Lamentations 5:19-22 – Our Sovereign LORD is in control

Rounding up his prayer, Jeremiah made His final appeal to Yahweh who alone remained enthroned forever. The prophet recognized and declared that God’s sovereign rule would always remain even when all else has passed away. What happened to Jerusalem had in no way altered the sovereign rule of God. Though Jerusalem had fallen, the nation had been dominated and her citizens deported to Babylon, God was never threatened. If there is anything, all these prove that God is still in control and that He was working out His purpose in the life and history of Israel, His chosen nation. All that had happened to His people did not happen in a vacuum. They had all been foretold and predicted in advance by the prophet.

In the ebb of despair, Jeremiah voiced his thoughts aloud. He wondered if the Jewish people still had a place in God’s heart. So, he asked in verses 21-22:

Why do You forget us forever?
Why do You forsake us so long?
Restore us to You, O Lord, that we may be restored;
Renew our days as of old,
Unless You have utterly rejected us
And are exceedingly angry with us.

Out of the depth of the realization of the nation’s sinfulness and helplessness, the prophet appealed to the Sovereign Lord for grace and compassion. He knew that if that would to take place, it would be up to God. The restoration of the nation would require divine initiation. This book ended inconclusively. Jeremiah himself acknowledged that the question he had raised was beyond him. It was in the sovereign hand of God. Haven’t we also sometimes asked tough questions to which we ourselves have no answers? In the depth of our despair, haven’t we wondered if God realizes what we are going through? But unlike Jeremiah, we are blessed. Our answer is found in Jesus Christ. He came to redeem us. And His clear words for us in Matthew 5:14 are “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” To God be the glory!