Week 27 Lamentations
If books of the bible were colour-matched then Lamentations would be at the cool end of the spectrum where blue bleeds into indigo. A bible-reader tries not to let sentiment determine the plan but if I’m feeling kind of blue I’d be tempted to save Lamentations for another day.
Jeremiah ends his book of mostly tragic-sadness like this:
The joy of our hearts has ended
Our dancing has turned to mourning…
Disaster has fallen upon us because we have sinned
Our hearts are sick and weary
And our eyes grow dim with tears
For Jerusalem is empty and desolate
A place haunted by jackals
But Lord, you remain the same forever…
Why do you continue to forget us?
Why have you forsaken us for so long?
Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to you again!
Give us back the joy we once had!
Or have you utterly rejected us?
Are you angry with us still?
I read somewhere that when the book of Isaiah was read publicly the last verse of the book is so dispiriting that the reader would read it and then go back and re-read the second-last verse.
I guess the last verse of Lamentations is so pessimistically uncertain that a reader would be tempted to do the same there.
Which makes for a less lamentable ending for the audience.
Which is maybe a less lamentable ending than Jeremiah intended.
Note: quote from Lamentations 5:19-22 (NLT)