Jerusalem had fallen into hard times

Lamentations 1:1-22

1 How deserted lies the city,

once so full of people!

How like a widow is she,

who once was great among the nations!

She who was queen among the provinces

has now become a slave.

2 Bitterly she weeps at night,

tears are on her cheeks.

Among all her lovers

there is no one to comfort her.

All her friends have betrayed her;

they have become her enemies.

Jerusalem had fallen into hard times – ‘she who once was great among the nations…has now become a slave’ (1). The explanation for this sad situation was not hard to find – ‘Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean…’ (8-9). Could things be turned around? Could there once again be blessing? There was a way back to God – the way of being honest before Him. They needed to look seriously at their way of life and think seriously about their attitude towards the Lord. They were not to adopt an arrogant attitude – ‘There’s really nothing wrong with us. We’re doing all right’. They were to come to God with a real confession of sin: ‘The Lord is righteous, yet I rebelled against His command…O Lord,…I have been most rebellious’ (18,20). God’s blessing will begin again when we confess our sin.

Charles Cameron, better known as Charlie to his friends, lives in Scotland and is a member of the Church of Scotland. He owns several Christian blogs found at the following links:

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