The following is the manuscript of the sermon preached last Sunday by Jase Hammock. You can read more from Jase at his blog here.

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“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.”

Lamentations 1:1 ESV

Ever since the ascension of Jesus, we have been in the end times, and the reality is that the end times is an “already, but not yet” stage of the Lord’s redemptive plan. We are redeemed, but not yet. We are restored, but not yet. I appreciate Matthew Henry’s introduction of Lamentations, when he wrote, “As we have sacred odes or songs of joy, so have we sacred elegies or songs of lamentation; such variety of methods has Infinite Wisdom taken to work upon us and move our affections, and so soften our hearts and make them susceptible of the impressions of divine truths, as the wax of the seal” (Henry, p. 711). It would do disciples of Jesus well to learn the tension and balance between songs and language of joy and victory as well as sorrow and lament.

Historical Context

To chart the course ahead of us, we will consider the historical context of Lamentations, move to the literary structure, and then finish with lingering in the biblical context of Lamentations and some applications for us today.

It has been traditionally held that the prophet Jeremiah wrote Lamentations. He wrote it around 586 B.C. He was writing as an eyewitness during or at the end of the three year siege and destruction of the southern nation of Judah by King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. How did they arrive at this place and condition of abandonment and humiliation?

After the Israelites spent about 430 years in slavery under the Egyptians, the Lord through Moses delivered His people out of slavery through many signs and wonders. The Lord tells them, “Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6, emphasis added). 

After many years of the Lord leading and providing in the wilderness and then living under judges, the Israelites ask for a king like all the other nations. Despite the Lord being their King, He gives them a human king. The Lord blesses the Israelites under the reign of Saul, David, and Solomon. They become a great nation. It was the glory years of Israel and an era of peace because the Lord fought for His people. Solomon built the remarkable temple where the Lord would dwell, meet with His people, and His glory would fill the temple. Sounds like paradise. But another element of Solomon’s reign was a turning away from the Lord as Solomon married and accumulated for himself 700 wives and 300 concubines.

This turning away from the Lord is what led to the dividing of two nations: Israel, the northern nation, and Judah, the southern nation. After being led by one wicked king after another, Israel was defeated by Assyria in 722 BC. We have the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah to the southern nation in what is known as one of the major prophets: the book of Jeremiah. That book spans over about 40 years of Jeremiah lamenting and warning the people of Judah of impending doom. In Jeremiah 4:19, Jeremiah expresses his concern and distress over potential war, “My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.” Then, in Jeremiah 6, Jeremiah relays the words of the Lord, “Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I turn from you in disgust, lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land” (Jeremiah 6:6, 8). 

Despite his prophecies and knowing of the defeat and captivity of the northern nation, the southern nation was not deterred from the same disastrous result. Think about what this tells us about the condition of the Israelites’ hearts. So resistant to the word of the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah. To get a better historical understanding of the captivity and destruction of Jerusalem, it would be helpful for you to read in 2 Kings 24 and 25, 2 Chronicles 36, and the latter half of Jeremiah, starting in Jeremiah 25. Unlike the book of Jeremiah, Lamentations has no narrative, which leads us to consider the literary context of Lamentations.

Literary Context

The Structure

The title “Lamentations” comes from the ancient Greek and Latin versions of the Bible and was the word that meant “crying” or “weeping,” which is one of the most often used words in this book. However, the first thing you read and should notice is the word, “How…” This is the Hebrew title for this book. More on that in a moment.

The book of Lamentations is a collection of five poems: four acrostic and one free verse. Chapters 1 and 2 are alphabetic acrostics with 22 three-lined stanzas with each letter of the Hebrew alphabet starting each new stanza. Chapter 4 is similar but has two lines in each stanza, for a total of 44 lines. Chapter 3, which is the climax and focal point of the book, drastically changes the rhythm. It also has 22 stanzas, but all three lines of each stanza begins with the same Hebrew letter. Then, the 5th poem leaves the acrostic structure but still has 22 lines or verses that still represents the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Why this structure? 

This structure and literary style can serve three purposes. First, this book, a collection of poems and prayers, would’ve been used similar to Psalms. It was a corporate prayer book. Psalm 119 is probably one of the best known acrostics in the Bible. It emphasizes the treasure of God’s words and commandments. Therefore, the writers wanted to help the Lord’s people better memorize these words and prayers. So, this structure can be used as a memory aid.

Second, what do you try to do when you’ve experienced tragedy? What’s the human instinct? What would you do after your house burned down or a tornado came through? Typically, after the shock, of just sitting and trying to gather yourself, you start picking up the pieces. You start trying to clean. You try to find order in the chaos. Leland Ryken explains, “The literary beauty of Lamentations is part of the poet’s strategy for consoling himself and us. As an extension of that, anything that affirms order consoles… To impose order on grief is a step toward mastering it.” 

