Lamentations

The book of Lamentations contains the lament of Jeremiah over Jerusalem—once great among the nations—now solitary and desolate (Lam. 1:1). The Lord had done righteously, but understanding God’s government against that city only deepened Jeremiah’s sorrow (Lam. 1:18).
Jeremiah confessed the sin of the city as his own, and he felt what it was to be rejected by the very ones for whom he wept. “See, O LORD, and consider; for I am become vile. Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger” (Lam. 1:11-12). In his sorrow, we see expressed something of the sorrow so fully felt by the rejected Christ.
The setting aside of the temple and the altar—things necessary for the Israelite to approach God—brought great distress to Jeremiah (Lam. 2:6, 7).
In the first two chapters, Jerusalem is spoken of as the object of God’s wrath. In the third chapter, Jeremiah speaks as the one bearing the affliction, a position typical of Christ. “I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath” (Lam. 3:1).
Chapters one, two and four each have twenty-two verses, and each verse commences with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Similarly, chapter 3 has twenty-two stanzas of three verses each. The fifth chapter, while having twenty-two verses, is not constrained by this arrangement, for it is a prayer. With confession made, Jeremiah can bring that which has afflicted the people before a compassionate (Lam. 3:22-36) and unchanging God (Lam. 5:19).