Lament

For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.
Micah 1:8–9
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Lament
Micah weeps over the sufferings of his people, like Jeremiah wept, as Jesus wept. The severity of the sins caused him to rend his garments in a public expression of profound grief and mourning. Like the jackal and ostrich who howl, and groan so too does God’s prophet howl and groan over the rejection of God by His own people. An incurable wound had been self-inflicted by the people. Their punishment would destroy even the holy city of Jerusalem. The worship of false gods spread like an infection throughout God’s people, and death would be the result. This is certainly a cause for weeping and lamentations. We mourn for those who do not have faith, those who have gone astray and followed false doctrines and false gods. We lament for our own sins, and the times we followed those same destructive paths. And in our sorrow, we turn to God in repentance. For He has promised to rescue His people. We have the blessed assurance of forgiveness won on the cross by Christ Jesus. And we can rejoice that our sins are forgiven and that our weeping will turn to joy when we come into God’s kingdom where He will wipe away every tear.