Third, this is to reflect the utter and complete, comprehensive destruction of the Lord’s people. It’s as if Jeremiah has spoken or written until he was blue in the face, had said everything that he could, and that the Babylonians didn’t leave anything, anyone or any space out of their destruction of the nation of Judah. They covered everything from A-Z. The destruction and the lament was exhaustive. We can see a glimpse of that in the use of another literary device in the first verse.

Parallelism and The Theme of “How…?!”

Within the first verse, we encounter another literary tool: parallelism. Just like the acrostic structure, parallelism is meant to be a mnemonic device, or a method for memory aid, and, like different traffic stops, it’s meant to slow us down. Think of it like a big speed bump. Maybe even better is a tourist scenic stop. This practice is so needed because we as humans have the instinct to try and just “get to the point,” but we also live in a culture of instant gratification and rushing to the next thing. We don’t have time to process our emotions or wrestle with the hard questions of life. We want to rush to 3:22-24, but as John Bunyan has the Evangelist teach in Part 2 of The Pilgrim’s Progress, “The bitter must come before the sweet.” This contrasting parallelism has a purpose of helping us to pause and observe. So, what is being contrasted?

In this first stanza, the poet is lamenting and contrasting three lost treasures: population, power, and a position of prestige. The city and nation was full of people. Prosperous. Now, she has become lonely. She has become like a widow, helpless and vulnerable. She had a high and royal position of power, prestige, and privilege, like a princess among all nations, but now is an oppressed slave. This contrast points out that what is supposed to be is not reality, and what is reality is not supposed to be. Lament is the language of those trying to make sense of the reality that things are not the way they should be. Wait a minute: we were supposed to be the Lord’s treasured possession, and now we’re empty and all alone. We were supposed to be His holy nation, and now we’re displaced and unclean. We are supposed to be a royal priesthood, and now we’re vulnerable slaves.

This condition is what the majority of what Jeremiah laments in all five poems. The first word of the entire book and chapters 2 and 4 emphasizes this theme. “How!” How intense! How horrible! How dark! How lost! How is this possible?

There are three main questions or thoughts that are wrestled with in Lamentations through the word “how.” One, how deep and dark is the depravity of humans? Two, how bountiful are the mercies of God and how sovereign God is? Finally, the third major question in the book of Lamentations is, “How is this possible?” Jeremiah’s questions, or whoever wrote Lamentations, are rooted in the character of God, and that is what creates the tension. Jeremiah knows God is good and that He is sovereign over all things. So, how is it possible that God could allow all this to happen to His people? 

How is it possible that God is both merciful and compassionate yet also sovereign and in control of all things? Don’t we have so many questions like this in Christianity? How is it possible that Jesus is both fully God and fully man? How is it possible that God is three persons in one being? How is it possible that humans are completely depraved and dead in our sins, yet still have the capability to choose sin or obey and be held accountable for our actions? Let us remember regularly what Paul wrote about the Lord in Romans 11:33-34, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways.” 

Some of our questions will not have answers in this life, or answers that we like. Christianity is full of paradoxes and wrestling with tension. Do you have a faith big enough to wrestle with unanswered questions? Do you have a faith big enough that believes God can handle our messy questions and doubts? One thing that has stood out to me about Jeremiah being the likely author of Lamentations is that he had spent 30-40 years prophesying to the Lord’s people, and yet he is still lamenting and wrestling with this reality of sin and the desolation of Judah. How much more should we mourn over sin and wrestle with tough questions?! 

Biblical Application 

Consider your own ruins

Lament is the funeral song we sing because of the dark clouds blown in by our choice of sin and rebellion against our good and merciful Creator, and before you can be healed, you must get an accurate diagnosis. We cannot properly understand the gospel without understanding our problem. The majority of Lamentations is exposing the deep, dark depravity of all humans. Before there was ever Romans 3–no one is righteous; no not one– or Ephesians 2:1-3–you were dead in the trespasses and sins–, there was Lamentations. Mark Vroegop, in his book Dark Clouds. Deep Mercy, explains “A Christian should understand that beneath every painful aspect of our humanity is the reality of sin… Lamentations reminds us that underlying our lives is a foundational brokenness connected to the presence of sin in the world” (p. 101).

Yet, this is not just a general acknowledgment of the sinful condition of the world, but naming our sin and lamenting realities in our lives that are not supposed to be. For God’s grace to be amazing to us, we must linger and sit quietly under the dark clouds of the pronouncement of who and what we are apart from Christ’s atoning work. This is why the first characteristics of a citizen of heaven that Jesus teaches is, “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit… Blessed are those who mourn…” But we don’t do this on our own.

No man is an island. Paul instructs Christians in Romans 12 to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, and Leland Ryken points out, “The interplay between the personal grief of the speaker and the communal nature of the loss that occasioned the book shows that grief and loss are both personal and social.” Paul also instructed believers in Philippians 2:13 to, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” That “your” is a public “y’all.”

