Fairy tales often end with those words “and they lived happily ever after.” There are no “and they live happily ever after” moments in Lamentations. The book ends without resolution and with questions lingering. The people’s suffering remains. Life remains a daily struggle. The temple still lies in ruins. However the book ends with a hopeful prayer. In vrs 19-22 we read; You, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.
The final chapter of Lamentations is unique. It doesn’t follow the acrostic pattern of the other chapters. It still is 22 verses long (keeping with the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet). It is however the shortest chapter. The verses are much shorter, a rapid fire, staccato-like summary of grief. According to Mark Vroegop Lamentations ends with three prayers that point us to finding God’s grace. It ends with road map to grace. We have just begun the 21 day period of lockdown. The world has yet to bring this corona virus under control. We are not out of the woods. We can however take up these three prayers of Jeremiah.
- “REMEMBER” – Chapter 5 begins with an appeal for God to remember. Vrs 1; Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. The bible frequently connects God’s redemption to this gracious remembering (Genesis 8:1; 9:15, 16; Deuteronomy 9:27; Psalm 25:6, 7). When Jeremiah asks God to remember, he appeals for grace based on God’s character. Central to this appeal is the feeling of shame – see our disgrace. What follows in vrs 2-18 is a dismal rehearsal of Jerusalem’s pain. Foreign invaders have destroyed the nation (vrs 2). The people feel abandoned, survival is very hard and they are exhausted (vrs 3-5). Desperation and hunger are everywhere (vrs 9, 10). Their women were violated (vrs 11), princes dishonoured (vrs 12) and oppression ruled the day. National celebrations had ceased (vrs 14, 15) – don’t we feel the pain here with our Easter celebrations cancelled! Hopelessness was in the air (vrs 17), and wild animals roamed the streets (vrs 18). The first signpost on the roadmap to grace is to ask God to remember our struggles.
- “REIGN” – in vrs 19 we read You Lord reign forever. In the midst of his suffering Jeremiah reminds himself of what he knows to be true – God is sovereign over everything, including our pain. God is in control and every event is in accordance with his plan. Remember what we learned from Lamentations 3:37, 38; Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? He reigns forever. In vrs 2-18 Jeremiah has catalogued a series of woes but ends with the profound acknowledgment “you reign.” God is still in control even in the midst of great loss. The ultimate proof of this is what we celebrate this Easter. In Acts 2:23, 24 the cruel death of Jesus Christ at the hands of wicked men is part of God’s plan. If God can take the most unjust moment in history and turn it into redemption, then surely in the midst of the Corona Virus we can say – “you reign.”
- “RESTORE” – Vrs 21 _Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old. _Jeremiah had long pleaded with his people to return to the Lord, and the destruction of Jerusalem was part of God’s plan to awaken the hearts of his people and bring them back to himself (Jeremiah 18:11). That is why the last verse of Lamentations has the language of God’s judgment. Notice that Jeremiah is NOT primarily praying “restore us to the land” or “restore our former prosperity.” No! The main problem is that they have departed from God. This is why his prayer is that God would restore his people to himself. One of the new catchphrases we have learned over the last few weeks is “social distancing” and for the present we must heed our governments call. But this is not our major problem! Our real problem is that we have been practicing “SPIRITUAL DISTANCING!!” This is why among the ruins of Jerusalem, Jeremiah understood that his peoples main need was to be restored to God.
We would do well in this 21 day period to pray in the three directions Jeremiah teaches. “REMEMBER, O God. See your people’s plight! Have mercy on us! In the midst of our woes we acknowledge that you REIGN! You control the corona virus and you are using it to humble us proud people. You are the Sovereign of this universe. And we acknowledge to our shame that we have strayed. RESTORE us to yourself once again.”