Oh, oh, oh . . . How empty the city, once teeming with people. A widow, this city, once in the front rank of nations, once queen of the ball, she’s now a drudge in the kitchen. She cries herself to sleep each night, tears soaking her pillow. No one’s left among her lovers to sit and hold her hand. Her friends have all dumped her. After years of pain and hard labor, Judah has gone into exile. She camps out among the nations, never feels at home. Hunted by all, she’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. Zion’s roads weep, empty of pilgrims headed to the feasts. All her city gates are deserted, her priests in despair. Her virgins are sad. How bitter her fate. Her enemies have become her masters. Her foes are living it up because GOD laid her low, punishing her repeated rebellions. Her children, prisoners of the enemy, trudge into exile. All beauty has drained from Daughter Zion’s face. Her princes are like deer famished for food, chased to exhaustion by hunters.
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4 Days
Does suffering ever cause you to wonder if God is punishing you? Through study of God's word, reflection and prayer, let this 4-day plan help you draw closer to God in difficult times.
5 Days
Most likely written by the prophet Jeremiah, Lamentations is a collection of poems mourning the siege of Jerusalem and the coming exile of Judah. Despite the wickedness of God’s people that led to their captivity, the writer reminds his readers the loyal love and mercy of the Lord are truly new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). Even in deep darkness, God is our portion, our hope, and our salvation.
In difficult times, do you feel like God is silent? The book of Lamentations offers a language for times when you feel alone in sorrow. Lamentations invites you to pour out your most difficult emotions in prayer and to return to the God who loves you and is working all things together for good. In this five-day series, read through the book of Lamentations and consider God's steadfast love.
6 Days
Lamentations in the Old Testament chronicles the prophet Jeremiah’s mourning as his hometown, Jerusalem, lies in ruins due to his people’s sin. The “daughter of Zion” once prized by God is destroyed. In this six-day devotional, Chantelle Hobbs—a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary—pairs Jeremiah’s emotional prose with lyrical laments expressed in the Spirituals of her forerunners in the faith. Included are original recordings of the songs.
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