The Pit of Life

A Series on Lamentations
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Jeremiah 38:1-13; Lamentations 3 

[The book of Lamentations was written by Jeremiah to the Jews in Babylon who had been exiled and were lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem. Known as the “weeping prophet”, his tears flowed from a broken heart for Jerusalem – the “City of God” – and her people. In this series we will look at Lamentations to learn about God’s justice and mercy, the consequences of sin and the hope for redemption.]

  

We’ve all faced painful circumstances in our lives. For me, the most difficult one was when our first child was stillborn. We had done everything we could to prepare for our much-anticipated baby. No detail was too small.

 

Her nursery was ready with new paint and wallpaper, a crib and a new rocking chair. My Mom had given us her first toy – a little stuffed smiling sun that when squeezed it played “You are my sunshine”.

 

But it sat unused on the crib. There was no sunshine; no crying baby; no midnight feeding; no first steps and giggles.

 

Jeremiah knew what it was like to deal with painful circumstances. In fact, the very first verse of Lamentations 3 states, “I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord’s wrath”.

 

The affliction that he spoke of was twofold. First, the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, which was the result of the Lord’s judgment of the people’s sin. Having both seen and experienced the siege, Jeremiah was the personification of its effects. Speaking of the Lord, he wrote this.

 

³ He has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. ^10a-11 …like a bear or a lion… He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces, leaving me helpless and devastated. ¹⁵ He has filled me with bitterness and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.     NLT

 

Jeremiah also experienced his own personal suffering when he was arrested for his message from the Lord which was considered “discouraging the soldiers”. Later, they lowered him using ropes into a muddy, bottle-shaped cistern to die. Dark and damp, Jeremiah sank into the mud at the bottom of the pit.

 

⁵³ They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me. ⁵⁴ The water rose over my head, and I cried out, “This is the end!” ⁵⁵ But I called on your name, Lord, from deep within the pit.                NLT

 

Completely alone and without hope, Jeremiah was literally stuck in the pit of life... until he remembered.

 

²¹ Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: ²² The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. ²³ Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.       NLT

 

What he remembered was that it’s good to wait quietly for the Lord; it’s good to search for him, to see how he is at work. He remembered that the Lord has unfailing love for us; that the Lord always provides redemption; that the Lord is our portion, our inheritance.

 

From the pit of life comes life lessons, spiritual renewal, discipline and a greater understanding of who the Lord is. The Lord is waiting for you and me to call him from deep within the pit of life. It doesn’t matter what kind of pit, he hears us.

 

The words of Jeremiah are still true today for us: “Great is your faithfulness”!

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

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