Lamentations 1: Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is only death.

 Lamentations 1:1-22

Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. The Lord has brought her grief because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile, captive before the foe.

In the days of her affliction and wandering Jerusalem remembers all the treasures that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into enemy hands, there was no one to help her. Her enemies looked at her and laughed at her destruction.

“From on high he sent fire, sent it down into my bones. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long.

The Lord is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command. Listen, all you peoples; look on my suffering. My young men and young women have gone into exile.

Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is only death. People have heard my groaning, but there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my distress; they rejoice at what you have done. May you bring the day you have announced so they may become like me.

“Let all their wickedness come before you; deal with them as you have dealt with me because of all my sins. My groans are many and my heart is faint.”

We hear the voice of the poet; the city itself is grieving. Jerusalem is alone, deserted, mourning; the people have gone; the Temple defiled and destroyed, God has judged and punished the city for the enormity of its sin. Now, at last, Jerusalem cries out to him.

Why?

People knew that God had given them up to the enemy. Otherwise, it could not have happened. So these laments express the poet's grief, not simply over the suffering and humiliation of his people, but over something deeper and far worse; God's rejection of his own people because over and over again, despite repeated appeals and warning, God's covenant people had broken faith with him.

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1)v1-11: 三個強烈對比，繁華的城市變荒涼，尊榮的變弱勢，高貴者成為奴工。

神給我們的原來是如此豐盛、富裕，我們卻想自己發展，另起爐灶。苦難中仍然呼求神的名，雖然知道這個苦難來自神，無論在什麼景況，只要在神的手中，我們就有救了。

2)v12-17:叫路人注意，不要落入此狀，沒有反應嗎？。

這些苦都是從神而來的，沒有人像我這樣子。一切的災難都是從主來的管教，公義的審判。

不要以為這些事與我們無關

3)v18-22:禱告： 神是公義的，因為我違背神的命令。對自己的懊悔都向神陳明，不管什麼理由，求神幫助我們及時回轉，神仍然與我們同行。

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How?

When the judgment comes there is no chance to return to the Law or follow Jesus Christ, there is desolation, death, and suffering. Be aware of ourselves.