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.
2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
she has none to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into exile because of affliction
and hard servitude;
she dwells now among the nations,
but finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
for none come to the festival;
all her gates are desolate;
her priests groan;
her virgins have been afflicted,
and she herself suffers bitterly.
5 Her foes have become the head;
her enemies prosper,
because the Lord has afflicted her
for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
6 From the daughter of Zion
all her majesty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembers
in the days of her affliction and wandering
all the precious things
that were hers from days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
and there was none to help her,
her foes gloated over her;
they mocked at her downfall.
8 Jerusalem sinned grievously;
therefore she became filthy;
all who honored her despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans
and turns her face away.
9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she took no thought of her future;
therefore her fall is terrible;
she has no comforter.
“O Lord, behold my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed!”
10 The enemy has stretched out his hands
over all her precious things;
for she has seen the nations
enter her sanctuary,
those whom you forbade
to enter your congregation.
11 All her people groan
as they search for bread;
they trade their treasures for food
to revive their strength.
“Look, O Lord, and see,
for I am despised.”
12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which the Lord inflicted
on the day of his fierce anger.
13 “From on high he sent fire;
into my bones he made it descend;
he spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
he has left me stunned,
faint all the day long.
14 “My transgressions were bound into a yoke;
by his hand they were fastened together;
they were set upon my neck;
he caused my strength to fail;
the Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.
15 “The Lord rejected
all my mighty men in my midst;
he summoned an assembly against me
to crush my young men;
the Lord has trodden as in a winepress
the virgin daughter of Judah.
16 “For these things I weep;
my eyes flow with tears;
for a comforter is far from me,
one to revive my spirit;
my children are desolate,
for the enemy has prevailed.”
17 Zion stretches out her hands,
but there is none to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.
18 “The Lord is in the right,
for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
my young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.
19 “I called to my lovers,
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city,
while they sought food
to revive their strength.
20 “Look, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.
21 “They heard my groaning,
yet there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
they are glad that you have done it.
You have brought the day you announced;
now let them be as I am.
22 “Let all their evildoing come before you,
and deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for my groans are many,
and my heart is faint.” Lamentations 1 ESV
Lamentations 1 How Lonely
“As oft as I read the Lamentations of Jeremiah, saith Gregory Nazianzen, my voice faileth me, and I am overwhelmed with tears. The misery of that poor people cometh under my view, as it were, and my heart is therewith very much affected and afflicted.” (John Trapp)
We have here the first alphabet of this lamentation, twenty-two stanzas, in which the miseries of Jerusalem are bitterly bewailed and her present deplorable condition is aggravated by comparing it with her former prosperous state; all along, sin is acknowledged and complained of as the procuring cause of all these miseries; and God is appealed to for justice against their enemies and applied to for compassion towards them. The chapter is all of a piece, and the several remonstrances are interwoven; but here is, I. A complaint made to God of their calamities, and his compassionate consideration desired. - Matthew Henry
1-11. How lonely sits the city that was full of people - Their is an overriding hum, bustle, a noise of many voices, carts, markets, doors opening and closing, cause to raise one's voice to be heard above it all, but that is now missing in Jerusalem. The smells of food carts, fresh flat bread, roasted meats, and the sights of fruit stands, potters, of all the trades, but a memory of better days gone by. Jeremiah writes it like the poet of Psalms 119.
Lamentations is a remarkable written work, because the first four of the five poems are written as acrostics. The twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet are used in succession to begin the lines and sections of those songs.
“The use of the alphabet symbolizes that the completeness—‘the A to Z’—of grief is being expressed.” (H.L. Ellison)
Has become a slave - Sin is a hard master. It was not sin that brought her out of Egypt, but it was that which beckoned her return.
…16Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.… Romans 6: 16-18
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her - When she was in her prime she was courted by other nations. Remember the era of Solomon, kings and queens came from far and wide to hear his wisdom, but they forgot that all this comes from God, and when they were strained they sought out alliances with those they were to be separate from. They worshiped the idols of other nations, were reduced to buying help from Assyria, then looking to Egypt where they were told, do not return. When Israel needed a friend, those closest in relation, like Edom and Moab, they turned their backs or helped her enemies. She forsook the God Who established her and blessed her with the greatest knowledge ever to be had, unattainable by purely human efforts.
…30For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation. 31The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here. 32The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.… Luke 11: 30-32
None come to the festival - This is more tragic than someone in our time can fathom without really digging in. She was the place of true religion, but not all knew that, and those that lived there ignored it for false teachers. Yet, even in the taking for granted, is the notion of celebration. They loved their feasts. When I was young we loved the Halloween for the free candy, Christmas for the gifts and food. Even those that did not understand the magnitude of Passover or the feast of Booths, what these things represented, yet still had this comradery. Look at the life of Jesus, his earthly parents traveled with groups of other people to the festival, and when he was twelve, as all other Jewish boys, they celebrated his entry to manhood. What a light the festivals would be in the mouth of one who went in earnest, knowing the true God, teaching their children and explaining to the stranger, but the road is empty, the way is desolate.
