“What’s the worst that can happen?” people sometimes ask. The question is meant to show us that our worst fear is usually not as bad as we think. But what if it is? What do we do when our worst fears become reality?

This second poem of Lamentations concludes with an appeal to Zion to cry out to God. “You walls of Daughter Zion, let your tears flow like a river day and night; give yourself no relief, your eyes no rest,” the prophet says (v. 18). Yet what good are tears in a situation like this? They will not undo the damage that has been done. They won’t bring back those loved ones whom the enemy has destroyed (v. 22). Why weep when weeping won’t change anything?

God takes note of our tears. Psalm 56:8 says, “Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll—are they not in your record?” Jeremiah does more than merely urge Zion to vent her emotions. The tears he prescribes are an act of communion, as God’s people pour out their hearts “in the presence of the LORD” (v. 19). Jeremiah describes lament as a form of intercessory prayer, telling Zion: “Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children” (v. 19). More than this, he gives her the words to use, expressing not only deep grief but describing Zion’s sufferings in painful detail. These are more than complaints. They are an acknowledgment of God’s hand in what has happened. In verse 22 Zion speaks of God as the primary architect of her suffering. The emotional tone in verse 20 is emphatic but also somewhat ambiguous. Is the question asked in horror, outrage, or dismay? All of these feelings are common to grief.

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