We see a multitude of “one another commands” in the New Testament, such as “carry one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” 

One time on the Knowing Faith podcast, I heard Sam Allberry explain, “The gospel becomes more real as we allow other people to know the worst things about us and yet we are received with grace.” There are two parts to this quote. The first part: each of us sharing our burdens with others and letting people know the worst part about us. This requires us to give up our pride. Some people disguise their pride as humility or a form of niceness by saying, “Oh, I don’t want to burden other people with my problems.” Sounds nice, but deliberately contrary to the Bible. There’s not only pride that hinders honest confession and lament, but also fear. That’s where the second part of Alberry’s quote comes in, “received with grace.” When churches and individuals are saturated with grace, we create safe places that declare, “Your brokenness is welcome here.” 

Are you humble enough to regularly confess your sins and struggles to someone else in this church? Are you a person who is tenderhearted, not quick to judge, hospitable and not going to be surprised by their messiness, and trustworthy where other people in this church can trust you to receive them with grace about their sins, struggles, and doubts?

Remember our exile

1 Peter 2:8-12; Phil. 2:12-16

Lament is the language of those living on the borderland. It is the language that helps exiles to not be conformed to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of their mind. This is why Mark Vroegop explains that the book of Lamentations reveals the idols of the Israelites. He applies it to our current society by writing, 

The culture of the United States is enamored with optimism. The ‘American Spirit’ is the deeply rooted belief that life will get better, recessions will end, opportunities will abound, and ‘the sun will come up tomorrow.’ While I appreciate this optimism at one level, I wonder how many American Christians make cultural optimism an idol. Or how many directly connect this optimism to the belief that we are ‘blessed by God.’ Perhaps this is partly why some Christians react negatively to the effects of our exile status. (p. 135)

We can’t be faithful exiles when we are holding onto our old identity, culture, and language, or when we’re trying to build an earthly empire. “Lament is the language that calls us, as exiles, to uncurl our fingers from our objects of trust” (p. 123). We are to be people who are “looking forward to the city that has foundations,” to a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 11:10; 12:28). This is not our home, but we must be faithful witnesses in this world. We must be in the world, but not of it. The liturgy and language of lament helps us do that as well as heed the warnings.

Yield to the warning

A couple weeks ago, Pastor Cole taught us that the “woes” in Luke’s version of the beatitudes were not curses but warnings. All of the major and minor prophets are to be warnings to us as well. We are told in 1 Corinthians 10:6-7a, 11-12, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were… Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”

I want to give a warning. I have basically said that we have permission to be raw and honest with the Lord and with one another. Yet, it’s important to note one another element of Lamentations structure. Lamentations is not a faithless person venting uncontrollably or recklessly. The author is not a teenager going through puberty kicking and screaming about not getting his or her way. The ESV Study Bible explains, “Lamentations is not an emotional outburst but a formal expression of grief in a high literary style.” Vroegop says, “Complaint is central to lament. But Christians never complain to complain… We allow the honest opening of our souls to become a doorway to the other elements of lament” (p. 54). We need to confront our own sin and condition, remember our exile, yield to the warnings of sin and idolatry because sin is ultimately the reason why we lament, but lament is to lead us to the Lamb.

Yearn for the Redeemer 

Learn to yearn. Lament is the compass that points exiles to the True Exile and Ultimate Weeping Prophet who gives purpose to all our pain and the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus showed emotion and grief when He wept at the tomb of His friend Lazarus. Jesus practiced lament in the Garden of Gethsemane when He acknowledged the pain when He was facing. On the cross, Jesus quoted and fulfilled one of the well-known lament psalms, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” Not only does Jesus lead by example on how to practice lament “to live between the poles of a hard life and trusting God’s goodness,” but it is because of His suffering that our pain can have purpose and a pathway out of punishment and pain. 

We read in Lamentations 1:5, “Her foes have become the head; her enemies prosper, because the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions,” but we are told in Isaiah 53 that there was to be another afflicted because of transgressions, “surely He has borne our griefs… He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.” He became the merciful and faithful High Priest, and because of this great truth, the author of Hebrews encourages us, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

A Path Forward

Although the book of Lamentations is dark, Christians can handle the darkness because of who is our Savior and Lord. Let us remember that the book of Lamentations is needed because it helps us better understand the condition of all humans, it is the textbook for exiles to learn the language that helps transform us into our new identity, and it points us to the One who fulfills the promises in Lamentations. As we come to the table of the King, Vroegop has some helpful words to consider, “But this rehearsing of pain has a purpose… We tend to hush the recitation of sorrow. However, restoration doesn’t come to those who live in denial. I wonder what would happen if more Christians confidently walked into the darkest moments of life and guided people in talking to God about their pain” (p. 143).