Lamentations 5:1 Meaning and Explanation
“Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The final chapter opens as a sustained prayer, asking the LORD to remember and look upon the people's disgrace.
What Does Lamentations 5:1 Mean?
The fifth and final poem is a direct prayer from beginning to end, and it opens with a plea: 'Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us.' After all the description of suffering, the people now turn fully toward God and ask him to remember. To ask God to remember is not to suggest he has forgotten, but to plead with him to act on what he sees, to let his memory move his mercy.
'Consider, and behold our reproach.' They ask God to look closely at their disgrace, to take it in. The whole chapter will lay their condition before God, asking him simply to see. There is faith in this turning. After everything, the people do not abandon God but address him, trusting that the One who remembers his covenant will not finally leave them in their reproach. The book moves now from lament toward prayer.
Lamentations 5:1 in the Original Language
zakar (זָכַר), 'remember' -- to call to mind and act upon, the plea that God's memory would move his mercy.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lamentations 5:1
What does Lamentations 5:1 mean?
The final chapter opens as a sustained prayer, asking the LORD to remember and look upon the people's disgrace.