Introducing Lamentations

Lamentations 1-3

            Lamentations is a beautifully structured book, although only part of that structure is apparent to an English reader. The part that we can see in English is that the book has four chapters of 22 verses (chapter 1-2 and 4-5) and one central chapter of 66 verses. The center verses of chapter 3 are the theological heart of the book. 3:22 confesses that Israel is not fully consumed, that the Lord’s compassion never fails. 3:23-42 continue that theme and consider who one of God’s people (or all of God’s people) are to consider their suffering. God’s mercies are new every morning; the Lord is good to those who hope in him. It is good to wait for the Lord. The Lord does not cast off forever; He doesn’t willingly bring affliction. Humble repentance is the right attitude for the chastised child of God.

            The other phenomenon, the one that we cannot replicate in English is that in Hebrew the book is filled with acrostics. In chapters 1, 2 and 4, every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In chapter 3, the pattern becomes more intense, and there are three lines beginning with A, then three lines beginning with B, and so on. Chapter 5 is the only one that is not an acrostic.

            Let me quote scholar N.T. Wright at length:

[Jeremiah is saying] there is a pattern, a form, underneath it all. So at the very moment Jeremiah is saying in his poem, ‘This doesn’t’ make sense! There’s no meaning to al this! Why should this be happening?’ he is expressing that outburst of grief in a form which says, ‘And yet I believe it isn’t random; I believe there is meaning and purpose, even though I can’t see it at all just now.’ He can see nothing but chaos and ruin all around, but he has expressed that is a pattern which says, “And yet I trust that somewhere, somehow, there is order after all” (Christians at the Cross, 64-65).

Faith waits on the Lord, even—especially!—when we cannot perceive God’s plans and purposes for ourselves. That’s a pretty good summary of Lamentations.