'Restore Us To Thyself, O Lord.'

Surprising though it may seem, the Book of Lamentations can be of some value in the preaching of the gospel. A book bearing the unlikely title - ‘Lamentations’ - hardly creates the impression that it will be of any real use in the proclamation of ‘good news’. The desolation of God’s people in the twenty first century is so reminiscent of the desolation of which we read in Lamentations. Many watch what is going on in our generation, and they wonder, ‘Where is the Word of the Lord’ in all this? (Jeremiah 17:15) The sadness which pervades so much of Lamentations reflects the mood of many of the Lord’s people in our day - longing for better times, for the ‘days ... of old’ (5:21). Ours is an age of many questions and, so it seems, few answers. Lamentations is a book which ends with questions, ‘Why dost thou forget us for ever, why dost thou so long forsake us? ... Or hast thou utterly rejected us? Art thou exceedingly angry with us?’ (5:20, 22). So often, modern man expects no answer to his questions. In Lamentations, these questions are set in the context of believing affirmation - ‘But thou, O Lord, dost reign for ever; thy throne endures to all generations’ (5:19) - and earnest prayer - ‘Restore us to thyself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old!’ (5:21).
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This is the eighth post in a series on Lamentations.