I. The Devastation and Lament of Jerusalem (Lamentations 1:1-22)

I. The Devastation and Lament of Jerusalem (1:1-22)

1:1-4 Lamentations calls to mind the image of a desolate man of God sitting amid the ashes of the once-great and once-holy city of Jerusalem, weeping over its destruction and the exile of his people who had ignored decades of warnings and calls for repentance from the Lord. This opening chapter is littered with vivid descriptions of Jerusalem’s terrible condition following the application of the terrifying judgments proclaimed through Jeremiah.

Whereas Jerusalem had been a princess, now the holy city is a widow, the epitome of poverty and destitution (1:1). She weeps bitterly during the night with no one to comfort her because Judah’s false gods, her lovers, had turned on her and became her enemies as her people were dragged away in chains to Babylon (1:2). Now in exile, she has been put to forced labor and harsh slavery (1:1, 3).

1:5-11 All the splendor has vanished is a sobering statement (1:6). Jerusalem was a sight to behold in the days of old (1:7), but all her precious belongings are gone now—taken by the enemy or traded for food (1:7, 10-11). All who honored her now despise her, and she herself groans (1:8). Jeremiah was in deep agony over all this, but he knew the reason for the judgment received: The Lord has made her suffer because of her many transgressions (1:5). Jerusalem has sinned grievously, in spite of repeated warning from numerous prophets (1:8). Her downfall was astonishing (1:9)—both to the Jews who’d assumed they were right with God and to the surrounding nations.

The picture of Jerusalem lying in the gutter is appropriate for a people who had been prostituting themselves with foreign gods for many years. God’s people had turned from the well-lighted way of his word to follow evil down a dark backstreet. And now the city is like a discarded lady of the night whose lovers have tired of her and pushed her aside (1:8-9).

1:12-22 The second half of this poetic chapter personifies the city of Jerusalem and gives her a voice. The city calls to the nations around her for some measure of pity over her astonishing destruction (1:12). Yet, as she says repeatedly, no one will comfort her (1:16-17, 21). Among several metaphors regarding Jerusalem’s judgment, one stands out: My transgressions have been formed into a yoke, fastened together by his hand (1:14). This word picture is the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s “yoke of . . . Babylon” prophecy (see Jer 27:1-11), warning King Zedekiah that the people of Judah would serve Nebuchadnezzar and have their necks “under the yoke of the king of Babylon” (Jer 27:8).

Jerusalem acknowledges that the Lord is just and that she has rebelled against his command (1:18). Everything that had come upon her was deserved because of all [her] transgressions (1:22). All that she can do now is plead for God’s mercy and vindication on her ungodly foes who were gloating at her devastation (1:20-21).