Read
Lonely Jerusalem
The Prophet Speaks:
1 Jerusalem, once so crowded,
lies deserted and lonely.
This city that was known
all over the world
is now like a widow.
This queen of the nations
has been made a slave.
2Each night, bitter tears
flood her cheeks.
None of her former lovers
are there to offer comfort;
her friends have betrayed her
and are now her enemies.
3The people of Judah are slaves,
suffering in a foreign land,
with no rest from sorrow.
Their enemies captured them
and were terribly cruel.
4The roads to Zion mourn
because no one travels there
to celebrate the festivals.
The city gates are deserted;
priests are weeping.
Young women are raped;
Zion is in sorrow!
5Enemies now rule the city
and live as they please.
The Lord has punished Jerusalem
because of her awful sins;
he has let her people
be dragged away.
6Zion's glory has disappeared.
Her leaders are like deer
that cannot find pasture;
they are hunted down
till their strength is gone.
7Her people recall the good life
that once was theirs;
now they suffer
and are scattered.
No one was there to protect them
from their enemies who sneered
when their city was taken.
8Jerusalem's horrible sins
have made the city a joke.
Those who once admired her
now hate her instead—
she has been disgraced;
she groans and turns away.
9Her sins had made her filthy,
but she wasn't worried
about what could happen.
And when Jerusalem fell,
it was so tragic.
No one gave her comfort
when she cried out,
“Help! I'm in trouble, Lord!
The enemy has won.”
10Zion's treasures were stolen.
Jerusalem saw foreigners
enter her place of worship,
though the Lord
had forbidden them
to belong to his people.
11Everyone in the city groans
while searching for food;
they trade their valuables
for barely enough scraps
to stay alive.
Jerusalem Speaks:
Jerusalem shouts to the Lord,
“Please look and see
how miserable I am!”
12No passerby even cares.
Why doesn't someone notice
my terrible sufferings?
You were fiercely angry, Lord,
and you punished me
worst of all.
13From heaven you sent a fire
that burned in my bones;
you set a trap for my feet
and made me turn back.
All day long you leave me
in shock from constant pain.
14You have tied my sins
around my neck,
and they weigh so heavily
that my strength is gone.
You have put me in the power
of enemies too strong for me.
15You, Lord, have turned back
my warriors and crushed
my young heroes.
Judah was a woman untouched,
but you let her be trampled
like grapes in a wine pit.
16Because of this, I mourn,
and tears flood my eyes.
No one is here to comfort
or to encourage me;
we have lost the war—
my people are suffering.
The Prophet Speaks:
17Zion reaches out her hands,
but no one offers comfort.
The Lord has turned
the neighboring nations
against Jacob's descendants.
Jerusalem is merely a filthy rag
to her neighbors.
Jerusalem Speaks:
18The Lord was right,
but I refused to obey him.
Now I ask all of you to look
at my sufferings—
even my young people
have been dragged away.
19I called out to my lovers,
but they betrayed me.
My priests and my leaders died
while searching the city
for scraps of food.
20Won't you look and see
how upset I am, our Lord?
My stomach is in knots,
and my heart is broken
because I betrayed you.
In the streets and at home,
my people are slaughtered.
21Everyone heard my groaning,
but no one offered comfort.
My enemies know of the trouble
that you have brought on me,
and it makes them glad.
Hurry and punish them,
as you have promised.
22Don't let their evil deeds
escape your sight.
Punish them as much
as you have punished me
because of my sins.
I never stop groaning—
I've lost all hope!
Reflect
The book starts with an outpouring of pain, first expressed through the narrator (vv 1–9b,10,11b,17) and then through Jerusalem personified as a woman, Daughter Zion (vv 9c,11c–16,18–22).
Jerusalem’s desolation is total. All her former glory is gone. She is reduced to slavery (v 1), isolated in exile (vv 3,5,18), starving (vv 11,19), naked (v 8). The word pictures pile up, producing an impression of abject misery. All the joy of worship is a distant memory (v 4), for the Temple is destroyed and defiled (v 10), the priests powerless (v 4). She is betrayed by friends (vv 2,19,21) and ridiculed by enemies (v 21).
As though this were not enough, the pain is compounded by the knowledge that on the one hand she has brought this on herself by her sin and, on the other, it has been inflicted on her by her God (vv 13–15). At this stage addressing God is hard and cannot get beyond the pain. Grief is expressed in many ways and rarely takes a straightforward course, but this is not unusual.
No two persons’ suffering is the same. Our pain may not be the consequence of our sin and failure, in which case it will feel all the more unjust and inexplicable – or it may be, in which case naming it and demonstrating remorse (v 20) will be appropriate responses. It may not have been inflicted by God – although it may well feel like it – but in any case, could not an all powerful and all loving God have prevented it?
This chapter gives us permission to give full expression to our pain and to ask questions, honestly and openly. In some of our more reserved cultures we need to find better ways of expressing grief, for as we do so we shall begin to find the first glimmers of relief.
Respond
Loving God, I bring to you those I know who are in pain. Please show me what more I should do to show them support. Amen.
First used in Encounter with God April – June 2015, written by John Grayston, copyright Scripture Union. Used with kind permission.
John Grayston
John is now retired after 37 years on the Scripture Union England and Wales staff, but still writes, teaches and preaches. He has two children and seven grandchildren and his hobbies are skiing, hill-walking, photography and gardening.