Music always conveys a message. Jeremiah's funeral song of Lamentations is no exception. In many Jewish services, this book is still sung as a memorial to the many troubles the Jews have known. Written as an acrostic poem to be readily remembered, chapters 1, 2, and 4 each have twenty-two verses. There are also twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and each of the verses in these chapters begins with a letter from that alphabet. Chapter 3 has sixty-six verses with three consecutive verses starting with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter 5 also has twenty-two verses, but it is not in alphabetical order. Of course, these mechanics are lost in our English translation.
Six sobering lessons are taught in Lamentations: (1) If individuals and nations sin, punishment will come. (2) It is foolish to assume that because punishment is deferred, the sin is forgotten or ignored. (3) Although it may be pleasant to listen to false prophets of optimism, the stark truth is that sin has a payday. (4) The sinner, suffering for his sins, harps on the injustice of God, thus trying to ease his own conscience. (5) True remorse springs from understanding how serious our sins are. (6) There is a restoration for every captivity. God will forgive if we but ask Him.
Lamentations carries a powerful message to modern man. God's principles of justice have never changed; it is still true that we reap what we sow. However, there is also a glorious truth: God forgives those who turn to Him in true repentance. Superficial repentance avails nothing, but the man who is really sorry for his sins finds peace and happiness in Christ.
“It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23 KJV
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