For Lent, the Worship Committee decided that we should take up a daily practice of reading Bible verses and offering space in worship to reflect upon the readings each week. We’ve chosen to read through Lamentations, after starting Lent with the different trips of Jesus into the wilderness.
Thus far this week:
Lamentations 1:
1 Oh, no!
She sits alone,
the city that was once full of people.
Once great among nations,
she has become like a widow.
Once a queen over provinces,
she has become a slave.
2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
her tears on her cheek. None of her lovers comfort her.
All her friends lied to her;
they have become her enemies.
3 Judah was exiled after suffering
and hard service.
She lives among the nations;
she finds no rest.
All who were chasing her caught her—right in the middle of her distress.
4 Zion’s roads are in mourning;
no one comes to the festivals.
All her gates are deserted.
Her priests are groaning,
her young women grieving. She is bitter.
Monday:
5 Her adversaries have become rulers;
her enemies relax.
Certainly the Lord caused her grief
because of her many wrong acts.
Her children have gone away,
captive before the enemy.
6 Daughter Zion lost all her glory.
Her officials are like deer
that can’t find pasture.
They have gone away, frail,
before the hunter.
Tuesday:
7 While suffering and homeless,
Jerusalem remembers all her treasures
from days long past.
When her people fell by the enemy’s
hand, there was no one to help her.
Enemies saw her, laughed at her defeat.
8 Jerusalem has sinned greatly;
therefore, she’s become a joke.
All who honored her now detest her,
for they’ve seen her naked.
Even she groans and turns away.
9 Her uncleanness shows on her clothing;
she didn’t consider
what would happen to her.
She’s gone down shockingly;
she has no comforter.
“Lord, look at my suffering—
the enemy has definitely triumphed!”
We’ll post the rest of the passages every day during Lent.
