Quiet Time in Lamentations 1

Filip
Feb 14, 2022
3 min read

Updated: Mar 16, 2022

EXPAND TO READ: LAMENTATIONS 1 (HCSB)

Lament over Jerusalem

א Alef

1 How she sits alone, the city once crowded with people! She who was great among the nations has become like a widow. The princess among the provinces has been put to forced labor.

ב Bet

2 She weeps aloud during the night, with tears on her cheeks. There is no one to offer her comfort, not one from all her lovers. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

ג Gimel

3 Judah has gone into exile following affliction and harsh slavery; she lives among the nations but finds no place to rest. All her pursuers have overtaken her in narrow places.

ד Dalet

4 The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to the appointed festivals. All her gates are deserted; her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she herself is bitter.

ה He

5 Her adversaries have become her masters; her enemies are at ease, for the Lord has made her suffer because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the adversary.

ו Vav

6 All her splendor has vanished from Daughter Zion. Her leaders are like stags that find no pasture; they walk away exhausted before the hunter.

ז Zayin

7 During the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her precious belongings that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into the adversary’s hand, she had no one to help. The adversaries looked at her, laughing over her downfall.

ח Khet

8 Jerusalem has sinned grievously; therefore, she has become an object of scorn. All who honored her now despise her, for they have seen her nakedness. She herself groans and turns away.

ט Tet

9 Her uncleanness stains her skirts. She never considered her end. Her downfall was astonishing; there was no one to comfort her. Lord, look on my affliction, for the enemy triumphs!

י Yod

10 The adversary has seized all her precious belongings. She has even seen the nations enter her sanctuary— those You had forbidden to enter Your assembly.

כ Kaf

11 All her people groan while they search for bread. They have traded their precious belongings for food in order to stay alive. Lord, look and see how I have become despised.

ל Lamed

12 Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see! Is there any pain like mine, which was dealt out to me, which the Lord made me suffer on the day of His burning anger?

מ Mem

13 He sent fire from heaven into my bones; He made it descend. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, sick all day long.

נ Nun

14 My transgressions have been formed into a yoke, fastened together by His hand; they have been placed on my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand.

ס Samek

15 The Lord has rejected all the mighty men within me. He has summoned an army against me to crush my young warriors. The Lord has trampled Virgin Daughter Judah like grapes in a winepress.

ע Ayin

16 I weep because of these things; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one nearby to comfort me, no one to keep me alive. My children are desolate because the enemy has prevailed.

פ Pe

17 Zion stretches out her hands; there is no one to comfort her. The Lord has issued a decree against Jacob that his neighbors should be his adversaries. Jerusalem has become something impure among them.

צ Tsade

18 The Lord is just, for I have rebelled against His command. Listen, all you people; look at my pain. My young men and women have gone into captivity.

ק Qof

19 I called to my lovers, but they betrayed me. My priests and elders perished in the city while searching for food to keep themselves alive.

ר Resh

20 Lord, see how I am in distress. I am churning within; my heart is broken, for I have been very rebellious. Outside, the sword takes the children; inside, there is death.

שׁ Shin

21 People have heard me groaning, but there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my misfortune; they are glad that You have caused it. Bring on the day You have announced, so that they may become like me.

ת Tav

22 Let all their wickedness come before You, and deal with them as You have dealt with me because of all my transgressions. For my groans are many, and I am sick at heart.

PERSONAL JOURNAL:

SIN (verse 20): I have been extremely rebellious throughout my faith journey, Father. Ever since coming to faith I have chosen to essentially continue living in my own ways instead of truly following Your will for my life. Please forgive me for this rebellious nature, Father. My heart does hurt at times as implied in this verse, but typically it’s because of others. What I mean by this is as I get closer to You, those close to me tend to lag behind and that hurts my heart deeply.

PROMISE (verse 22): In this verse, You make us a promise that the wickedness of others will be dealt with according through Your just nature, just as You discipline us for our transgressions. Thank You for this, Father, as Your promises for discipline are necessary to our own well-being. Without righteous discipline, we would all falter more so than we already are. Just like a teenager who grew up without any rules, we would likely be identical to that level of immaturity in our faith walk with You, if not even worse.

ATTITUDE (verse 18): Help my default attitudes align more with how You want me to live, Father. I often live and dwell in my own Spiritual rebellion, trying to align myself with my selfish desires or the world’s way of living and this is not what You expect of Your followers in this life. Help me to be better at my defaults, Father, so they no longer are worldly attitudes and slowly but surely begin to align with Your Spiritual Attitudes.

COMMAND (verse 5): In this verse, You tell us that we will suffer for our many transgressions. Although You are speaking about Jerusalem here, I also feel this is speaking over all of Your followers specifically. You make sure we are aware that although our sins are forgiven for saving our eternal lives in heaven, we must still be judged for those transgressions during this lifetime. Help me to be better, Father, so that my judgement call when it is my time to join You in Heaven is not one of recent events, but only of my past.

EXAMPLE (verse 14): The example You give us in this single verse paints such an amazing picture for me. Our transgressions are formed into a yoke and then placed on our neck; our strength is broken by You throughout all of this. I see this as a great example because it precludes when Jesus tells us that His yoke is light. If we give our heavy and strength-shattering yoke to Jesus and we accept His “light” yoke for ourselves, then our strength returns because of Him. Thank You so much for this initial burden, Father, so that as we progress in our relationship with You, our yoke becomes less and less for us to bear.

*DAILY NOTE: Today’s Scripture in Lamentations I believe is the first time I’ve ever read a chapter in Lamentations fully. I am looking forward to seeing what else this short book has in store for our quiet time, Father. Thank You for today’s lesson. You painted such vivid pictures in my head of the turmoil Jerusalem had to go through at this point in history due to their massive transgressions against You. The symbolism You used throughout this Scripture really emphasized some points You were making, and I thank and praise You for all of that, Father. Thank You!

EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES

I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.