In Lamentations 1:1 the city of Jerusalem is described as sitting lonely,
indicating the suffering she is enduring. The same burden is now to be endured by the man as part of the people of God that are suffering. When people suffer under the hand of God, they should learn to do it without complaint or retaliation. As this burden is a chastening by God, it should be answered by the appropriate attitude: namely, to silently, and without murmuring, accept God’s dealings.1 If one sits alone, there is no one to complain to and your mind may be directed to God alone from whom the misery came. Apart from the misery, God’s goodness has been confessed. Therefore, the silence and solitude further serve the purpose to confess God’s power, to trust in him (Lamentations 3:19–24) and humble oneself before him alone.2 This should be done by his covenant people, because of God’s goodness toward them.
28 Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him;