Saying How

09.09.13

Lamentations 1.1 1 How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. (ESV)

In my Bible, the study notes say this: “In the Hebrew Bible, Lamentations is called Ekah (“How”), after the first word in the book.” Ekah could this happen?

Many people on a routine basis suffer pain. They suffer in relationships; they suffer on the job; they suffer financially; they suffer physically. And much of the time, their suffering catches them asking: how could this happen!? How could you do that!? How come this is happening to me!? The word in Lamentations is not a question; it’s a statement: How lonely sits the city that was full of people… that’s how.

I don’t think most of life is all that unpredictable; I think there are plenty of signs along the way. To be sure there are things that pop up all of a sudden – the car wreck, the found coin, etc.  But for the most part what’s coming at us is evident if we choose to pay attention to what’s going on around us.

What we do about the signs is a different matter; for the most part however, I think they are fairly visible. And to make a statement about Jerusalem and prefix it with the word, how simply meant their fall was predictable, and what happened as a result was because they ignored the signs – the warnings along the way.

“How” in this instance was a sorrowful bemoaning – a wretched weeping over the consequences for the choices they made. “How” summed up just how bad things were.

I daily hear comments from people about our own nation and the spot in which we find ourselves to the tune of: “How screwed up we are these days!” It’s been fairly predictable: we, as the free-est and blest-est people in the world forgot how we got to where we are, and like ancient Israel lament: How now!

God has never promised to keep us from trouble; He has always promised to keep us through trouble. For the unbelieving: they’re on their own. For the believing, God has promised: I will never leave you nor forsake you. So, for us who believe the question isn’t, “how?”; the statement is, how! Forsaking God and personal responsibility before Him has brutal consequences. Just ask Jeremiah who wrote: How lonely sits the city that was full of people!

Father, help me to be vigilant in my pursuit of You and in my daily walk in holiness. May I never ask, “How?”, as if I am so surprised by what’s going on; but may I say, “How!” in response to Your presence, Your promises, and Your providence in all I face – through Jesus, Amen.