Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Lamentations
Chapter 5: Turn Thou Us Unto Thee
The book of grief closes not with a picture but with a prayer. Chapter 5 is the whole people crying out together, 'Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us.' They lay their reproach and ruin openly before God, their lost inheritance, their crushing labor, their fallen crown, and they own the reason: 'woe unto us, that we have sinned!' Then, from the ashes, they lift their eyes to the one thing that has not fallen: 'Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.' On that unshakable ground they pray the prayer that is the truest end of all lament, 'Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.' Even the honest, aching final verse does not let go of God.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Lamentations chapter 5, the closing prayer of the book. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here the whole grieving community turns to God together, confessing its sin and appealing to His unchanging throne for restoration. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Remember, O LORD
The book ends with the whole people praying, laying their reproach openly before God.
The Crown Is Fallen
Inheritance, rest, joy, and honor are all gone; the mountain of Zion lies desolate.
Woe, That We Have Sinned
They do not blame God but own the true cause of their grief: their own sin.
Thou Remainest For Ever
Above the ruin stands the one unshaken thing: God's eternal, unending throne.
Remember, O LORD, What Is Come Upon Us (Lamentations 5:1-18)
The whole community lays its reproach before God: inheritance lost, families broken, bread bought at the peril of life, honor and joy gone, and it confesses the true cause, "woe unto us, that we have sinned!"
Woe Unto Us, That We Have Sinned
"Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach. Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest. We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities. Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand. We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured. They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood. The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick. The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim. Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it."
Hebrew Study
"Remember," zekhor (זְכֹר). The prayer does not ask God to recall a forgotten fact, for He forgets nothing, but pleads for Him to act on His people's behalf, to "remember" in the covenant sense of turning toward them in mercy. To ask God to "remember" is to throw oneself on His faithfulness, as Israel did in Egypt (Exodus 2:24) and as the dying thief did, "Lord, remember me" (Luke 23:42).
"reproach," cherpah (חֶרְפָּה). Shame, disgrace, the scorn of onlookers. It was not only loss they suffered but humiliation, "behold our reproach." Christ bore this too: "the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me" (Psalm 69:9; Romans 15:3). The One who took our reproach can lift the head bowed down in shame.
Explanation
The final chapter is a corporate prayer, "we," "us," "our," on nearly every line. The people spread their whole situation before God: "Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach." Then follows a catalogue of loss. Their "inheritance," the land God gave, now belongs to strangers. They are "orphans and fatherless." They must buy their own water and firewood. They labor without rest under foreign masters, having "given the hand" (submitted) to Egypt and Assyria just to get bread. Every good thing has been reversed: joy turned to mourning, dance to grief, the elders gone from the gate, the young men's music silenced.
At the center of the lament stands its most important line: "The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!" They do not, in the end, accuse God or call Him unjust. They own the true cause of the whole catastrophe, their own sin. Verse 7, "our fathers have sinned... and we have borne their iniquities," acknowledges the generational weight of sin, yet it is balanced by the personal confession of verse 16, "we have sinned." This is honest, mature grief: it feels the full weight of the loss and still confesses that God has done right.
Gospel Focus
"Woe unto us, that we have sinned!" is the cry that stands at the doorway of the gospel. There is no salvation for those who will not say it, and no condemnation for those who do and turn to Christ. The whole burden of this chapter, lost inheritance, reproach, a fallen crown, is the true portrait of what sin costs the human race. But the gospel answers every loss: Jesus took our "reproach" upon Himself (Romans 15:3), and He restores to sinners an inheritance that can never be turned to strangers, "incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4). The crown that fell because "we have sinned" is answered by "a crown of life" promised to the faithful (Revelation 2:10), won for us by the One who wore a crown of thorns. Honest confession of sin is not the end of hope but its beginning.
Turn Thou Us Unto Thee (Lamentations 5:19-22)
Above the ruin the people fix their eyes on the one thing that has not fallen, God's everlasting throne, and pray the truest prayer of all: "Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old."
Thou, O LORD, Remainest For Ever
"Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation. Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time? Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us."
Hebrew Study
"Turn thou us... and we shall be turned," hashiveinu... venashuvah (הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ... וְנָשׁוּבָה). Both words are from shuv, to turn or return. The order is everything: "Turn us, and we shall be turned." They confess that they cannot repent by their own strength; the very turning must be God's gift and work in them first. This is the grace of the new covenant, God writing His law on the heart and giving the power to obey (Jeremiah 31:33; Philippians 2:13).
"remainest for ever," teshev (תֵּשֵׁב), literally "thou sittest." The same root as "sitteth" enthroned. While Zion's throne has fallen and the mountain lies desolate where "foxes walk," God still "sits", still reigns, "from generation to generation." The permanence of God's rule is the one solid ground left when everything else has collapsed.
