�I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.� Verse 17
Lamentations 5:1-12,17
This is a cry out to God to remember the things that Israel has suffered, even though the suffering was, frankly, deserved. Israel�s commitment to God was sketchy, at best. They constantly turned away from him (just like we do) to serve other �gods.� And then, when things would get bad, when the consequences became more than they could bear, they (just like we do) would turn back and cry out for mercy. And God, who is a God of mercy, always, ALWAYS received them back and healed them.
Honestly, when I read this passage, I don�t see it as humility. I see it as a pity party. There�s even a little bit of the �blame game� going on when they say, �Our parents sinned and are no more, and now we�re paying for the wrongs they did.� For some reason, I just don�t feel sorry for them. However, I�m not God. (Aren�t we all glad of that?) And I believe that God would see through the whining and blaming and look at the heart. If, in fact, this cry is truly from the heart, with a spirit of repentance, then God will see that and honor it and restore them. One huge difference between us and God in situations like this is that we can�t see the heart. We can only guess. And we probably guess wrongly a lot.
Grace and peace, friends.