Scripture: Lamentations 1:17-22 (CEB)
17 Zion spreads out her hands; she has no comforter.
The Lord commanded Jacob’s enemies to surround him.
Jerusalem is just a piece of garbage to them.
18 The Lord is right, because I disobeyed his word.
Listen, all you people; look at my suffering.
My young women and young men have gone away as prisoners.
19 I called to my lovers, but they deceived me.
My priests and my elders have perished in the city;
they were looking for food to survive.
20 Pay attention, Lord, for I am in trouble. My stomach is churning;
my heart is pounding inside me because I am so bitter.
In the streets the sword kills; in the house it is like death.
21 People heard that I was groaning, that I had no comforter.
All my enemies heard about my distress; they were thrilled that you had done this.
Bring the day you have announced so they become like me!
22 Let all their evil come before you.
Then injure them like you’ve injured me because of all my wrong acts;
my groans are many, my heart is sick.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
Contributed by Reid Donihe
The Lord is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command. Listen, all you peoples; look on my suffering. My young men and young women have gone into exile. I called to my allies, but they betrayed me. My priests and elders perished in the city while they searched for food to keep themselves alive. (Lamentations 1:18-19 NIV)
This scripture surrounds Jerusalem in a time of extreme uncleanliness and sin. The city has fallen into shambles and longs for comfort and an end to its suffering in this time of need. Often when someone’s life has fallen apart in any way, people place blame, whether it be on another person or simply a concept or abstract thing that in a way, “caused all their pain.” However in verse 18, when the scripture writes, “The Lord is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command,” it displays the idea of admittance, realizing your own fault and asking the lord for forgiveness and his love to shine on you.
God does not want us to blame others for our downfalls, no matter how big or small. In verse 19, the passage reads “I called to my allies, but they betrayed me.” In Jerusalem’s time of need it reached out to the people or other things it had given its hope and trust to, in the way that they should have given hope and trust to the Lord God. In this process of admittance and plea for forgiveness, the scripture acknowledges the “false idols” that the city placed its faith into, and how when they were needed, they were not there. When you place your trust and faith into God, on the other hand, you receive it all back; the love and commitment you put towards God returns to you in the form of his blessings.
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for being with me through this time of devotion. I ask that you help me to place my full trust in you and that your light shines through me for the remainder of this day (or as I fall asleep). I pray that you will work through me and make me into a disciple, spreading your love everywhere I go, in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
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