Depression?

 Greetings to  you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

    Lamentations 1:1-2 says,  “How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! 

 She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies”. 

     Was Jeremiah having a fit of depression?  I was sitting recently in my usual spot in the hallway running through some of the items on my prayer list.  Right  now, t hat includes many of the staff here at our abode.  Nurses are top on the list and many have gone through or are going through deep water, so to speak.  Things happen in their lives plus having to deal with the likes of me on a day to day basis, 24/7.  I was weeping and one nurse finally asked me what medication I was taking for my depression.  I  told her that I was not depressed but burdened for the staff and that I have been weeping more now than ever before in my life.  I am finding out  that when things break your heart , you weep and it is most ly for people.  Some of my meds may cause mood swings or such but that is not usually the reasons.  It is because of the needs of people.

     Lamentations is an  unusual book, of only 5 chapters, each chapter having a specific number  of verses.  22, 22, 66, 22 and 22.  The first  four chapters are alphabetical which is hard to do, especially for us, but not for the Holy Spirit.  The third chapter is constructed with three verses for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet  at that time.  You can’t see it in the English, but you can see it in Hebrew.  God wanted them to remember what they saw.  Adam Clarke says of the first  verse, “ Sitting down, with the elbow on the knee, and the head supported by the hand, without any company, unless an oppressor near, - all these were signs of mourning and distress.”  Jerusalem was in shambles and it was a sad sight. It could be compared today to Sleppo, or the Ukraine.  All that was beautiful was destroyed and all of the treasures of Solomon had been carried away by conquering nations.  Why?  They had been disobedient to God and judgment finally came.  Right in the middle, we hear the words, “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”  Perhaps the tune just went through your head of that great hymn.  God is still faithful to His Word which should be a comfort to us.  In 1947, God made Israel a nation again after 2500 years of captivity.  We are seeing it working out today.  Yes, God is indeed faithful to His Promises, all of them.  Praise God today that He is faithful even when we're not.