Lamentations 5
v.7
Our fathers sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment.
v 20 is an eloquent refutation of this proverb. It answers the serious error of believing in communal or family salvation or damnation and teaches the great truth of the individual’s responsibility before God.
v.16
The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
v.19
You, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.
v.21
Cause us to return to You, O Yahweh, that we may be returned; Renew our days as of old,
If God is not the author of our repentance, we will never properly repent. Sometimes the best prayer possible is not “I repent” (though that is a good prayer). A better prayer is, turn me back to You, O LORD. I need you to give me the gift of true repentance.
v.22
unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.
CA?
Just as it is difficult for us to grasp why Jeremiah should have had to suffer more than his contemporaries, so it seems strange to many that one who could so pour out his heart to God should receive so little consolation. There is not even the burning hope of return and restoration that Jeremiah and Ezekiel voiced. The simple fact is that the people of Israel - with few exceptions - had so failed to grasp God’s revelation that an experience parallel to the bondage in Egypt and a new Exodus were needed to prepare Israel for the appearance of her Messiah and the world’s Savior.