Matthew Henry's Complete Bible Commentary

Lamentations

Lamentations 1

We have here the first alphabet of this lamentation, twenty-two stanzas, in which the miseries of Jerusalem are bitterly bewailed and her present deplorable condition is aggravated by comparing it with her former prosperous state; all along, sin is acknowledged and complained of as the procuring cause of all these miseries; and God is appealed to for justice against their enemies and applied to for compassion towards them. The chapter is all of a piece, and the several remonstrances are interwoven; but here is, I. A complaint made to God of their calamities, and his compassionate consideration desired, Lamentations 1:1-1:11. II. The same complaint made to their friends, and their compassionate consideration desired, Lamentations 1:12-1:17. III. An appeal to God and his righteousness concerning it (Lamentations 1:18-1:22), in which he is justified in their affliction and is humbly solicited to justify himself in their deliverance. MHBCC 799.1