For the multitude of her transgressions - Why is it hard to come close to God, to believe, to love Him? Because we are born dead in our trespasses and sin, yet all of us think much too highly of ourselves and little of our sin. What is left for a just God when we cling to that thing which He is set upon destroying? Now she is ruled by her enemies as she was ruled by her sin; it has been given charge over her.
…24Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen. 26For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.… Romans 1: 24-26
They fled without strength - This is probably a reference to Zedekiah's attempted escape during the siege and final breech.
…4Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah, 5but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was separated from him. 6The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him.… 2 Kings 25: 4-6
She herself groans - She can see her own filth now, and that the words of Jeremiah were true, but here he mourns for the home that treated him as far less than a citizen, less than they were instructed to treat the sojourner. Oh that such pain would lead to mourning of that very thing that caused it, to look inside oneself this time and say, "in my flesh there is no good thing, my heart is truly deceitful above all. Who can save me from this body of death?"
She has seen the nations enter the sanctuary - That place that was supposed to be for those set apart, like the bed chamber, the sacred has been defiled, first in her own heart, now by those who saw her immodesty, yet did not learn how to fear.
“Now those very foreigners who had been prohibited from entering the congregation of the Israelites were polluting the sacred house in the most wanton manner.” (Harrison)
They trade their treasures for food - What good is gold when there is no bread?
5And when the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” Then I looked and saw a black horse, and its rider held in his hand a pair of scales. 6And I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine.” 7And when the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”… Revelation 6: 5-7
12-22. If there is any sorrow like my sorrow - It is difficult when we go through various trials, and for Jeremiah it is three fold. He was the one sent to warn them, was abused by them, but it was his city, and now all the things he said are come to pass, yet it was his family, countrymen and friends that fell. He saw it before it happened, was laughed at in the telling, and is living through it with them. She laments as well, for all her dreams are shattered.
“The desolations and distress brought upon this city and its inhabitants had scarcely any parallel. Excessive abuse of God’s accumulated mercies calls for singular and exemplary punishment.” (Clarke)
Into my bones He made it descend - Nothing happens outside of God's sovereignty. This punishment at the hands of wicked men is from God, His wrath against Judah's wickedness. That which Jeremiah anguished over telling, tried to hold in, but could not, that which he knew and felt, so now do they. The tears he cried for her now roll down her face, and this burning in the bosom, oh the lament, we knew that God hated sin, we saw what He had done in answer to it before, and yet we listened to those deceitful prophets, "hath God said?"
…8For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long. 9If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail. 10For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.”… Jeremiah 20: 8-10
My transgressions were bound into a yoke - All along they were called to repent, but they rejected the "fire and brimstone" sort of message. Hananiah and other prosperity teachers had a message they preferred.
…9As for the prophet who prophesies peace, only if the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one the LORD has truly sent.” 10Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. 11And in the presence of all the people Hananiah proclaimed, “This is what the LORD says: ‘In this way, within two years I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations.’ ” At this, Jeremiah the prophet went on his way.… Jeremiah 28: 9-11
Commanded against Jacob...a filthy thing among them - She stinks in the land, unfaithful to her God, her light put under a bushel, a candle removed for the sake of her transgressions. It seems to reminisce upon the time of Jacob's sons, when they associated a religious act with treachery.
…29They carried off all their possessions and women and children, and they plundered everything in their houses. 30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.” 31But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”… Genesis 34: 29-31
I have rebelled against His word - She sees where she went off, and maybe others will see as well. To want something else against His word, that would ask God to be a liar, yet He does provide One way wherein He is not a liar, He is still holy and just, yet the sinner may be pardoned.
My priest and elders - They were killed as recorded in Jeremiah 52. It is fitting for God to clean His own house first, and then those that govern. They have all held hands so closely in this.
I have been very rebellious - This points to the cause of the grief. Over and over it is a confession of sin, the thing they refused to see in prosperity.
As You have dealt with me - This is what her enemies do not understand in the celebration of her demise, that God is over all, there are no other real gods. He alone is the Creator, the I Am, and the only reason we breathe is grace, for the wages of sin is death and we are all guilty. Let her pain be an example, that if she suffers for her sin, then God is not calling her persecutors just. He is not condoning their misconceptions, their extremes, but they will one day meet the only truly just One there is, and there will be a reckoning.
…17saying: “We give thanks to You, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. 18 The nations were enraged, and Your wrath has come. The time has come to judge the dead and to reward Your servants the prophets, as well as the saints and those who fear Your name, both small and great— and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” 19Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.… Revelation 11: 17-19
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