God’s Structure Behind The Destruction

God’s Structure Behind The Destruction

Lamentations is more than a poem about the fall of Jerusalem, or the great sorrow associated with it, or even the sins that caused it. It’s about all these things for sure, but most of all it’s about a faithful God who loves His people in spite of their utter failure, and desires to restore them.

Maybe that’s why such a chaotic subject as the destruction of Jerusalem is presented in such a highly structured elegiac poem.

Let’s consider a few things about its structure. To begin with, Lamentations is a five-chapter acrostic poem. Each verse of chapters one, two, four and five begins with a successive letter of the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet. In the third chapter, each set of three verses follows the same alphabetic pattern for 22 sets. Then, the first and fifth chapters summarize the siege and fall of Jerusalem, while the second and fourth provide specific details. The third, or middle chapter, contains the turning point of the poem, and its most memorable verses: “Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ... The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him” (Lam. 3:21-25 NIV). Finally, the whole poem is written in a limping meter that is characteristic of a funeral dirge.

Why such a highly structured poetic form for such a sad, chaotic subject as destruction? Because of what those most memorable verses tell us: No matter how bad things are, our compassionate God is consistent in His love, faithfulness and goodness to those who hope in Him.

As you read our Features, we hope you’ll become more aware of the unchanging structure of our faithful God, and begin to look for His great compassions behind the dark, destructive clouds of your personal lamentations. They’re there, and they’re new every morning.

By Larry Ondrejack