In Lamentations 4, five idols that the people have misplaced their trust in are identified.

Lamentations 4:1
How the gold has lost its luster!
Even the finest gold has become dull.
The sacred gemstones lie scattered in the streets!

Lamentations 4: 5
The people who once ate the richest foods now beg in the streets for anything they can get.
Those who once wore the finest clothes now search the garbage dumps for food.

Lamentations 4:12
Not a king in all the earth—
no one in all the world—
would have believed that an enemy
could march through the gates of Jerusalem.

Lamentations 4:13
Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the sins of her priests, who defiled the city by shedding innocent blood.

Lamentations 4:6
The guilt of my people is greater than that of Sodom, where utter disaster struck in a moment and no hand offered help.

➼ How have the losses and suffering we are enduring currently revealed similar or different idols? What have we placed our trust and hope in, only for it to fall short of expectations?

➼ How have you responded to the changes in our culture over the last ten years? What about your friends, family, or church community?

➼ Where have you and others experienced despair and hopelessness?

➼ How can lament help you reorient your hope towards the cross, the character of God, and His eternal promises?