Jeremiah's Tears--Our Tears

“How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!  How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations!...The LORD has brought her grief because of her many sins.” Lamentations 1:1,5 (NIV)

God’s history with the nation of Israel was one of mercy and grace.  Israel repeatedly went their own way, despite the warnings of His faithful prophets.  Eventually, their disobedience led to destruction.  In the Book of Lamentations, Jeremiah’s heart is broken over the desolation of Jerusalem.  All the warnings from God, all the passionate pleas to return to God, had been ignored.  The judgment of God fell hard on Jerusalem, leaving the city in ruins and the people destitute.  How did a city and a people, once so blessed by God, end up like this?  Lamentations 4:12-13 says that “The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the world’s people, that enemies and foes could enter the gates of Jerusalem.  But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests…”

Could these verses express the fate of America?  A nation so obviously blessed by God from its very beginnings—we no longer fear God or honor Him today.  Will God continue to show mercy or bring judgment?