Lamentations chapter 1

vs 12

In their suffering, the people of God seem to have suddenly seen how special their God is, and now they can talk with the nations about him - about how vengeful and powerful and jealous he is, as born out by their sufferings.

vs 13

Interestingly, God didn't actually send a fire from heaven to just burn then to a crisp. Instead, he is attacking their insides, making them feel weary, despondent, captured and it would seem rejected. Which is all exactly how they should feel.

vs 14

Only now do the sins of the people begin to have the light of day shone on them. I don't mean revealed, or even bemoaned - God had told them many times, given many warnings through prophets and the like. But now the sin is crystal clear - those who lament can see how their sin has brought this situation on, and it weighs heavily on them. As it does for all of us when we have to live with the consequences of our sin.

vs 15

They fought, but God would refuse victory to them. Their exile is a punishment - they weren't going to be able to fight their way out of this one. I wonder how many died, how many lost their sons, how many daughters were raped, for the sake of such a punshment to the people as a community.

vs 16

When we mourn, often we receive help from those that are currently okay. They might 'mourn with us', but they also show us that there's an end in sight. Who do you mourn with when the whole nation is punished?

vs 17

Even as a nation, they have no friends to turn to. Not to mention that the Israelites are a bunch of racist superior gits or anything... but you can see why no-one wants to help them.

vs 18

This is the message of the book right here. I don't think it gets clearer than that.

vs 19

No-one came to the aid of the people of God, and their priests died looking for food, because no-one looked after them. Talk about being cut off from God.

vs 20

They see now that their rebellion has brought this on. This just makes me feel sick to the stomach. How might God punish me for my wrongdoing? I just don't know. I pray that I never need such a harsh lesson, nor that any communityof which I am a member does.

vs 21

That's the way - wish your misery on everyone. His friends can't help, because they're also miserable. His enemies, they laugh at him. He knows God has promised to defeat them too... and so he just waits for that, calls for it, in an effort to stop their gloating.

vs 22

Okay, so that's kind of mean, but he's just pouring out how he feels. Why should the wicked of the other nations get off scot free when the wicked of God's nation are being punished? Judgement starts with the house of God, says Peter. And if the righteous find it hard, how will the sinner feel?