A Cause – Lamentations 1:5

⁵ Her adversaries have become her masters,
her enemies take their ease,
for the LORD has made her suffer
because of her countless sins.
Her young children are gone,
taken captive by an adversary.

The Revised English Bible (Cambridge; New York; Melbourne; Madrid; Cape Town; Singapore; São Paulo; Delhi; Dubai; Tokyo: Cambridge University Press, 1996), La 1:5.

One of the things my mother taught me was always to look for my contribution to creating a problem. The reason, she told me, was not that I was probably to blame, or was supposed to always load up on guilt, but that those were the only things I could actually fix.

An underlying theme of Lamentations is that Judah bore responsibility for what had come upon her. That there were actions that had led to consequences. In our verse, it is the LORD who has brought these problems on Judah, yet that is because of their sins. Some people aren’t comfortable with this form of expression. It’s important, however, to remember that in the Bible stories God is seen as the cause of everything. There is little distinction made between things that result naturally and positive acts of God in specific circumstances. All of these result from God, God’s law, and God’s nature.

Lamentation is a good thing. What is not a good thing is whining. Yes, I do my share of complaining, of blaming everyone else. And I am not responsible by my actions for everything that goes wrong. I’ve had circumstances where I can’t think of what I could have done. But many times there is some action possible.

There are also those who look on any misfortune and blame the victim. Whatever the problem is, that person should have done something to prevent it. This too is destructive behavior.

Lamentation recognizes the situation and the fact that it has brought problems, hardships, pain, suffering.

Our verse today is solid with sorrow. Not a moment of joy. Not even the relief of finding someone else to blame.

Even so, it’s a step toward a more healthy future.