The Solitary City Series

Introduction

We open our Bibles today to a book of tears, to a funeral song for a city. The book of Lamentations opens not with a shout of praise, but with a gasp of grief. The prophet, traditionally held to be Jeremiah, looks out over the smoking ruins of Jerusalem—the city of David, the home of God's temple—and he weeps. He doesn't hold back his sorrow, he doesn't pretend everything is okay. He pours out his soul in a raw, honest lament. In this first chapter, we witness a profound journey from observing desolation to personally crying out to God. We see that true faith is not the absence of pain, but the courage to face it and bring it before the Lord.

I. The Agony of Abandonment (Lamentations 1:1-7)

A. From Princess to Pauper. The chapter opens with a gut-wrenching question: “How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!” (v. 1). Imagine the jarring contrast. Jerusalem, once a queen, a princess bustling with life and power, is now utterly alone, a widow in mourning, a slave paying tribute. Her glory is gone, her crown is in the dust, and her defining feature now is solitude.

B. Forsaken by Friends. In her darkest hour, she finds no comfort. “She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.” (v. 2). Those nations she once made alliances with, those friends she trusted, have not only abandoned her but have turned against her. There is a special kind of pain that comes from the betrayal of a friend, and Jerusalem is feeling it to its depths. There is no one to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

C. The Emptiness of Zion. The very heart of her spiritual life is now desolate. “The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.” (v. 4). The roads that once thronged with joyful pilgrims are now empty and silent. The gates are in ruins. The spiritual leaders sigh in defeat. The joy of worship has been replaced by the bitterness of affliction.

II. The Acknowledgment of Sin (Lamentations 1:8-11)

A. The Cause of the Calamity. The writer doesn't blame bad luck or political misfortune. He looks past the Babylonian army and sees the root cause. “Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.” (v. 8). This is a difficult but vital truth. The fall was not random; it was the consequence of persistent, grievous sin. Her iniquity has been exposed for all to see, and her shame is complete.

B. Forgetting the End. There was a spiritual blindness that led to this point. “Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.” (v. 9). Jerusalem lived for the moment, forgetting that sin has a payday. She didn't consider the consequences, the "last end" of her rebellion against a holy God. And so her fall was as shocking as her previous glory was great. Now, in her affliction, she finally turns her eyes upward and says, "O LORD, behold my affliction."

III. The Appeal for Intervention (Lamentations 1:12-22)

A. A Cry for Compassion. The perspective now shifts. It is no longer the prophet describing the city; it is the city herself crying out. She speaks to all who pass by: “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.” (v. 12). This is the cry of a soul that feels its pain is unparalleled. And she knows the source of this affliction—it is the hand of the LORD in His "fierce anger." She doesn't hide from this truth; she proclaims it.

B. Bound by Transgression. Jerusalem acknowledges that her suffering is a direct judgment from a righteous God. “The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.” (v. 14). She pictures her sins as a heavy yoke, crafted and placed upon her neck by God Himself, weighing her down, sapping her strength, and delivering her to her enemies.