Lamentations 5:17 Meaning and Explanation

'For this our heart is faint.' The accumulated weight of all the losses just named has left the heart faint, weak, drained of strength. The word recalls the close of the first chapter, where the heart was also faint. The grief has settled into a bone-deep exhaustion of soul.

'For these things our eyes are dim.' The eyes have grown dim, whether from endless weeping or from the failing of strength that comes with prolonged sorrow. The whole person, heart and eyes, is worn down by grief. The verse names the toll honestly. Yet the very next verses will lift the eyes, however dim, toward the eternal throne of God. The fainting heart is about to remember that the LORD remains forever, and in that remembrance even faintness can find a place to rest.