Full Description
In Lamentations, we read of the unbearable grief experienced by a group of believers. Leslie Allen suggests the book can be read as the script of a liturgy performed to help the people of God come to terms with the fall of Jerusalem and the national catastrophe it entailed. It reveals God's sometimes hidden support for those who grieve and for their caregivers.
In this unique commentary on Lamentations, respected Old Testament scholar and volunteer hospital chaplain Leslie Allen appropriates this oft-neglected book of the Bible to deal with a universal issue. Incorporating stories of pastoral encounters with hospital patients, Allen integrates Scripture and pastoral care to present a biblical model for helping those coping with grief. The book includes a foreword by Nicholas Wolterstorff, author of Lament for a Son.
Contents
Foreword by Nicholas Wolterstorff
Introduction
Exposition
First Poem: Grief, Guilt, and the Need for Prayer
Human Losses (1:1-6)
Material Losses (1:7-11)
Zion's Cry of Culpability (1:12-16)
Comments on Zion's Cries (1:17)
Zion's Confession and Prayer of Grievance (1:18-22)
Second Poem: Grief, Guilt, and the Need for Prayer
God's Awesome Anger at Work (2:1-5)
God's Systematic Destruction of Zion (2:6-10)
A Sea of Troubles (2:11-17)
A Call to Zion to Pray and Zion's Prayer (2:18-22)
Third Poem: The Wounded Healer
His Testimony of Guilty Wounds (3:1-16)
His Second Thoughts (3:17-24)
The Wounded Healer's Sermon (3:25-39)
His Call to the Congregation to Pray (3:40-51)
His Testimony of Prayers of Appeal and Grievance (3:52-66)
Fourth Poem: Grief and Guilt Prolonged--and to Be Reversed
The Cheapening of Human Life (4:1-6)
More Horrors of the Siege (4:7-11)
How One Guilty Group Suffered (4:12-16)
Despair--and Eventual Hope (4:17-22)
Fifth Poem: The Congregation's Prayer as Turning Point
Present Distress and Confession (5:1-7)
Humiliation, Sorrow, and Confession (5:8-16)
Challenging Cries for Help (5:17-22)
