{"id":2073,"date":"2026-11-06T07:16:19","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T07:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073"},"modified":"2026-11-06T07:16:19","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T07:16:19","slug":"intro-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073","title":{"rendered":"Intro"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Book of Lamentations is the collection of five poems or songs mourning the conquest of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the Bible, lamentation is a passionate, heartfelt cry of grief or sorrow. It is much more than crying. It is a raw, honest prayer in which the believer pours out their pain, confusion and anger to God, ultimately choosing to trust in His character and promises. They usually contain four elements \u2013 the cry, the complaint, the petition, and the trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly a third of the Psalms are prayers of laments. This book of Lamentations contains five funeral dirges or elegies, traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah. It serves as a poetic memorial to the pain, confusion, and grief the Israelites felt after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 B.C. Even in the depths of this tragedy, the book contains the famous declaration of hope:&nbsp;\u201cBecause of the Lord\u2019s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail\u201d&nbsp;(Lamentations 3:22).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The type of poetry is called Dirge Poetry was by no means uncommon in Near Eastern antiquity. The author of Lamentations stood therefore in a long and respectable literary tradition when he bewailed the destruction of Jerusalem and the desolation of Judah in 587 BC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first four of the five poems are written as acrostics. The twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet are used in succession to begin the lines and sections of those songs.&nbsp;It is said that the use of the alphabet symbolises that the completeness \u2014 \u2018the A to Z\u2019\u2014of grief is being expressed. We lament when our hearts are broken, when we feel helpless in our situation.<br><br>The Bible records several reasons why people lament. We lament when we grieve over the loss of someone or something dear to us (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bibleref.com\/Luke\/8\/Luke-8-52.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Luke 8:52<\/a>). Grief is a common human experience, and Jesus entered into that grief with us when He was on the earth. When Lazarus died, his sisters Mary and Martha grieved, and their friends lamented over this loss (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bibleref.com\/John\/11\/John-11-17.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John 11:17\u201337<\/a>). Jesus\u2019 heart was touched to such an extent that He wept with them (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bibleref.com\/John\/11\/John-11-35.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John 11:35<\/a>).<br><br>In 2 Chronicles 20:12 King Jehoshaphat lamented when enemy armies came against Israel and he did not know what to do. He called all Israel together and led them in this lament or cry to the Lord. The Lord honoured that lament and defeated their enemies for them (verse 22).<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the lifetime of some in this country who may be reading this, a National Day of Prayer was called for, and this is a form of lamentation. On May 26, 1940, King George VI called the UK to observe a National Day of Prayer. Millions flocked to churches to seek divine intervention as thousands of troops were trapped Dunkirk. This event was followed by the \u2018Miracle of Dunkirk and the successful evacuation of 338,000 soldiers. It was said to be one of the most defining moments of the British home front during World War 2. The English Channel became unusually calm, and bad weather grounded the German Luftwaffe, allowing a fleet of military and civilian vessels to rescue 338,226 Allied troops.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout the Second World War, King George VI called for a total of seven National Days of Prayer, with two more taking place later in 1940 (August 16 and September 8) during the Battle of Britain. No doubt we need someone to call one now, when we look at our society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These Days of Prayer may not have may not have been a lament over our sin, but they were a cry to God when all seemed lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We are instructed to lament over our sin. \u201c<em>For&nbsp;<\/em><em>godly sorrow produces repentance&nbsp;leading&nbsp;to salvation, not to be regretted;\u201d<\/em> (2 Corinthians 7:10). When we see our sin the way God does, we lament over it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The traditional belief is that the book is written by Jeremiah. He is known to have composed a lament over the death of King Josiah (2 Chronicles 35:25). Scholars are divided over the authorship of the book. Some say that a different author wrote each chapter. Certainly, Jeremiah mourned or lamented over Jerusalem, and he is usually credited with authorship, although he is not specifically mentioned as the author of this book, it is reasonable to conclude that he did because of great similarities with the book that bears his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the middle of these lamentations, in chapter 3, in utter hopelessness, destruction and ruin, Jeremiah triumphantly cries out, \u201cGreat is your faithfulness\u201d (3:23). God had not failed him in the past and promised to remain faithful in the future. Jeremiah\u2019s hope and confidence was in the LORD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Book of Lamentations is the collection of five poems or songs mourning the conquest of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah.&nbsp; In the Bible, lamentation is a passionate, heartfelt cry of grief or sorrow. It is much more than crying. It is a raw, honest prayer in which the believer pours out their pain, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lamentations"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Intro - A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Intro - A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Book of Lamentations is the collection of five poems or songs mourning the conquest of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah.&nbsp; In the Bible, lamentation is a passionate, heartfelt cry of grief or sorrow. It is much more than crying. It is a raw, honest prayer in which the believer pours out their pain, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-06T07:16:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jpdenison\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jpdenison\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"jpdenison\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9c6bd01b61c3cceeb6409a5c54a2a151\"},\"headline\":\"Intro\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-06T07:16:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-11-06T07:16:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073\"},\"wordCount\":772,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Lamentations\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073\",\"name\":\"Intro - A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-06T07:16:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-11-06T07:16:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Intro\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/\",\"name\":\"A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/simple-bible-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/simple-bible-logo.png\",\"width\":319,\"height\":127,\"caption\":\"A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9c6bd01b61c3cceeb6409a5c54a2a151\",\"name\":\"jpdenison\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9f42c1467ce1d9ad9fcbd108565104e769b9408fe0fe077260ced9dd86abd380?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9f42c1467ce1d9ad9fcbd108565104e769b9408fe0fe077260ced9dd86abd380?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"jpdenison\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/localhost:8080\/bible\/wordpress\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Intro - A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Intro - A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible","og_description":"The Book of Lamentations is the collection of five poems or songs mourning the conquest of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah.&nbsp; In the Bible, lamentation is a passionate, heartfelt cry of grief or sorrow. It is much more than crying. It is a raw, honest prayer in which the believer pours out their pain, [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073","og_site_name":"A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible","article_published_time":"2026-11-06T07:16:19+00:00","author":"jpdenison","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"jpdenison","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073"},"author":{"name":"jpdenison","@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9c6bd01b61c3cceeb6409a5c54a2a151"},"headline":"Intro","datePublished":"2026-11-06T07:16:19+00:00","dateModified":"2026-11-06T07:16:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073"},"wordCount":772,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Lamentations"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073","url":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073","name":"Intro - A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-11-06T07:16:19+00:00","dateModified":"2026-11-06T07:16:19+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?p=2073#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Intro"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/","name":"A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#organization","name":"A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible","url":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/simple-bible-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/simple-bible-logo.png","width":319,"height":127,"caption":"A Simple Mans Walkthrough The Bible"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9c6bd01b61c3cceeb6409a5c54a2a151","name":"jpdenison","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9f42c1467ce1d9ad9fcbd108565104e769b9408fe0fe077260ced9dd86abd380?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9f42c1467ce1d9ad9fcbd108565104e769b9408fe0fe077260ced9dd86abd380?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"jpdenison"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/localhost:8080\/bible\/wordpress"],"url":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2073"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2074,"href":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2073\/revisions\/2074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplemanswalkthroughthebible.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}