5:19 The poem comes full circle with this verse’s direct address to God. Yahweh has not been mentioned since verse 1, in which the community called upon him to “remember” and “look” and “see” the state to which it and its beloved city had fallen. It was a plea for Yahweh to act in the light of what he saw. Now, however, the community addresses him with a statement of faith: an affirmation of his sovereignty. In the first colon the second-person pronoun “you” is fronted for emphasis, as is the adverbial modifier “forever.” The personal pronoun is best read in a disjunctive sense: “But you, O Lord, . . .” The verb “reign” (Hb. yashab, “sit/remain”110) is delayed to the end of the colon. Thus we have a doubly emphatic statement of Yahweh’s sovereignty: “But you, O Lord, sit/remain forever; your throne, from generation to generation” (AT).

This is the only verse in the whole chapter in which Yahweh is the subject of an active verb—a striking observation compared to the other chapters, in which his activity is so dominant. Moreover, set in the context of the whole book, especially in the despair and depression of Judah’s situation, this is a surprising statement. It is not that the sovereignty of God has been a theme absent in the book so far; on the contrary, it has been dominant throughout, especially with respect to Yahweh’s direct involvement in Jerusalem-Judah’s destruction. Rather, the surprise is that the sovereignty of God is now affirmed to induce hope rather than horror. The city is desolate, the temple is destroyed, the king is detained, and the people are in distress—but Yahweh is still on his throne, and his throne is indestructible!111 This is the hope of the community: the God who brought destruction is the same God who can bring restoration.

5:20 Having affirmed that God remains on his throne and in control, the community now makes its complaint to him in the form of two questions. Precisely because God is on his throne, and precisely because he is their covenant Lord, who promised through Moses and the prophets to restore their fortunes after a time of exile (e.g., Deut. 30:1–3; Joel 2:25), the people ask pressing questions. These questions directed to Yahweh are the last ones in the book. Both have to do with the length of time that he has seemingly forgotten and forsaken his people; in essence they equate to the cry of the psalmist, “How long, O Lord?” (Ps. 13:1). In the first colon, “forever” is highlighted as a reminder that in suffering the present can feel like an eternity. The verbs “forget” and “forsake” correspond to “remember” in Lamentations 5:1 and state the complaint directly. The reason for the complaint is tied not only to the promise of restoration made by Moses and the prophets but also to the good news announcement at the end of chapter 4, that Zion’s punishment is complete (v. 22). Therefore the remnant rightly asks why, if this is true, the people are still languishing in the land. The questions themselves reveal the uncertainty and insecurity that still exists between Yahweh and his people following a period of suffering. There is faith, as seen in Lamentations 5:19; but it is still fragile, as seen in verse 20.

5:21 In verse 20 the people receive no answer to their questions, and so they make a final, direct appeal to Yahweh in verse 21. The wording of the first colon places all the onus on God. The opening imperative has a causative sense: “Cause us to be restored to you,” which serves as the condition for the resultant clause, “that we may be restored!” The appeal is unique compared to the others in the book. Previously the people, through the prophet and in the voice of a personified Lady Zion, asked Yahweh to “look and see” their plight in the destruction of their city, temple, and nation (cf. 1:9, 11; 2:20); now the request, however, is not for restoration of those things but for restoration of the covenant relationship between themselves and God.112 What the people really want is fellowship with God again, to know his smiling countenance as they once did. In the second colon the community points back to a previous era when it experienced fellowship with God, and so the people ask for the renewal of such days.

5:22 This verse connects to the previous as a dependent clause. The critical issue is how to interpret the Hebrew conjunction ki ʾim, which joins the two verses. Four main options are possible.113 First, the conjunction may be rendered in an exceptive sense: “unless.”114 This reading casts doubt over the prayer, exposing some remaining insecurity in the people’s faith in Yahweh. The people believe that Yahweh is sovereign, seated on his throne forever; they believe him to be their covenant God—unless, of course, he has utterly rejected them, unless he remains exceedingly angry with them. The statement suggests a hypothetical situation, the occurrence of which would be deemed inappropriate.115 However, while the conjunction ki ʾim can be read in an exceptive way (cf. Gen. 32:26; Lev. 22:6), in such cases other accompanying elements are usually present (e.g., a negated verb preceding the conjunction).

Second, the conjunction may be read in a contrastive sense: “but.”116 This reading presents a pessimistic end to the book: the people make their appeal to Yahweh for restoration, but it is pointless: Yahweh’s utter rejection and exceeding anger remains. On this interpretation the book ends in a kind of “perpetual lament.”117 This appears to be how the Jewish rabbis interpreted the text—hence the practice of repeating Lamentations 5:21 after verse 22 in the synagogue reading.

Third, the conjunction may be read in an explanatory or causal sense: “for/because.”118 In other words the community makes its appeal because of its present rejection by God. While this interpretation views the final verse as a statement of fact rather than a statement of doubt, it requires omitting a translation of the Hebrew word ʾim. In the Hebrew Scriptures ki ʾim is not translated “because.”

Fourth, the conjunction may be rendered in a concessive sense: “even though.” On this reading the appeal is made to Yahweh even though God has utterly rejected the people and is exceedingly angry with them. This interpretation presents the most natural reading of the conjunction ki ʾim (cf. Isa. 10:22; Jer. 51:14; Amos 5:22), with a close precedence earlier in the book (Lam. 3:32).119 Read this way, 5:22 introduces a statement of fact (not doubt), indicating the present (hard) reality in which the appeal of verse 21 is made: the people ask God to restore them to himself despite the fact that he has presently rejected them and remains exceedingly angry with them. The appeal, then, is made with a disposition of faith, notwithstanding the difficult circumstances in which it is uttered. The people pray, believing that God will not reject them forever, as the prophet has already indicated (3:31); they pray believing what Moses promised nearly a millennium earlier, that, though they would be sent into exile, God would not “reject” them forever but would “remember” his covenant with their forefathers (Lev. 26:44–45). The book of Lamentations thus ends on a note of faith—fragile faith, yes, but faith—in stark contrast to the note of despair with which the book began. The glimmering light of God’s sovereignty (Lam. 5:19) and his covenant faithfulness (v. 21) have begun to dispel the shadows of Judah’s exile even though the dark night of God’s wrath is not yet completely over. For now, the people must walk—and pray—by faith, not by sight.