Michael Lawrence
RESOURCES
Commentaries and Other Reading [pdf, 342kb]
Sermon Series Suggestions [pdf, 63kb]
Key Terms [pdf, 68kb]
The book of Lamentations was written by an eyewitness in the days following Jerusalem’s fall to the Babylonian army in 587 BC. The author is anonymous, though Jewish tradition ascribes it to Jeremiah. While we cannot know for certain, nothing in these poems rules out Jeremiah, and much sounds like him. It is not hard to imagine the “weeping prophet” composing them in the dark days after Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of the city—or even from exile in Egypt.
Perhaps the anonymity is helpful. It allows readers across the ages, including us, to more easily enter into and appropriate the emotions expressed by the poet.
The historical events are described in 2 Kings 24–25. But instead of detached prose, Lamentations brings us face to face with grief through poetry. Poetry is designed to evoke emotion, not simply convey information. Here it brings us into Israel’s darkest moment in the Old Testament—tragic loss, societal collapse, absence of comfort. It is as if the world has ended. Worst of all, the catastrophe has come from God himself. The land is lost, the temple destroyed, the Davidic line seemingly broken, the people exiled—and the Lord is their enemy.
And yet, Lamentations directs that grief to the only one who can answer it: the Lord, who brought judgment in the first place.
Lamentations consists of five poems.
Chapters 1, 2, and 4: 22 verses each, structured as acrostics (each verse beginning with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet).
Chapter 3: The centerpiece of the book, with 66 verses—three verses for each letter of the alphabet.
Chapter 5: Also 22 verses, but no acrostic—showing structure breaking down under the weight of grief.
This structure is significant. On the one hand, it imposes order on the chaos of grief, moving from A to Z. But by the end, even that order unravels. The acrostic is gone, replaced by sobs and unanswered questions.
Chapter 1: Isolation and Abandonment
Zion is personified as a grieving woman—alone, comfortless, and devastated because of her sin. She pleads for the Lord to see her distress.
Chapter 2: Wrath
God’s fierce anger is central. His wrath is just and covenantal, yet the poet protests the devastation. “Look, Lord, and consider!” he cries. The grief is mingled with shock and appeal.
Chapter 3: Hope
The longest and climactic poem. The poet speaks personally, representing the nation’s suffering. Amid despair comes the turning point:
“Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s steadfast love we are not consumed, for his mercies never end.” (3:21–22)
Circumstances remain bleak, but God’s character—just and faithful—brings hope.
Chapter 4: Exhaustion
Even darker than chapter 2, but detached, as if the people have no strength left. Their punishment is complete, their grief exhausted.
Chapter 5: Humble Plea for Mercy
A corporate lament, stripped of acrostic order, yet voicing genuine repentance. The anger is gone; humility and vulnerability remain. Everything now depends on God’s mercy.
Preaching Lamentations requires entering its emotional world. It is not a book of abstract theology but of grief expressed in faith. It gives us permission and language to bring our deepest pain, questions, and even protests before God.
Several strategies help us connect Lamentations to Christ:
Historical Trajectory – The fall of Jerusalem anticipates later judgment: Jerusalem’s destruction in AD 70 and ultimately the final judgment. It shows all of us stand guilty, with no claim on God except mercy—fulfilled in Christ.
Typology – The representative sufferer of chapter 3 points forward to Jesus, the true Israel, who suffers innocently and bears God’s judgment for us.
Themes of Judgment and Mercy – Abandonment, wrath, exhaustion, humility, and hope all find fulfillment in Christ:
Abandoned, so we might be brought near.
Bearing wrath, so we might be forgiven.
Exhausting judgment, so we might find rest.
Praying for mercy, so we might be heard.
In Christ, Israel’s anguished cry—“Have you utterly rejected us?”—is answered: He was rejected so that we might be accepted.
For modern congregations, suffering is all too common. Sometimes it results from our own sin; other times it seems senseless. Like daughter Zion, we can feel abandoned by God. Lamentations shows us that we can say these things out loud, bringing our grief and even our anger to God. His shoulders are broad enough, his love firm enough, and his arms strong enough to hold us.
As preachers, we are called to connect the raw experiences of our people to the deepest realities of God’s character in Christ. Our people do not need clichés or shallow comfort—they need God’s Word.
Lamentations teaches us to lament in faith, to bring our sorrows before the Lord, and to cling to his mercies that are new every morning.
Lamentations is a powerful expression of faith and hope in the midst of suffering. It directs us not inward but upward—to the Lord who judges, yet also saves. May we help our people cut it straight in this book, giving them the language of lament and the hope of Christ.