A True Heart of Repentance - LAMENTATIONS START

Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. He wrote the Book of Lamentations to mourn the loss of his nation. The book reads like a funeral dirge with glimpses of hope scattered throughout. In this first chapter, we see the prophet overlooking the city, now emptied of all her glory and community. As we read, we learn what true repentance looks like.

Lamentations 1:1–2 (ESV) How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. 2 She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.

Notice the final assessment of Jerusalem here. Opening with a depiction of loneliness. Jeremiah notes that "her lovers" are not there to comfort her. What a picture of sin. It promises community but leaves you empty. It promises you family but leaves you lonely. 

In verse 10, we see another error Jerusalem made:

Lamentations 1:10 (ESV) The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious things; for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom you forbade to enter your congregation.

The Temple of the Lord was off-limits to the pagans. You had to know the Lord to worship there. While gentile god-fearers could come and did, Jerusalem allowed any and all who would to enter her most sacred place. This poignant passage reminds us that our bodies, now temples of the Holy Spirit, must be respected and treated as holy. We must not let the defilements of this world enter our bodies. We must take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 

Later in the chapter, the prophet plays the part of a repentant nation. 

Lamentations 1:18–19 (ESV) “The LORD is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word; but hear, all you peoples, and see my suffering; my young women and my young men have gone into captivity. 19 “I called to my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city, while they sought food to revive their strength.

Some people have to learn the hard way. Jerusalem acknowledges that here. 

Lamentations 1:20 (ESV) “Look, O LORD, for I am in distress; my stomach churns; my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword bereaves; in the house it is like death.

This is a true heart of repentance. There is no blaming others. There is no attacking God or questioning HIs justice. There is simply an acknowledgment of one's own sinfulness. In clearer terms, The most sinful person you should know is yourself. I need God's salvation for what I have done against Him.

Repentance is also rooted in the hope that the discipline of the Lord will end. We get that from the last verses of the chapter. 

Lamentations 1:21–22 (NKJV) “They have heard that I sigh, But no one comforts me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; They are glad that You have done it. Bring on the day You have announced, That they may become like me. 22 “Let all their wickedness come before You, And do to them as You have done to me For all my transgressions; For my sighs are many, And my heart is faint.”

Jeremiah knew the Lord would punish those who He used to punish Jerusalem. Here, he calls on that day to come. That's perfectly fine because as much as God punishes, He does so only to produce greater fruit! 

Herein lies the hope of every confessing saint. The pain of our sin will not have the final word, but God will bring about redemption and restoration through it all. The Lord has the final word.