Love Jesus 13

Excerpt from the Intro to the Book of Lamentations in the Life Application Study Bible (1996).

TEARS are defined simply as “drops of salty fluid flowing from the eyes.” They can be caused by irritation or laughter but are usually associated with weeping. sorrow, and grief. When we cry, friends wonder what’s wrong and try to console us. Babies cry for food: children cry at the loss of a pet; adults cry when confronted with trauma and death.

Jeremiah’s grief ran deep. He is remembered as the “weeping prophet,” and his tears flowed from a broken heart. As God’s spokesman, he knew what lay ahead for Judah, his country, and for Jerusalem, the capital and the city of God.” God’s judgment would fall and destruction would come. And so Jeremiah wept. His tears were not self-centered, mourning mover personal suffering or loss. He wept because the people had rejected their God–the God who had made them, loved them, and sought repeatedly to bless them. Jeremiah’s heart was broken because he knew that the selfishness and sinfulness of the people would bring them much suffering and an extended exile. Jeremiah’s tears were tears of empathy and sympathy. His heart was broken with those things that break God’s heart. Jeremiah’s two books focus on one event the destruction of Jerusalem. The book of Jeremiah predicts it, and Lamentations looks back on it. Known as the book of tears, Lamentations is a dirge, a funeral song written for the fallen city of Jerusalem.

What makes a person cry says a lot about that person-whether he or she is self-centered or God-centered. The book of Lamentations allows us to see what made Jeremiah sorrowful. As one of God’s choice servants, he stands alone in the depth of his emotions, broken by his care for the people, his love for the nation, and his devotion to God.

What causes your tears? Do you weep because your selfish pride has been wounded or because the people around you lead sinful lives and reject the God who loves them dearly? Do you weep because you have lost something of value or because people all around you will suffer for their sinfulness? Our world is filled with injustice, poverty, war, and rebellion against God, all of which should move us to tears and to action. Read Lamentations and learn what it means to grieve with God.