Great Is Your Faithfulness
The first section of today’s reading started out with discussing the things that the Lord had done. It repeatedly says, “He has,” and lists all the things that had happened to the people as a result of God’s anger at their disobedience.
My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
-Lamentations 3:20
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,”
says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
-Lamentations 3:21-26
It is good for a man that
he bear the yoke in his youth.
Let him sit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
let him put his mouth in the dust–
there may yet be hope;
let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
-Lamentations 3:27-30
For the Lord will not cast off forever,
but, though he cause grief,
he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve the children of men.
-Lamentations 3:31-33
To crush underfoot
all the prisoners of the earth,
to deny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
the Lord does not approve.
-Lamentations 3:34-36
Let us test and examine our ways,
and return to the Lord!
Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:
“We have transgressed and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.”
-Lamentations 3:40-42
“You have wrapped yourself with anger
and pursued us,
killing without pity;
you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.”
-Lamentations 3:43-44
Water closed over my head;
I said, ‘I am lost.’
I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
you heard my plea,
‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’
You came near when I called on you;
you said, ‘Do not fear!’
-Lamentations 3:54-57
You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
you have redeemed my life.
-Lamentations 3:58
The Holy Stones Lie Scattered
How the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
at the head of every street.
-Lamentations 4:1
Happier were the victims of the sword
than the victims of hunger,
who wasted away,
pierced by lack of the fruits of the field.
-Lamentations 4:9
The Lord gave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger,
and he kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.
-Lamentations 4:11
The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
This was for the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
the blood of the righteous.
-Lamentations 4:12-13
Our pursuers were swifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
-Lamentations 4:19
Rejoice and be glad,
O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in the land of Uz;
but to you also the cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
The punishment of your iniquity,
O daughter of Zion,
is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer;
but your iniquity,
O daughter of Edom,
he will punish;
he will uncover your sins.
-Lamentations 4:21-22
Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord
Remember, O Lord,
what has befallen us;
look, and see our disgrace!
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.
We have become orphans, fatherless;
our mothers are like widows.
-Lamentations 5:1-3
Our pursuers are at our necks;
we are weary;
we are given no rest.
We have given the hand to Egypt,
and to Assyria,
to get bread enough.
Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
and we bear their iniquities.
-Lamentations 5:7
We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
because of the sword in the wilderness.
-Lamentations 5:9
The joy of our hearts has ceased;
our dancing has been turned to mourning.
The crown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
For this our heart has become sick,
for these things our eyes have grown dim.
-Lamentations 5:15-17
But you, O Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures to all generations.
-Lamentations 5:19
Why do you forget us forever,
why do you forsake us for so many days?
Restore us to yourself, O Lord,
that we may be restored!
Renew our days as of old–
unless you have utterly rejected us,
and you remain exceedingly angry with us.
-Lamentations 5:20-22