Unavailable Comforters
Lamentations 1:13–22
Jerusalem knows she messed up, and the Lord made her suffer (1:13). The fire in her bones, the net for her feet, and the desolation! He made a yoke out of her sins and now she’s weak from wearing it. She’s got no defense against her foes (1:14). The city is bummed that the Lord took away all the strong guys who could’ve protected her, and then had to call in an army to beat her. She’s feeling completely squished like grapes (1:15).
There’s nothing she can do except sit down and weep. She’s got no one to comfort her. It’s so hard for her to see her poor kids with no one to take care of them (1:16). She reaches out for help, but no one offers a hand. The people next door who are supposed to have her back are now against her. Her neighbors who should help her are now her enemies. To them, Jerusalem’s a messed up city (1:17).
But in all this, she admits: The Lord is righteous, for I rebelled against his commandment. She again laments bringing up the same themes again. The sin, the suffering, the exile, worthless friends, famine and even death (1:18–19).
She’s turning to God and begging him to note her heartbreak. She’s come clean about being rebellious and now she’s screwed. Either she starves in the city or gets taken out by the enemy outside (1:20). The city admits she messed up, but she’s also mad at people who aren’t supporting her and are happy about her misfortune. She prays for them; Let all their wickedness come before you, and do to them as you have done to me. This prayer recognizes that God’s justice covers everything and no country can hide from it. If God punishes wrongdoing, then the enemy deserves it too.
