SHE IS BECOME LIKE A WIDOW

The judgement which Jeremiah had predicted had come to pass. Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonians. Her citizens had suf­fered mass deportation. In Lamentations, the prophet grieves before the Lord as he considers the desolation of Zion. This neglected book teaches us how to cope with personal suffering.

In our text, Jerusalem is personified as a widow, utterly bereft. Loss and loneliness were her experience. She had no one to comfort her in her grief. All she could do was contrast her doleful present with her happy past.

Jeremiah pours out the nation’s distress. Jerusalem had lost her population and her prestige. Her allies had become her ene­mies. Judah had lost a resting place. Exile had become her experience. The roads to Zion, once thronged with pilgrims, were deserted. Judah’s leaders had fled in terror. Jerusalem had lost her precious possessions. Her foes had gloated over her downfall and mocked her misery.

The prophet confesses that all of Jerusalem’s woes had come upon her because she had sinned grievously. Now she had become conscious of the shame which sin had brought and aware of its pollution and defilement. Too late she realized that she had lived only for the present and had not considered her latter end. It had been total foolishness to ignore the warnings of God’s impending judgement which had now come upon her. Nations which God’s law had forbidden to enter even the con­gregation for worship had violated the Holy Place. Famine had stalked the land. Valuables had been given up for subsistence.

Out of these dreadful circumstances, a cry goes up to God to behold Jerusalem’s affliction and to look upon her despising. When we experience loneliness and loss, God’s ear is open to our cries. When we feel alienated and abandoned, we should pour out our hearts before the Lord, Ps. 62. 8. He invites us to approach Him honestly, telling Him just how it is. The throne of grace is open to us in every hour of need. Let us draw near with confidence, knowing that the Lord Jesus is our great High Priest. He is well able to sympathize with us. He Himself has sunk to the deepest depths of desolation.