“Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.”
The Prophet is rousing a people who lie torpid in their sins, still lying down spiritually though their enemies have driven them away. He bids them rise and cry out at the very time when others rest, pouring out their hearts before God, not heedlessly into the air, but earnestly to His face, that He might hear their petitions for their starving children.
AI summary
These lamentations paint grief itself; magistrates who sat in judgment now sit on the ground in silence, having stripped themselves of authority and donned mourning clothes. The young women who once held their heads high now bend them to the earth, learning sorrow from loss, genuine tears for what they have lost.
AI summary
Commenting on Lamentations 2:10-22
Rise from your beds, shake off your sloth and stupidity, and cry to God with great vehemency born of deep distress. Pour out your whole case before Him with utmost freedom, holding nothing back, your soul melted in floods of tears; lift your hands in prayer for your starving children, that He may at least preserve them.
AI summary