Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old… (Lamentations 5:21)
Lamentations reveals the suffering hearts of the Israelites. Whereas it’s true that they had been warned for many centuries about their wandering away from God, and the punishment that they faced they largely brought upon themselves, it’s still impossible to read of their misery and not feel the pain that they were experiencing.
The final cry at the end of the book should be the cry of any one of us who is going through pain or difficulty. Restore us, Lord. Bring us hope. Bring us back to the place where we know Your presence and we know Your guiding hand. Help us, Lord, because without You, we are nothing. It’s an acknowledgement of failure and a plea that our gracious heavenly Father will incline His ear and hear our need. In that moment, we trust that He will respond.
Father, You don’t have to incline Your ear to hear us, yet You invite us to cry out to You. We are nothing without You. Let us, in humility, submit ourselves to You.
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