1. What did Israel ask God to remember?
What had come upon them: “(1) Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach. (2) Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. (3) We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. (4) We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. (5) Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest. (6) We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread” (Lamentations 5:1-6).
They desired God to remember what they’ve suffered, in hope of mercy (Habakkuk 3:2; cf. Jeremiah 31:20).
They desired God to behold their reproach (Psalms 74:10-11).
Israel was long ago warned that their disobedience would mean their houses, wives, etc. would be given to their enemies (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).
Their loses of families (Jeremiah 18:21).
The costs of famine (Jeremiah 52:6 and Ezekiel 4:9-17).
The yoke of slavery was upon their necks, as Jeremiah foretold (Jeremiah 27:1-12).
The giving of the hand is apparently the giving of an oath (Ezekiel 17:18).
2. What statement indicates that a generation had passed at the time of this lamentation?
“Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities” (Lamentations 5:7).
Their lamentation here is a bit off as they shift blame (Jeremiah 7:25-29 and Jeremiah 16:12).
Consider: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him” (Ezekiel 18:20).
Having said that, the events of previous generations certainly did contribute to their captivity in Babylon (II Kings 20:12-21, Jeremiah 15:4, and Daniel 9:16).
3. Who was delivering them from their captivity at this point in time?
No one: “Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand” (Lamentations 5:8).
“Servants have ruled over us” shows how the tables were turned on Judah. They were God’s chosen (Exodus 19:5-6 and Psalms 74:2), now ruled by servants (Micah 5:8).
None delivered (Psalms 50:22 and Hosea 5:13-14).
4. Had the people faced severe conditions because of their transgressions?
Yes: “(9) We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. (10) Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. (11) They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. (12) Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured. (13) They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood” (Lamentations 5:9-13).
Back to the risks taken due to famine (Haggai 1:6), which could have even tied to the flight of some to Egypt (Jeremiah 42:14-16).
Their skin black (Lamentations 4:8).
The women ravished (Zechariah 14:2).
Their leaders persecuted (Jeremiah 39:6-7).
Young men and children suffering (Jeremiah 6:11).
5. What happened to the elders, young men, joy, and the crown of Judah?
“(14) The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick. (15) The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. (16) The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned” (Lamentations 5:14-16)!
What it means when the elders aren’t at the gates (Deuteronomy 16:18).
No joyful songs from the youth (Jeremiah 7:34).
Why no songs, etc.? The joy had ceased (Amos 8:10).
The imagery of the fallen crown (Psalms 122:3-5, Jeremiah 13:18, and Lamentations 1:1).
What “we have sinned” means (Daniel 9:5-15).
6. What happened to the hearts of the people?
“For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim” (Lamentations 5:17).
The suffering from their sins caused them to faint (Ezekiel 21:7).
Even in the harshest of correction, the faithful must not faint (Hebrews 12:5-13).
7. What had happened to the mountain of Zion?
Desolation: “Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it” (Lamentations 5:18).
Desolation (Jeremiah 7:34, Jeremiah 9:11, Jeremiah 33:10, Jeremiah 44:6, and Ezekiel 12:19).
God tried to prevent this: “Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited” (Jeremiah 6:8). They would not listen and ultimately had to face the punishment for their disobedience (Jeremiah 6:13-22).
8. Did the people realize how bad off they were in the sight of the everlasting God?
Yes: “(19) Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation. (20) Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time? (21) Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. (22) But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us” (Lamentations 5:19-22).
They were right about this, the Lord is everlasting (Psalms 93:2, Isaiah 40:28, Jeremiah 10:10, and Revelation 1:8).
They were wrong in thinking God forgot about them (Deuteronomy 31:6-8).
There is a qualifier (Psalms 37:25, Psalms 37:28, and Jeremiah 17:13).
He forsook them because they forsook Him (Isaiah 65:11 and Jeremiah 23:33-40).
They reversed the order… It is turn to God so that He will return to them (II Chronicles 7:14, Proverbs 28:13, and Isaiah 55:6-7).
Another right one… He was wroth and did reject them (Isaiah 47:5-6).