When a pipe burst in our home and the necessary repair seemed difficult, the contractor we had hired reassured us. “Anything can be fixed,” he said. “Even if we have to tear the whole house down and start over.” My wife, Jane, and I found a kind of odd comfort in his words.

It is hard not to be disturbed by the violent imagery that we find in Lamentations, in part because we understand that there is literal physical suffering behind it. When we read that the Lord “laid waste his dwelling like a garden” (v. 6), we can’t help wondering in the secret place of our hearts if He hasn’t gone too far. What we should not miss is that all of these things belonged to God. Jeremiah speaks of “his dwelling” and “his place of meeting” (v. 6). The festivals and Sabbaths that can no longer be observed were “appointed” by Him (v. 7). The altar and sanctuary were His as well (v. 7). What Jeremiah does not state, but what is surely implied by Jeremiah’s frequent reference to “Daughter Zion” in this poem, is that these are also His people. God can do as He pleases with what is His own.

Furthermore, we should also note that as terrible as this destruction may be, it was not random. Jeremiah observes that the Lord “stretched out a measuring line and did not withhold his hand from destroying” (v. 8). The Lord did not fly into an uncontrollable rage only to be shocked by the damage He had done. By contrast, God’s actions are always informed by His perfect understanding. They were designed to produce the profound sense of repentance that Jeremiah voices in verses 9–10. The Owner tore down His house so that He could rebuild it.

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