Daily Devotional | An Honest Cry

It is one thing to reflect on the problem of suffering in the quietness of the philosopher’s study. It is something entirely different to think about it while lying in a hospital bed or standing beside the coffin of someone we love. It is important to remember that the observations recorded in the book of Lamentations are not mere poetic abstractions or philosophic speculations. They are reflections forged in the fire of extreme affliction.

The conditions for those who remained in Jerusalem continued to be grim even after the city fell. Necessities like water and wood were to be had “only at a price” (v. 4). Meanwhile, Babylonian victory did not necessarily mean the end of hostilities. In Hebrew, verse 5 speaks of defeat mixed with exhaustion. In the original text, the first half of the verse literally says, “Our pursuers are at our necks.” Some translators see this as an allusion to the yoke, a common symbol of oppression in Scripture. Others interpret it as a reference to an enemy’s close pursuit.

Either way, the basic point is the same. Life was hard. After the siege was over, it must have seemed even harder. The hope of victory was now gone. Circumstances were so difficult that Judah was reduced to begging their enemies for help. The Hebrew in the first phrase of verse 6 pictures Judah as having “given the hand to Egypt and Assyria” in order to get enough bread. The mention of these two nations, both ancient enemies of God’s people, is probably symbolic, pointing to past treaties as a point of comparison for Judah’s current plight. Their mention also sets the stage for the theological explanation for Judah’s suffering given in verse 7: “Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment.”