Israel’s exile was the direct result of their constant rebellion against God's covenant despite his persistent warnings through prophets. After the exile, now surrounded by war, grief and suffering, the people of Israel acknowledge their sin and cry out to God for restoration and repentance in these lament poems.

These poems are powerful and raw expressions of confusion, anger, and heartbreak. The poet is unafraid of being brutally honest with God, helping us understand how a true and honest expression of our pain to God is not only good, it is holy—a sign of a covenant partnership and trust in a holy God. Lament is an appropriate response to evil in the world, and it’s something we can learn to practice through meditating on the words of Lamentations.

A God Who Hears

The book of Lamentations is a collection of funeral poems offered on behalf of Jerusalem after its destruction by Babylon. Despite its bleak subject matter, it offers a biblical view of how humans can respond to God in their grief and distress. Hope is found through the complicated process of lament, a process that leads to true intimacy with a God who hears the cries of his people.