Bible Study: Lamentations 1:1-22

Jeremiah opens the book by comparing Jerusalem to a princess who has lost everything.  He cries in great detail over all the tragedies that have befallen his nation.

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The Lamentations of Jeremiah Chapter 1

Introduction

Mirriam-Webster defines lamentation as “an act or instance of lamenting,” with lamenting meaning “to mourn along” and “to express sorrow, mourning, or regret.”

In this book, Jeremiah illustrates the definition of lamentation through his detailed description of all the tragedies that have befallen his people, his desperate cries for the people to repent, and his pleading prayers for God to have compassion on the devastated nation.  Jeremiah weeps over the fact that the tragedies are the consequences of the sins of the people yet the people fail to recognize this truth; their failure to understand that the true problem with their nation is sin may perhaps be the greatest tragedy of the Jewish people (even their rejection of Christ occurs because of the sin of the priests and people).  Jeremiah senses this tragedy and cries alongside God for the unrepenting people.

Lessons from the text

The Weeping Prophet and the Joyous Mourner
Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet.  Here, we have a perfect example of how he earned this named.  You can almost feel his pain as he describes in vivid detail the fallen state of his nation.  He obviously cared deeply for his people, the land, and the city of Jerusalem.  It broke his heart to see it fall into destruction and the wrath of God.

Jeremiah also gives us a beautiful example of godly sorrow.  Pained by the fallen state of his people, he cries out for others to recognize the tragedy of the situation.  The people had refused to repent and so now stood in judgment.  As their destruction falls on them, Jeremiah feels the need to lament, or mourn, their lives.  He knows that they could have been the splendor of all the earth.  The riches of heaven could have been bestowed on them.  Yet the people chose to continue in their sin rather than turn to God and righteousness.  They chose destruction and death over blessing and life.

From Jeremiah we can learn that godly sorrow means crying over the corruption caused by sin.  It means to be burdened with the awareness of coming judgment on the wicked.  It means to weep over the loss of what was once good to evil.  In essence, it is to cry over the same things which God cries over.

Christians are sometimes called the happiest people on earth.  The thought is that since Christians are saved from sin, there is no need to ever be sorrowful again.  The Christian rejoices in Christ and the promise of everlasting life.  This is true.  But coupled with a “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (I Pet. 1:8) is also an awareness of the pain God feels over the destruction of His creation.

Christians often bear a burden, or grief, over the state of sinners.  Loving their souls, Christians will weep on the alter for lost loved ones to be saved.  This is all right.  Actually, it is normal.  What makes the Christian abnormal is that while experiencing godly sorrow by mourning over the sate of world and the lost condition of sinners, the Christian also feels a great peace at the righteousness and glory of God.  Christians are perhaps the only people who can truly be rejoicing and mourning simultaneously.  Even so, Jeremiah, while mourning over his people, was not lost in despair or hopelessness, but instead was able to praise God while crying over the state of the Jews.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1-3  Jeremiah lived to see the destruction of Jerusalem.  He watched the city burn and the holy temple be raided.  Instead of rejoicing at seeing sinners receive the due consequences for their sins, Jeremiah mourns over Jerusalem.  He compares the city to a princess who has become indebted and nows pays tribute to another sovereignty.  Jeremiah is feeling the pain of the people and voicing that pain in his words.  He expresses godly sorrow over the truly tragic event of God’s crown jewel falling into sin and finally destruction.  All the people who she, Jerusalem, trusted have turned against her.  No one is left to help her.

4  Not only are the people left without aid but also the city is left without her people.  All the rituals that made Jerusalem special and adorned in the eyes of God are left undone because there is no one left to perform them.

5-17  Jeremiah summarizes the extent of Jerusalem’s fall; she is no longer ruled by God or even her own people but is instead ruled by her enemies.  She cannot even take care of her own children, all of her beauty has been taken away, and she has no freedom but is trapped by her enemies.

This dire state exposes all of her sins.  The people remember the good things they once had.  However, they do not feel godly sorrow.  Verse 12 points out that only Jeremiah seems troubled by the turn of events.  No one is mourning over Jerusalem for her sins.  While the people lament over their lost homes, they are still ignorant of their sins that have caused this destruction and therefore only mourn the material, and not the spiritual, state of Judah.

18-20  Jeremiah states the core issue:  the people have sinned against a righteous God.  He wants the people to recognize this as the problem.  He reminds the people of the prophecies against Jerusalem to stir their hearts into acknowledging that their destruction is a judgment from God.  If the people realize that God has judged them for their sins, then they would repent and cry out for forgiveness.  He even models the prayer for repentance in verse 20.

21-22  Jeremiah acknowledges his sins before God.  He views the torment in his soul as a direct effect of his sinful nature.  Yet he also knows that God has not forsaken him.  He knows that God is righteous.  He also knows that God will punish sin.  Therefore, he asks that God turn the excruciate sorrow he feels unto the enemies of God who have mocked Jeremiah for his godly sorrow.  He knows that one day they will have their worldly possessions taken from them and that they will lament over all that they have lost.  Noteworthy is that while Jeremiah has lost so much by seeing the destruction of his nation and the holy temple, he has not lost his connection with God.  The things of the world have passed away in judgment, but the eternal things of prayer and fellowship with God are still present in his life.  This chapter ends, therefore, in hope, for God will one day fulfill all His righteous judgments on all wickedness.

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