Explanation
Having poured out the full weight of loss, the prayer lifts its eyes to the one reality that the ruin could not touch: "Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation." Zion's crown has fallen, but God's throne has not. This is the anchor of all biblical hope, when everything shakes, God still reigns. On that ground the people dare to ask the honest, anguished question, "Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever?", and then pray the deepest prayer of the whole book: "Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old."
That prayer is profoundly humble. They do not say "we will turn ourselves"; they know they cannot. They ask God to do the turning, confessing that repentance and restoration alike must come from Him. The book then ends on a strikingly honest note: "But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us." It does not close with everything resolved. It ends still in the tension of faith, having asked for renewal while still feeling the weight of God's anger. This is faith praying in the dark, holding on to the eternal King even before the answer comes.
Gospel Focus
"Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned" is one of the clearest prayers of grace in the Old Testament. It confesses what the gospel makes plain: we cannot turn our own hearts to God; He must do it. This is exactly the promise of the new covenant that Jeremiah announced, God putting His law within us and giving us a new heart (Jeremiah 31:33; 32:39-40), and it is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, for "it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). The book ends unresolved, still under wrath, still waiting, and there it captures the whole longing of the Old Testament that only Christ can satisfy. The eternal King who "remainest for ever" is the same LORD who came in flesh to seek and save the lost, to turn us to Himself, and to "renew" not merely "our days as of old" but to make all things new (Revelation 21:5). The last word of Lamentations is a prayer; the answer to that prayer is Jesus.
Chapter 5 in Review
Lamentations closes with a prayer of the whole grieving people: "Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us." They spread their reproach and ruin before God, lost inheritance, broken families, crushing labor, silenced joy, a fallen crown, and they own the cause without excuse: "woe unto us, that we have sinned!" Then they lift their eyes above the wreckage to the one thing that stands: "Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation." On that unshakable ground they pray the book's truest prayer, "Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old," and end, honestly, still in the tension of faith, still feeling God's anger while pleading for His mercy.
For the Apostolic reader, this ending is deeply instructive. True lament confesses sin rather than blaming God, anchors itself in God's eternal, unshaken reign when everything else has fallen, and prays for a restoration it knows it cannot manufacture, "Turn thou us." That prayer is the cry of grace, answered fully in Jesus Christ, who works in us both to will and to do, who took our reproach and gives an inheritance that never fades. The book of tears does not tie up neatly; it ends reaching for God in the dark. And that is the whole point: the God whose throne endures for ever is worth reaching for, even before the dawn. His mercies, as chapter 3 declared, are new every morning, and the morning always comes.
- The book ends in prayer: honest grief brings its whole loss and reproach to God (5:1; 1 Peter 5:7).
- Mature lament owns its sin, "woe unto us, that we have sinned!", rather than blaming God (5:16; Daniel 9:5-7).
- When everything falls, God's throne remains: "Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever" (5:19; Psalm 102:12).
- Repentance is God's gift: "Turn thou us unto thee... and we shall be turned" (5:21; Jeremiah 31:33; Philippians 2:13).
- Faith can pray in the dark, asking for renewal while still under the weight of God's anger (5:20-22).
- The last word of the book is a prayer; its answer is Jesus Christ, who makes all things new (Revelation 21:5).
Questions for Reflection
- When your life feels reduced to ruin, can you still say with the people, "Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever"?
- Do you try to "turn yourself" to God by willpower, or do you pray, "Turn thou us unto thee," asking Him to do the work?
- The people confessed "we have sinned" without blaming God. Is there sin you need to own in the same honest way?
- How does it help you to know that faith is allowed to pray in the dark, before every question is answered?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. To ask God to "remember" (verse 1) is covenant language for Him to act in mercy (Exodus 2:24; Luke 23:42). "Reproach" (verses 1) borne by Christ is Psalm 69:9; Romans 15:3. The confession "we have sinned" and bearing the fathers' iniquities (verses 7, 16) is the posture of Daniel 9:5-7 and Nehemiah 9. "Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation" (verse 19) echoes Psalm 102:12 and Psalm 45:6 (fulfilled of the Son in Hebrews 1:8). "Turn thou us unto thee... and we shall be turned" (verse 21) confesses repentance as God's own gift, the new covenant promise of Jeremiah 31:33; 32:39-40 and Philippians 2:13. The lost inheritance answered by an unfading one is 1 Peter 1:4; the fallen crown answered by "a crown of life" is Revelation 2:10; the renewal fulfilled is Revelation 21:5. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The people's prayer: their reproach, loss, and honest confession of sin: Lamentations 5:1-18; Daniel 9:5-7; 1 Peter 1:4.
- The eternal throne and the prayer of grace: "Turn thou us unto thee": Lamentations 5:19-22; Psalm 102:12; Philippians 2:13; Revelation 21:5.