

19 You, Lord, reign forever;
    your throne endures from generation to generation.
20 Why do you always forget us?
    Why do you forsake us so long?
21 Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;
    renew our days as of old
22 unless you have utterly rejected us
    and are angry with us beyond measure.

A. Find Out

• 1. What does he declare about the Lord? v.19
• 2. What two questions does he ask of the Lord? v.20
• 3. What does he ask the Lord to do? v.21a
• 4. So that what may happen? v.21b
• 5. What two things might preclude that happening? v.22

B. Think:

• 1. How does verse 19 almost come as a surprise after the previous verses?
• 2. Yet what does he obviously still believe?
• 3. What does he almost seem to push the Lord to deny?

C. Comment:

Like any good prophet, as he looks the situation in the face and sees the awfulness of it, he still declares the Lord’s sovereignty. He’s been sure of that a number of times in this book and he reiterates it now: the Lord reigns. The implication? That this is not an accident and Jerusalem is still under the Lord’s control and its future is still in His hands. It is with that in mind that he asks questions of the Lord.

Why do you seem to forget and forsake us for so long is his first question. It’s not a grumbling demand; it is the precursor to what follows. Behind his questions seems the underlying sense of him saying to the Lord, do you really want to do this?  In that he is truly prophetic for the Lord’s heart is always restoration of the remnant and the role of the prophet is to catch the Lord’s heart and reflect it back to Him.

He follows this first questioning with a request for restoration. It is first a restoration to the Lord Himself, for he knows that nothing less than this will enable Israel to return to Jerusalem. Bring us back to the relationship we had with you in days of old, is what he asks and then he adds a condition, but again it is a condition that is seeking to provoke the Lord to deny it. Lord do this he cries, that is unless you have utterly rejected us and your anger is beyond measure. He knows that the Lord has promised restoration (Jer 25:11,12), so this is a faith call!

D. Application:

• 1. In adversity can we acclaim the Lord’s sovereignty?
• 2. Can we call on the Lord in accord with His declared word?