Lamentations Chapter 1 – Consider Your Destiny, Consider Your Heart
The Book of Lamentations consists of a series of grief-filled poems mourning the finality of Jerusalem’s losses. They also seek comfort for these sorrows and hope in God’s mercy.
The first chapter describes Jerusalem’s catastrophic invasion by personifying Jerusalem as a woman. Here, she bitterly weeps for having fallen from the status of a princess to that of a lonesome slave, mocked by her enemies and punished by God (Lamentations 1:1-3).
Woven in this sorrowful song is a line that reveals the erroneous mindset catalyzing her downfall: She did not consider her destiny (Lamentations 1:9).
Did the people of Judah know what their destiny was for sinning so relentlessly, though?
Surely, they did.
The destiny for those mired deeply and unrepentantly in sin was written explicitly in God’s law (Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28). God had also sent prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah to warn the people, for decades, of the destiny awaiting those who disobeyed God.
These prophets furiously and urgently implored the people to restore their broken relationship with God—to change their destiny. Yet they did not.
We too should know what destiny awaits us, depending on what lives we choose to live. For one, those who do the will of God can enter the kingdom of heaven, while those who do not do the will of God cannot enter in (Matthew 7:21-23).
In addition to considering our destiny, we must consider our heart. What stopped the people from transforming their lives in righteousness was unbelief.
In the history of God’s people, this is not new. Those wandering in the wilderness who failed to enter the Promised Land “could not enter in because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:18-19).
We too must consider our hearts, for fear that we too have an evil heart of unbelief (Hebrews 3:12).
The medicine an unbelieving heart needs is humility and sincerity towards God. Our kind God has promised to give us a heart of flesh in place of a heart of stone, so that with the help of His Holy Spirit, we can deepen our faith and walk in His ways (Ezekiel 36:26-28).
As we consider our destiny, we pray for God to soften our hearts and to help our unbelief. Then, with a true heart of sincerity, we can transform our lives with godliness and march onward to our heavenly destiny.