Lamentations , Sarah Barry
RESTORE US TO YOURSELF, O LORD
Passage: Lamentations 5:1~22  
Key verse: 21
5 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;
look, and see our disgrace.(A)
2 Our inheritance(B) has been turned over to strangers,(C)
our homes(D) to foreigners.(E)
3 We have become fatherless,
our mothers are widows.(F)
4 We must buy the water we drink;(G)
our wood can be had only at a price.(H)
5 Those who pursue us are at our heels;
we are weary(I) and find no rest.(J)
6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria(K)
to get enough bread.
7 Our ancestors(L) sinned and are no more,
and we bear their punishment.(M)
8 Slaves(N) rule over us,
and there is no one to free us from their hands.(O)
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives
because of the sword in the desert.
10 Our skin is hot as an oven,
feverish from hunger.(P)
11 Women have been violated(Q) in Zion,
and virgins in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes have been hung up by their hands;
elders(R) are shown no respect.(S)
13 Young men toil at the millstones;
boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The elders are gone from the city gate;
the young men have stopped their music.(T)
15 Joy is gone from our hearts;
our dancing has turned to mourning.(U)
16 The crown(V) has fallen from our head.(W)
Woe to us, for we have sinned!(X)
17 Because of this our hearts(Y) are faint,(Z)
because of these things our eyes(AA) grow dim(AB)
18 for Mount Zion,(AC) which lies desolate,(AD)
with jackals prowling over it.
19 You, Lord, reign forever;(AE)
your throne endures(AF) from generation to generation.
20 Why do you always forget us?(AG)
Why do you forsake(AH) us so long?
21 Restore(AI) us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;
renew our days as of old
22 unless you have utterly rejected us(AJ)
and are angry with us beyond measure.(AK)
Cross references
- Lamentations 5:1 : Ps 44:13-16; 89:50
- Lamentations 5:2 : Ps 79:1
- Lamentations 5:2 : S Ps 109:11
- Lamentations 5:2 : Zep 1:13
- Lamentations 5:2 : Jer 17:4
- Lamentations 5:3 : S Ex 22:24; Jer 15:8; S 18:21
- Lamentations 5:4 : S Isa 55:1; Eze 4:16-17
- Lamentations 5:4 : Isa 3:1
- Lamentations 5:5 : S Ne 9:37; Isa 47:6
- Lamentations 5:5 : S Jos 1:13
- Lamentations 5:6 : Jer 2:36; Hos 5:13; 7:11; 9:3
- Lamentations 5:7 : S Jer 31:29
- Lamentations 5:7 : Jer 14:20; 16:12
- Lamentations 5:8 : Ne 5:15
- Lamentations 5:8 : Zec 11:6
- Lamentations 5:10 : S Job 30:30; S La 4:8-9
- Lamentations 5:11 : S Ge 34:29; Zec 14:2
- Lamentations 5:12 : S Lev 19:32
- Lamentations 5:12 : S La 2:6; 4:16
- Lamentations 5:14 : S Isa 24:8; Jer 7:34
- Lamentations 5:15 : S Jer 25:10; Am 8:10
- Lamentations 5:16 : Ps 89:39; S Jer 13:18
- Lamentations 5:16 : S Job 19:9
- Lamentations 5:16 : S Isa 3:11; Jer 14:20
- Lamentations 5:17 : S Isa 1:5
- Lamentations 5:17 : S Jer 8:18
- Lamentations 5:17 : Ps 6:7
- Lamentations 5:17 : S Job 16:8
- Lamentations 5:18 : Ps 74:2-3
- Lamentations 5:18 : S Isa 27:10; Mic 3:12
- Lamentations 5:19 : S 1Ch 16:31
- Lamentations 5:19 : S Ps 45:6; 102:12, 24-27
- Lamentations 5:20 : S Ps 13:1; 44:24
- Lamentations 5:20 : S Ps 71:11
- Lamentations 5:21 : S Ps 80:3; Isa 60:20-22
- Lamentations 5:22 : S Ps 53:5; 60:1-2; S Jer 6:30
- Lamentations 5:22 : S Isa 64:9
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
1. Joy is gone from our hearts (1-18)
Some people think that freedom from God will make them happy. This was not the experience of Israel. When they rebelled against God and sinned, they lost everything they had valued. Their land was turned over to foreigners. They had to submit to the yoke of the superpowers in order to get enough food to eat. Their women were ravished by soldiers of foreign armies. Elders no longer sat in the city gate, and young men no longer got together to make music. Joy was gone from the land. Sin cuts us off from God and ruins our lives.
2. Restore us to yourself, O Lord (19-22)
The fortunes of men and nations rise and fall, but God's throne is forever. Our hope and the hope of all mankind is in God alone. When we repent and our relationship with God is restored, then joy is also restored to the heart.
Prayer: Lord, our sins have made a separation between you and us. There is no joy and no peace without you. Restore us to yourself.
One Word: Restore us to yourself, O God