By Michael C. Mack
1. How have you received and responded to any loving discipline from God over the past week?
2. Throughout your life, what has God taught you through hardship and suffering?
Ask two people to read aloud Lamentations 5:1-22 one after the other, preferably from different Bible versions. Then ask a third person to briefly summarize the passage.
3. How would you describe the situation in which the people found themselves (see vv. 1-10)?
- What might it have been like for the different people groups mentioned in verses 11-14?
- Imagine we were living in what is described in this passage. What emotions might we be feeling and what might be the nature of our attitudes? (See vv. 15-18.)
4. What do you learn about people from this passage?
5. What do you learn about God?
6. In what ways can you relate to Jeremiah’s prayer in verses 19-22 in your current circumstances?
7. Reread verse 19 out loud. With that truth in mind, how can we find hope in whatever circumstances we find ourselves?
8. Whom will you tell about God’s sovereignty and your hope in him this week?
9. Based on our study and discussion, complete the sentence: “I will . . .”
10. In what ways would you like to ask God to restore, renew, and revive yourself, the church, our country, and the world today?
For Next Week: Read and reflect on Lamentations 1:1, 10-18; 2:5-14, 17, 20-21. You can also read next week’s supplemental texts as well as the Study and Application sections as part of your personal study.
Author: Michael C. Mack
Michael C. Mack is editor of Christian Standard. He has served in churches in Ohio, Indiana, Idaho, and Kentucky. He has written more than 25 books and discussion guides as well as hundreds of magazine, newspaper, and web-based articles.
