Lamentations 1:1

New Living Translation (NLT)

Jerusalem, once so full of people, is now deserted.
She who was once great among the nations
now sits alone like a widow.
Once the queen of all the earth,
she is now a slave.

For Meditation

I have seen it before. It happens to many people around the world. They start life very well. Things get better along the way and they gain a good reputation among their people. However, they fail to give glory to God. They profess His name but go on to live independent of Him. God is no more their Lord. They are their own lord and god. Meet them some years later and regard their destitution – the ugly consequences of disobedience.

Make no mistake here. God still judges sin. He is holy and just and can’t pamper the sinner forever. His patience cannot be abused. The time for His retribution comes quickly and swiftly, and it’s not funny when that day comes. That’s the story of Jerusalem through the tears of Jeremiah. Try looking at her through the “Weeping Prophet’s” eyes after Nebuchadnezzar’s war machine passed through the city. Then try to reflect on these questions based on Lamentations 1:1.

1. What happened to Jerusalem? Where are all the people?
2. What happened to her fame among the nations?
3. Why is she sitting alone like a widow?
4. Why has the queen of the earth become a slave in a distant land?
5. Where are her beauty and splendor, her fame and power? Why are her inhabitants not celebrating their festivals? Why has the music stopped? Where is everybody?

I pray the church will remind herself about the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, God’s instrument of discipline and learn that “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31). As Chuck Swindoll comments on Samson: “High calling flaunted by low living leads to deep suffering … sin has an unbelievably expensive price tag.”

So: May you look at the spiritual devastation of the world today and cry over our cities like Jeremiah cried over Jerusalem. Pray for the church that has shamelessly blended with the world and plead for God’s mercy. But, don’t lose hope, “for His compassion never fails. They are new every morning; great is [His] faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Shalom