Lamentations 1:20 (WEB)

Passage

“Look, Yahweh; for I am in distress. My heart is troubled. My heart turns over within me, for I have grievously rebelled. Abroad, the sword bereaves. At home, it is like death.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 1:18 “Yahweh is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment. Please hear all you peoples, and see my sorrow. My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.

Lamentations 1:19 “I called for my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders gave up the spirit in the city, while they sought food for themselves to refresh their souls.

Lamentations 1:20 “Look, Yahweh; for I am in distress. My heart is troubled. My heart turns over within me, for I have grievously rebelled. Abroad, the sword bereaves. At home, it is like death.

Lamentations 1:21 “They have heard that I sigh. There is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble. They are glad that you have done it. You will bring the day that you have proclaimed, and they will be like me.

Lamentations 1:22 “Let all their wickedness come before you. Do to them as you have done to me for all my transgressions. For my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "look", "yahweh", "distress", "heart", "troubled", "turns", and "over". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "look" and "yahweh", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "I called for my lovers but they..." into verse 21's "They have heard that I sigh There...", so "look" and "yahweh" belong inside that flow. In Lamentations context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "look" and "yahweh" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.