Journey Through Lamentations
The old radio commentator Paul Harvey could tell a story like no one could tell a story. And then, right in the middle of it, he would say, “And now for the rest of the story.” The book we have come to on our journey today is just that: it is the rest of the story. Our previous journey was through Jeremiah, and now it is time to journey through Lamentations.
Listen: Journeying through Lamentations
Overview of Lamentations
What is Lamentations? Many people have suggested that Lamentations is simply an addendum to the previous book. That is a very apt observation, because it picks up exactly where Jeremiah 52 left off. In fact, both books have the fall of Jerusalem as their main event. In Jeremiah 52, we are left in the smoldering ruins and the ashes of the city of Jerusalem.
John Greenleaf Whittier wrote in his famous poem Maud Miller the following lines: “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!'” Sadder yet are these words: It was. There was a day that the blessing, glory, and favor of God rested on Jerusalem. Now, not only is that removed, Jerusalem itself is removed. This is a picture of what sin does. The inevitable result of turning away from what God has done to our own understanding and self-will. If Jeremiah was a book of warning, then Lamentations is a book of mourning.
The prophet Jeremiah looked forward to the city of Jerusalem being destroyed in his first prophecy. He was looking ahead to it. But in the Book of Lamentations, he is looking back to it. It is literally a funeral dirge. This journey through Lamentations is a funeral procession. And we are mourning over what happened, in this beautiful city and this wonderful land as a result of sin.
Most men who suffered for their message for over 40 years would have said, “I told you so,” but not Jeremiah. No, because Jeremiah had the heart of Jesus. He had the heart of God. And so Jeremiah, who wept in advance, wept even more in his lamentation. This book was written soon after Nebuchadnezzar sieged Jerusalem. The city fell on approximately July 19th, they say, and by August the 15th of that year, at least, that is the parallel for us, it was burned to the ground. Now Jeremiah stands, looking over the destruction of the city.
Key Verse of Lamentations
The key verse is found in Lamentations 2:11. From a broken heart, he says, “Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.”
One of the saddest things you can ever see is the destruction of a child. That is why abortion is so wicked. It is why child abuse is so heinous, and why a generation of young people growing up without God is so heart-rending.
It is the destruction of the children and it is the destruction of little babies. Ultimately, it is the destruction of the next generation. And it is exactly what Jeremiah was witnessing.
Outline of Lamentations
There are five chapters in Lamentations, and these five chapters are written with an unusual method. The Book of Lamentations in the Hebrew language was written as an acrostic.
Chapters one and two each have 22 verses. Chapter four also has 22 verses. Chapter three has 66 verses. Finally, chapter five has 22 verses. Why is that? Chapters one, two and four, each with 22 verses, each begin with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter five does not use that acrostic, but it stays with the 22 verse stanza, the 22 verse pattern.
Chapter three has 66 verses, and these are in triplets. So, the first three verses began with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The next three verses deal with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. You may think, “Well, that’s interesting, but is there any significance?” Yes! You see, if we did an acrostic in this way in our language, it would be A to Z. It would be like saying something was true from A to Z.
What does that mean? It means it is complete. Everything is there. The Book of Lamentations is Jeremiah weeping from A to Z. In other words, it is the complete brokenness of a heart witnessing such destruction. Remember, it is the funeral of a city. Someone has called it the Wailing Wall of the Bible. Jeremiah is weeping from A to Z.
Hope in the Midst of Heartbreak
Now, if that is true, you may wonder why chapter three goes in triplets of verses. Why is it that chapter three is three times as long as chapters one, two, four and five? Why does this middle chapter seem to rise like a mountain peak above all the others?
Chapter three, right in the heart of the book, is not about Jerusalem. And it is not even about Jeremiah. No, it is about Jehovah God. One chapter of this book of brokenness concentrates on hope. And guess what chapter it is? It is Lamentations chapter three. Lamentations 3:19-21, “Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.” Think of it: in the midst of a funeral, hope; in the midst of a death, life; in the midst of brokenness, a promise for the future.
Lamentations 3:22-26: “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.”
Isn’t this beautiful, that right in the heart of this brokenness and weeping, suddenly a glimmer of light shines through? Suddenly, mercy raises its head and we are reminded that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. When we feel like weeping, we can bring our hurt to God and His Word. Where there is a thorn in the flesh, His grace is sufficient, and where there seems to be helplessness, God’s hope shines through. It is beautiful! But chapters one through three all end with prayer. And the end of the book — chapter five — is a prayer.
God is the Source of Mercy and Hope
It ends with us coming into the throne room of a Holy God. We should humble ourselves and call out to the God who can do anything! God is the one who made Jerusalem what it was to start with. God is the one who brought the judgment, and God is the one who can rebuild the broken down walls. He is the one who can restore you. Satan’s work is destruction, but God’s work is construction. Anything that is destroyed in our life, we did that. Our sin did that. But if we will let the Lord move and do what He wants to do, He will build it back up again. “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning:”
This morning, you got a fresh dose of mercy for this day and for your life. Say these words, “Great is thy faithfulness.” You see, Jeremiah is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, a man of sorrows. Remember, our Lord Jesus Christ, the “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:” (Isaiah 53:3) is the Christ who brings to us salvation and eternal hope.
Friend, in the same way, in Jeremiah’s Lamentation, we find this beautiful picture that in Christ, no matter what the circumstances are today, in Christ, there is hope.
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