It wasn’t a pretty sight . . . The collateral damage of sin never is.

Jerusalem was leveled. For the most part, the people were gone. For those who remained there were the painful memories of the past, the overwhelming reality of the present, and a lack of any real hope for the future. All because of sin. As the old Southern gospel song reminds those with ears to hear, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go; Slowly, but wholly, taking control; Sin will leave you longer than you want to stay; Sin will cost you far more than you want to pay.”

Like I said, not a pretty sight.

That’s been the landscape of my readings in Lamentations for the past few days. Heavy sigh.

This morning, as I wrap up Jeremiah’s lament, it’s his three-fold prayer that’s given me something to chew on.

Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us;
       look, and see our disgrace!

Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored!
       Renew our days as of old—
unless You have utterly rejected us,
       and You remain exceedingly angry with us.

(Lamentations 5:1, 21-22 ESV)

Remember . . . Restore . . . Renew . . .

Seems to me — at least from my own experience — I’m quick to pray for the “renew” part. Though not at the level of eradication and exile, when my sin results in remorse and repentance I am most apt to pray, “Okay, sorry Lord. Now let’s get back to where we were before this mess.” But before renewal, it seems remembrance and restoration are kind of important.

Remember, O LORD . . . see our disgrace! Not something I think I’m naturally inclined to pray before a holy, holy, holy God. Amidst the wreckage, I want to move on as quickly as possible and forget my foolishness. But repentance starts with honesty. It requires transparency. It invites God to look at the pitiful reality of the mess I’m sitting in. And I do that not to invite His searing gaze to further accentuate my guilt and shame, but because I believe that the LORD is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6). I believe that He is able to sympathize with my weakness and the results of my wretchedness because He too “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). So far from hiding from God, rather than sew my own fig leaves and try and cover my sin from His all-knowing gaze (Gen. 3:7-8), I can pray: Remember, O LORD, what has befallen me, look, and see my disgrace.

Okay, done. Now can we move on to renew our days as of old? Not so fast. Go there too quickly and you actually miss the best part (if I can refer to it like that) of repentance.

Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored!

Restore us to Yourself . . . There’s the prize. Literally, “Turn us back, O Jehovah, unto Thee” (YLT).

That’s the 180 we desire! That God would no longer be behind us as we’ve turned our back on Him through unbelief and idolatry — because we’ve ignored His word and sought things other than Himself — but that He would turn us toward Himself so that we would know again His face shining upon us and His countenance lifted toward us (Num. 6:24-26). That we would know, deeper than ever before, the reality of communion with Him. That out of the wreckage of our transgression, abiding in Him (Jn. 15:1-8) would be more desired, and that Christ living in me (Gal. 2:20) would be more real.

As much as we desire renewal — and we should — the real prize is Jesus. It’s always Jesus.

That we would know the fullness of His unmeasurable grace to the forever praise of His all-deserved glory.

Amen?