《耶路撒冷哀歌》的作者首先描繪了耶路撒冷城及其居民的悲慘境況，然後他彷彿跟一位遭遇家庭悲劇的婦人講話，直接向全城傳達一些西向。

他鼓勵全城盡力向天主呼求。

顯然，全城的呼求並無明確的目的：死亡和毀滅已然完成，祈求尚未到來的救贖毫無意義。

然而，向天主呼求本身，卻成了唯一的希望。

只要你呼求，天主的同在就如同良藥般在你身上發揮作用：並非要消除你的痛苦，而是要讓痛苦的黑暗化作祂的奧秘同在。

The author of the Lamentation on the destruction of Jerusalem first portrays the appalling situation of the city and of its inhabitants, then he speaks to the city itself, as he were speaking to a woman hit by a family tragedy.

He encourages the city to cry out to the Lord with all her strength.

Apparently, there is no clear purpose for the cry of the city: death and destruction have already done their job; there is no point in asking for a salvation that has not arrived.

The very act of crying out to the Lord is the only hope remained. As long as you cry, the presence of the Lord works on you like a medicine: not to take away suffering, but to let the darkness of suffering become presence, His mysterious presence.