God stays silent throughout the book of Lamentations, even as the survivors of Jerusalem's fall accuse him of abuse, torture, and abandonment. His silence obviously heightens the survivor's suffering, so why does he not respond?
The first line of Lamentations' final poem returns us to a familiar theme. The demand to be seen. Echoing the earlier cries of Daughter Zion (see 1:9c, 11c, 12a, 18b, & 20a; 2:20), the people are still begging God to witness their pain: "Look (nābat), and see (rā'â) our disgrace!"
The difference this time is that the survivors—the sole voice of this fifth poem—add in an extra request. They also want God to remember.
Remember, Lord, what has come upon us;
Look, and see our disgrace!
— Lamentations 5:1 NASB
Like the voices before them, these survivors refuse to allow God to treat them as invisible victims.
The people start by describing the lack of a safe place to live (v.2) and losing their families (v.3). However, they do so by mentioning "strangers" and "foreigners" (v.2), "orphans" and "widows" (v.3). These are vulnerable people groups whom God often calls his people to protect. For example, Deuteronomy 14:29 gives special dispensation to “the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates” (NKJV), while in Psalm 68:5, David praises God as the “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows” (ESV).
There's no evidence of God being like that here.
If they want water to drink, they have to pay for it (v.4). They express how exhausted they are from constant threats (v.5) and how food is dangerous to get (v.9). When they speak about the ongoing violation of all of their women, young and old (v.11), they switch to the third-person as if to distance themselves from the horror of this trauma and the shame of being unable to protect them.
When they demand that God bring their victimisation to mind, it's more than just their traumatic circumstances they want him to be conscious of.
They want him to remember himself.
