Lamentations

Lamentations 1: The righteous LORD judges Jerusalem

Begin in prayer

Before we read of Jerusalem sitting alone and weeping, please stop and come to the Lord together. Ask Him to show us that He is righteous when He judges sin, and to teach us to cry out to Him.

You are righteous, Yahweh. Your judgments are upright.

Psalm 119:137

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that You are righteous when You judge sin, and help us to cry out to You and to see Jesus. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Lamentations is a book of sad songs, written after the army of Babylon broke Jerusalem and carried her people away. In this first song the city is a woman who sits alone and weeps in the night. She has “no one to comfort her”, her friends have turned against her, and her people are in captivity. The song says plainly that the LORD has afflicted her because of her many sins. Again and again she calls out, asking Him to look and see her sorrow. At the end she says that the LORD is righteous, and that she has rebelled against His commandment.

As you read Lamentations 1, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD is righteous in His judgment of sin, and the broken may cry out to Him.

Lamentations is a set of five songs of grief, and the book does not hide how hard the fall of Jerusalem was. Jerusalem is called the daughter of Zion, which means the whole city is spoken of as one person. Here she sits like a mourner. Five times the song says she has no one to comfort her (verses 2, 9, 16, 17 and 21). The city does not blame Babylon first. She says the LORD afflicted her because of her many transgressions (verse 5). She says that the LORD is righteous and that she has rebelled, and she does not accuse God of being unfair (verse 18). Yet in her pain she keeps speaking to Him, saying “See, Yahweh” (verses 9 and 20) and “Look, Yahweh” (verse 11). Many years later Jesus drew near to this same city and wept over it (Luke 19 verse 41).

How does Lamentations 1 show us that the LORD is righteous in His judgment of sin, and that the broken may cry out to Him?

Jerusalem suffers because of her many sins.

Verse 5 says the LORD afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions. Verse 17 says He commanded that those around her would be her adversaries. Babylon's army did the work, but the song looks past the army to the LORD who sent it. This shows how seriously God takes sin.

The LORD is righteous, and Jerusalem knows it.

She says, “Yahweh is righteous”, and then she says, “for I have rebelled against his commandment” (verse 18). A righteous judge does what is right, so what He does to sin is right too. That is hard to say, and the song says it aloud. A sinner cannot stand before a righteous God alone, so we need someone to stand in our place.

Jerusalem cries to the LORD with no one else to turn to.

Verses 9, 11 and 20 each ask the LORD to look and see. She asks those who pass by as well, but she has no one to comfort her (verse 21). Jesus came near to this city and wept over it (Luke 19 verse 41). So the broken may bring their grief to Him.

Memorise

Yahweh is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment.

Lamentations 1:18

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, will I agree with God that my sin is wrong, and cry out to Jesus?

A whole city sits alone in the night. “Her tears are on her cheeks”, and she has “no one to comfort her”. She asks, “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?” Then she says, “Yahweh is righteous”.

The sorrow of Jerusalem is a sorrow for sin. Sin is rebellion against the holy God, and every person has rebelled. Long after this song, people passed by outside the same city and mocked while Jesus hung on a cross (Matthew 27 verse 39). There He bore the punishment His people deserved, and the righteous God was just in laying it on Him. Three days later He rose alive from the grave. The debt is paid in full, and no one needs to add to it.

So come to Him. Agree with God about your sin, turn from it, and put your trust in Jesus. Everyone who comes to Him is forgiven, and He will never turn that person away.

Parent's note

Tell your children that sin is rebellion against a righteous God, and that Jesus bore the punishment His people deserved. Parents, please explain verses 8 and 9 in your own words, since they speak of Jerusalem's shame and uncleanness. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that He is righteous and that the broken may cry out to Him, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

His mercy is for generations of generations on those who fear him.

Luke 1:50

Lord God, You are righteous, and Your judgments are right. Thank You that sinners may cry out to You. Please help each of us to turn from sin and trust Jesus. Teach us to say what is true about our sin and to run to You. Amen.