FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE PIT
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The book of Lamentations, although anonymous in itself, is generally believed to be further writings of the prophet Jeremiah. The book is in character with the tone of Jeremiah’s ministry and records his sorrow over the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple, and seemingly the nation. Each of the first four chapters is an acrostic poem, in which each subsection begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Thus, these extended poems are literally expressions of grief from A to Z. But Chapter 3 is different in its approach. It takes a more personal tone and seems to draw on Jeremiah’s own experiences as a prophet of God while at the same time using those experiences as figurative of the experiences of the whole people of Israel. The conclusion is that God will be as faithful and merciful to His people as Jeremiah had found Him to be in his own life and experience. As we have seen, Jeremiah had a literal experience in the depths of the pit: “They tried to end my life in a pit and threw stones at me; the waters closed over my head, and I thought I was about to perish” (Lamentations 3:53, 54).
This was figuratively where the people of Israel now found themselves, but Jeremiah’s testimony was that God had still heard and seen him when he was in the same predicament. God’s first words were, “Do not fear.” God had heard, seen, and drawn near to Jeremiah in the depths of the pit. Then he says, “You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life” (Lamentations 3:58). In the midst of this extended poem of lament comes the assurance that, just as God had intervened for Jeremiah, so would He intervene to rescue His people.
And His first message to His grieving people was “Do not fear.”
