Memories can haunt us. For someone suffering the loss of a loved one, remembrances such as photos and even ordinary beloved objects can bring both comfort and pain. This fifth and final poem of the book once again expresses sorrow for all Judah had suffered. Everything said by Jeremiah here had already been said previously.

Yet, this chapter of Lamentations is more than a repeated complaint. Jeremiah’s closing song is a true act of worship. It includes both a confession of sin and a confession of faith. Speaking in Judah’s collective voice, this lament opens with a plea: “Remember, LORD, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace” (v. 1).

This is not grumbling or self-pity. The tone is subdued without being sullen. The prayer begins with a framing statement like the first petition in the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9). Also, like Jesus’ model prayer, this prayer begins with a statement of need (vv. 2–3). In this way, the worshiper who voices this lament can see what has been suffered in a context that is larger than Jerusalem’s shattered streets. Judah’s inheritance has been “turned over to strangers,” and their “homes to foreigners” (v. 2). But it is not lost forever (see Lam. 4:22). Jerusalem’s children “have become fatherless” and her “mothers are widows” (v. 3). But the fact that this prayer begins with a plea to Yahweh to “remember” and to “look and see” is testimony to the fact that Jerusalem has suffered under the watchful eye of God. Even when we are at our lowest point, we have not fallen out of God’s memory. Nor have we wandered beyond His sight. God knows our story. He sees our circumstances. He will also hear us when we cry out to Him.

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