How?!

Lamentations 1:1-4 - How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave. Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is none to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies. After affliction and harsh labor, Judah has gone into exile. She dwells among the nations; she finds no resting place. All who pursue her have overtaken her in the midst of her distress. The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her appointed feasts. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, her maidens grieve, and she is in bitter anguish.

Isaiah 1:21 - See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her—but now murderers!

Jeremiah 3:1 - "If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers—would you now return to me?" declares the LORD.

Joel 1:14 - Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.

Conclusions:

• "How" expresses a mixture of shock and despair
• The Hebrew underlying "deserted lies" is translated "sat alone"
• The prophet sat alone; in Lamentations 1:1 his beloved city does the same
• The city is Jerusalem
• The Hebrew is the same for both full and great
• The Hebrew for slave is forced labor
• Jerusalem has been an unfaithful wife to the Lord
• By following idols and foreign gods she has become a harlot in a spiritual sense
• Divorce and remarriage on a widespread scale defiles not only the participants but also the land in which they live
• Fasting, required on the Day of Atonement and also practiced in times of calamity, was a sign of penitence and humility
• The Bible speaks against outward signs that do not reflect a corresponding inward belief or attitude.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible