Hard times ...

Jerusalem had fallen into hard times - ‘she who once was great among the nations... has now become a slave’ (Lamentations 1:1). Lord, we wonder why this happened. The explanation for this sad situation was not hard to find - ‘Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean...’ (Lamentations 8-9). We wonder, "Could things be turned around? Could there once again be blessing?" We thank You, Lord, that there was a way back to You - the way of being honest before You. They needed to look seriously at their way of life and think seriously about their attitude towards You, Lord. They were not to adopt an arrogant attitude - ‘There’s really nothing wrong with us. We’re doing all right.’ They were to come to You with a real confession of sin: ‘The Lord is righteous, yet I rebelled against His command... O Lord,... I have been most rebellious’ (Lamentations 1:18,20). We thank You, Lord, that Your blessing will begin again when we confess our sin.