Lamentations 1:12-16

II. A LAMENT BY THE CITY Lamentations 1:12-22

In Lamentations 1:12-22 the lonely, tearful widow takes up her lament. She appeals to passers-by to take note of the incomparable agony of Zion (Lamentations 1:12-16). She appeals to neighboring nations to help her in her hour of need (Lamentations 1:17-19). She then appeals to God to execute His vengeance upon the mocking enemies (Lamentations 1:20-22).

A. The Appeal to Passers-by Lamentations 1:12-16

TRANSLATION

(12) Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold and see if there exists any sorrow comparable to that which has been brought upon me, which the LORD inflicted upon me in the day of his fierce anger. (13) From on high he has sent forth fire into my bones and it prevailed over them; He spread a net for my feet making me turn back; He has made me astonished with sorrow all the day. (14) The yoke of my transgression was bound by His hand; they were fastened together, placed upon my neck. He caused my strength to fail! The Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot resist. (15) The Lord has despised all my mighty men in the midst of me; He convoked a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men. The Lord has trodden as a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah. (16) Because of these things I weep, my eye, my eye flows with tears; for a comforter who can refresh my soul is far from me! My children are astonished because the enemy has prevailed.

COMMENTS

Unable to bear any longer the weight of her misery Zion cries out in desperation to the caravaneers and travelers who walk the busy trade routes near Jerusalem, IS it nothing to you? Do you not care what has happened to me? Have you no sympathy to offer me? Zion challenges the passers-by to name one city which they have observed in their wide travels whose sufferings are comparable to that of Jerusalem. Zion apparently feels that her suffering is unique and unparalleled. After all it is the Lord, Zion's God, who has administered the painful and fatal stroke in the day of His fierce anger (Lamentations 1:12). The Lord has sent the fiery bolts of His wrath upon them from heaven. The very bones of their body seem to burn within them. Perhaps the city's misery is here being compared to a burning fever. The Lord has also spread nets for the feet of Zion causing them to fall into the hands of her enemies. Her sorrow is so great that she is astonished i.e., has entered into a state of stupefaction (Lamentations 1:13). God had taken all of their unforgiven sins and had woven them together in a yoke which was so heavy that the strength of the nation was dissipated in trying to bear it. Weak and weary from trying to bear the yoke of accumulated sins Judah was easy prey for her enemies (Lamentations 1:14). At the appointed time the Lord had convoked a solemn assembly of foreign powers for the purpose of fighting against and destroying Jerusalem. Zion's mighty men as well as the flower of her youth were cast into the winepress of God's wrath.

The once pure and undefiled virgin daughter who had been loved and treated so tenderly in the past now was trampled under foot by the Almighty (Lamentations 1:15). Because of these terrible blows Zion weeps with inconsolable sorrow. No one would even attempt to comfort her. Zion's children, her inhabitants, have been thrown into a state of complete shock because the Chaldean enemy has prevailed over them (Lamentations 1:16).