Lamentations 5:17 - Meaning and Application

The people of God are deeply troubled by the ruins of the temple, more than by any other loss. The honor of God’s house is heavier on their hearts than their own suffering. So they say, “Our heart is faint,” and their eyes grow dim and weak, as often happens in a fainting spell (Lamentations 5:17-18).

Their grief is especially for Mount Zion, the holy mountain where the temple stood. For other ruined places, their hearts grieve and their eyes weep, but for this their hearts fail and their sight fades. Nothing weighs more on godly people than anything that threatens the ruin of true religion or weakens its strength. It is also a comfort if we can honestly say to God that this hurts us more than our own personal troubles.

They also confess that their sins brought this on. The people polluted Mount Zion with sin, so God rightly made it desolate. It was reduced to such ruin that foxes now walk there as freely as they do in the woods. It is a sad thing when Mount Zion becomes a place for foxes (Psalm 63:10), but sin had first turned it into that, as in Ezekiel 13:4.

They comfort themselves with the truth that God is eternal and that his rule never ends (Lamentations 5:19). “But you, O Lord, remain forever.” They are taught to pray this way in the psalm called “A prayer of the afflicted” (Psalm 102:27-28). When all creature comforts are gone and our hearts fail, we can strengthen ourselves with the truth that God never changes.

God’s eternity means that nothing happening in the world disturbs him who made the world. Earthly changes do not alter the eternal mind. God is still the same, always wise, holy, just, and good. With him there is no change and no fading of goodness.

They also rest in the lasting rule of God’s kingdom: “Your throne is from generation to generation.” His throne of glory, his throne of grace, and his throne of rule cannot be shaken. This is a comfort when earthly crowns fall from our heads. When the thrones of princes, who should protect us, are brought low and buried in the dust, God’s throne still stands. He still rules the world, and he rules it for the good of the church.

Then they humbly ask God about their low condition and the hard look of his providence toward them (Lamentations 5:20). “Why do you forget us for so long? Why do you delay our rescue?” They are not saying God has truly forgotten them, much less that he has forgotten them forever. Rather, they are showing how precious his presence is to them, and how long it feels to be without the comfort of it.

The last verse may also be read as a question: “Will you completely reject us? Will you stay angry with us forever?” That would mean not only refusing mercy, but also showing wrath, not only staying away, but casting them out from his presence. They cannot see how that fits with God’s goodness, faithfulness, and covenant promise. We may not argue against God, but we may plead with him. We may not decide that he has cast us off, yet we may, as the prophet does in Jeremiah 12:1, humbly reason with him about his judgments, especially when the desolations of his sanctuary continue.

Finally, they pray earnestly for mercy and grace: “Lord, do not reject us forever, but turn us back to you; renew our days” (Lamentations 5:21). Though these words are not placed last, the rabbis repeat this prayer so the book will not end with the sad words of the next verse (Lamentations 5:22). They wanted the chapter to close with hope, not only sorrow.

They ask first for converting grace, the grace that turns sinners back to God and prepares them for mercy. “Turn us to you, O Lord.” They had complained that God had forsaken them, but their prayer is not, “Turn to us,” but “Turn us to you.” That admits that the distance came from their own side. God never leaves anyone until they first leave him, and he does not stay far away any longer than they remain far from him. If he turns them back to him in duty, he will surely return to them in mercy.

This matches the repeated prayer in Psalm 80:3, Psalm 80:7, and Psalm 80:19, “Turn us again, and then cause your face to shine.” They ask to be turned from idols to God himself through sincere repentance and reform, and then they will truly be restored. This also admits their own weakness. Human nature tends to drift away from God, but it has no power to return without his grace working in us to will and to do.

That grace is so necessary that they may truly say, “Turn us, or we will never be turned.” Otherwise they would keep wandering forever. Yet that grace is also so powerful that they may say, “Turn us, and we will be turned,” because God’s power makes his people willing (Psalm 110:3). They also ask for restoring mercy: “Renew our days as of old.” They want to be brought back to the happy state their fathers enjoyed long ago, and to have things with them as they once were, at the beginning (Isaiah 1:26).

If God renews our hearts by his grace, he will also renew our days in his favor, so that we may renew our youth like the eagle (Psalm 103:5). Those who repent and return to their first works will also recover their first comforts. God’s mercy toward his people has been from of old (Psalm 25:6), so even when he seems to have forgotten them, they may still hope that the mercy which is from everlasting will remain to everlasting.