How Lonely Sits the City
1:1 How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like a widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
has become a slave.
2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
she has none to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into exile because of affliction
and hard servitude;
she dwells now among the nations,
but finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
for none come to the festival;
all her gates are desolate;
her priests groan;
her virgins have been afflicted,
and she herself suffers bitterly.
5 Her foes have become the head;
her enemies prosper,
because the Lord has afflicted her
for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
6 From the daughter of Zion
all her majesty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembers
in the days of her affliction and wandering
all the precious things
that were hers from days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
and there was none to help her,
her foes gloated over her;
they mocked at her downfall.
8 Jerusalem sinned grievously;
therefore she became filthy;
all who honored her despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans
and turns her face away.
9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she took no thought of her future;
therefore her fall is terrible;
she has no comforter.
“O Lord, behold my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed!”
10 The enemy has stretched out his hands
over all her precious things;
for she has seen the nations
enter her sanctuary,
those whom you forbade
to enter your congregation.
11 All her people groan
as they search for bread;
they trade their treasures for food
to revive their strength.
“Look, O Lord, and see,
for I am despised.”
12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which the Lord inflicted
on the day of his fierce anger.
13 “From on high he sent fire;
into my bones he made it descend;
he spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
he has left me stunned,
faint all the day long.
14 “My transgressions were bound into a yoke;
by his hand they were fastened together;
they were set upon my neck;
he caused my strength to fail;
the Lord gave me into the hands
of those whom I cannot withstand.
15 “The Lord rejected
all my mighty men in my midst;
he summoned an assembly against me
to crush my young men;
the Lord has trodden as in a winepress
the virgin daughter of Judah.
16 “For these things I weep;
my eyes flow with tears;
for a comforter is far from me,
one to revive my spirit;
my children are desolate,
for the enemy has prevailed.”
17 Zion stretches out her hands,
but there is none to comfort her;
the Lord has commanded against Jacob
that his neighbors should be his foes;
Jerusalem has become
a filthy thing among them.
18 “The Lord is in the right,
for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
my young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.
19 “I called to my lovers,
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city,
while they sought food
to revive their strength.
20 “Look, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.
21 “They heard my groaning,
yet there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
they are glad that you have done it.
You have brought the day you announced;
now let them be as I am.
22 “Let all their evildoing come before you,
and deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions;
for my groans are many,
and my heart is faint.” (ESV)
18 “The LORD is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command. Listen, all you peoples; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into exile.
We can also find assurance in knowing that God is a righteous judge and His judgments are poured out from that.
I wrote a new blog based on the sermon this weekend at True North! Click on my name to check it out!
Also, today we begin a new book here on Scripture of the Day: Lamentations! It is only five chapters long so please keep up with reading it every day this week! It will take us up until Revival, when we will take a week long break while we are gone at camp.
Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah wrote this book as an eyewitness to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. For over 40 years he had been prophesying to the people of coming judgment but they scorned him for it. Yet in this book we see that he still had heartbreak and sorrow at seeing God’s people and city destroyed. This is the story of what happens to people who do not listen to God and pursue their own way instead.
9 Her filthiness clung to her skirts; she did not consider her future. Her fall was astounding; there was none to comfort her. “Look, O LORD, on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed.”
Judah has been exiled and taken into captivity by babylon….they had become disobedient to the Lord and finally God decided to punish them… We need to remember and follow everything that the Lord has commanded us to do! Let us remember what happened to Judah and not follow in their rebellious footsteps..
Oh my gooodness!
12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering that was inflicted on me, that the LORD brought on me in the day of his fierce anger?
This is a scary thought. Im not sure who is talking here but the person is obviously going through pain and suffering because of sin. This verse just makes me was to really turn from sin.
Everyone had really great comments today!!!
I agree with Jenae verse 12 makes me want o turn from sin also! and Vanessa’s comment gives me comfort and reminds me that God is a fair God.
Also can you please pray for my family my uncle passed away last night…thank you
5 Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. The LORD has brought her grief because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile, captive before the foe.
Wow, if this isn’t a warning to turn from sin in your life, I don’t know what is. Jeremiah warned them, but Judah continued on until God had to punish them. Let this be a wake up call to heed the words of wise people in your life and not ignore sin.
Ashlyn, my prayers are with you.
Also, my family made it to Abilene TX today and God has kept us safe. Praise Him!
18 “The LORD is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command. Listen, all you peoples; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into exile.
This shows us that if do not followed the Lord’s commands we will be judged accordingly. This is why need to turn away form sin and follow the Lord’s commands otherwise we will suffer for eternity in hell.
18 “The LORD is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command. Listen, all you peoples; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into exile.
19 “I called to my allies but they betrayed me. My priests and my elders perished in the city while they searched for food to keep themselves alive.
WoW. This is what happens when you go against the Lord’s command.
Hey Ashlyn i ve bee praying for your family
14 “My sins have been bound into a yoke ; by his hands they were woven together. They have come upon my neck and the Lord has sapped my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand.
This verse shows us just how much God hates sin. We as christians must turn from our sin so we don’t have to be bound by a yoke.
Sin has consequences, and we see them so clearly in this chapter. It is evident that the Lord has abandoned and destroyed this city because of its sin. Unless we want to be lamenting like this, we need to be careful to avoid sin and pursue righteousness.
I totally love what Jacob said. We forget that God is holy and cannot, by His nature, tolerate our sin. We should be afraid of sinning for we are sinning against the creator of the universe and the God who was dominion over all the earth! It is a serious thing to sin against such a power!!!
The dreadful picture Jeremiah the prophet painted shows us that Hell is not the only punishment for sin. We should fear God because he justly punishes sinners on Earth. I don’t think that we as Christians are any exception to this judgment. If God punished his own people for rebelling against him then we should think that he would also punish us for repetitive sin. If we are going through trials we should examine our lives just to make sure that we are not in sin.
Wow, Judah was destroyed and exiled because of their sin. This is so intense and we need to remember this example of consequences from sin. God can’t stand sin because He is perfect and holy! He is all-powerful and we, like Matt said, should be afraid of sinning because we are sinning against God who is in power over everything!!
The destruction of Judah was a righteous act of God to cleanse His chosen people from sin. In the same way as Judah, God punishes us for our sin, and sanctifies us in His holy image. He breaks us down and sends trials our way so that we repent of our sin and learn to rely on His strength to see us through, and not our own. So next time we are tempted to sin remember the fate of Judah, and think about the unique consequences that God will give you. Sin=death; some times we forget that, and that is something we all need to remeber along with Jesus’ victory over it.
Ashlyn, my prayers are with you and your family also.
this book is named Lamentations for a reason…
well the destruction of a once godly place is never good. we should use this as well as the examples of Jonah, Sodom and Gommarah, and Noah to see that really sin can and will be destroyed by God. He will do whatever it takes to get people to stop sinning. the flood, for example wiped out everyone on earth but Noah and his family. thankfully we have the blood of Christ to cover our sins, and we should tell that to others.
18 “The LORD is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command. Listen, all you peoples; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into exile.
This is what the Lord will do to us if we turn away from him and disobey his commands.
18 “The LORD is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command. Listen, all you peoples; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into exile.
i love jeremiah’s willingness to admit that he has sinned against God’s commands… often times we try and make excuses for the things that we do which only lead to more distress… we need to confess our sins to God knowing he will forgive us, endure His punishment, and leave that sin behind…