Lesson 395: Lamentations 2:19
Lamentations 2:19
The Blueprint — The Verse
Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at every street corner.
Memorization Practice
Click words to hide them and test your memory.
Without looking, enter the book, chapter, and verse for this passage.
Rate your recall:
Scripture quotations marked NIV are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Context — The History
Lamentations 2 describes God's judgment on Jerusalem through vivid images of famine and siege. Mothers and children suffer at street corners — a heartbreaking scene in a city once called the joy of the earth.
The Narrative — The Lead-Up
The chapter catalogs devastation: the Lord has swallowed up every dwelling without pity. The prophet calls Jerusalem to cry out in the night and pour out her heart before God for the lives of starving children.
The Echo — Follow-on Verses
-
Lamentations 2:18
18The hearts of the peoplecry out to the Lord.You walls of Daughter Zion,let your tears flow like a riverday and night;give yourself no relief,your eyes no rest.
Read the verse immediately before this lesson (Lamentations 2:18) to hear the lead-in to the passage.
-
Lamentations 2:20
20“Look, Lord, and consider:Whom have you ever treated like this?Should women eat their offspring,the children they have cared for?Should priest and prophet be killedin the sanctuary of the Lord?
Read the verse immediately after this lesson (Lamentations 2:20) to continue the passage.
Discussion
- What does pouring out your heart 'like water' look like in prayer?
- How should believers respond when the innocent suffer?
- Why might God invite raw, nighttime cries rather than polished prayers?