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Lamentations 2 (ESV)
11 My eyes are spent with weeping;
my stomach churns;
my bile is poured out to the ground
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because infants and babies faint
in the streets of the city.
12 They cry to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers’ bosom.
13 What can I say for you, to what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14 Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes,
but have seen for you oracles
that are false and misleading.
15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
they hiss and wag their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of all the earth?”
16 All your enemies
rail against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We have swallowed her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; we see it!”
17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
he has carried out his word,
which he commanded long ago;
he has thrown down without pity;
he has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the might of your foes.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let tears stream down like a torrent
day and night!
Give yourself no rest,
your eyes no respite!
19 “Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
REFLECTION:
Jeremiah was called the “weeping prophet” because he often wept and shed tears for the disobedience of the people of Judah throughout his life. Jeremiah’s tears were not an expression of weakness, but an expression of sincerity and compassion. In Jeremiah’s time, false prophets were everywhere, and they often announced false prophecies. When Jeremiah warned of the demise of Judah and the imminent exile of the people for a long time, the false prophets said that everything is safe and there is no need to be afraid. In fact, Jeremiah was the prophet sent by God, and his prophecy was true. He called on the people to forsake their sins and sincerely repent for what they did against the Lord. Wayward people betray God because of their stubbornness, and everyone suffers. Are these disasters God’s fault? No, this is the consequences of the people’s evil deeds, and they will also involve innocent people. Even children will be “faint for hunger” and their lives are worrying. We should take warning from Jeremiah’s appeal and understand that the consequences of sin are extremely serious! Today, in the face of serious social moral degradation and extreme individualism, how will we react? We should wake up from a state of insensitivity, not be shaken by all kinds of lies, firmly defend the truth of God, sincerely pray for our church with tears, so that the church will not be destroyed by the world, and the church will be a witness for God in the society.
PRAYER:
Pray for God to give you a strong, benevolent, and conscientious heart, so that you can stand firm in the face of the world’s various moral declines and liberal values; pray for God to give you more strength and make you willing to offer yourself as a living sacrifice, bravely live out holiness in the turbid current of the world, and bear a beautiful testimony to God.
