What is the meaning of Lamentations 1:22?

Let all their wickedness come before You

• The speaker asks God to bring the enemies’ sins “before” Him, trusting He sees every act (Psalm 50:21; Revelation 6:10).

• This is not personal revenge but confidence that the righteous Judge will expose hidden evil (Jeremiah 11:20).

• As God had earlier compiled Judah’s sins (Jeremiah 2:22), the prophet now petitions for the same spotlight on the oppressors (Psalm 109:14).

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And deal with them as You have dealt with me

• The plea rests on God’s consistent justice: if Judah’s rebellion drew discipline, their conquerors’ cruelty must receive equal recompense (Obadiah 15; Deuteronomy 32:35).

• Divine judgment is measured, not arbitrary. What He did to His own people proves He will not overlook pagan brutality (Habakkuk 1:13).

• Galatians 6:7 echoes the principle: “whatever a man sows, he will reap.” The prophet appeals to that unchanging moral order.

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Because of all my transgressions

• The speaker does not deny personal guilt; he openly admits it. Judah’s suffering was earned (Lamentations 3:39).

• Confession underlines the fairness of God’s discipline (Psalm 32:5; 1 John 1:9).

• By acknowledging sin first, the prophet avoids hypocrisy while still requesting that God’s justice be applied universally (Proverbs 28:13).

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For my groans are many, and my heart is faint

• Physical and emotional collapse follows relentless siege, famine, and exile (Lamentations 1:11, 19).

• “Groans” highlight unrelieved pain (Psalm 22:1-2); “heart is faint” captures utter exhaustion (2 Corinthians 1:8).

• The honesty of this lament encourages believers to pour out their anguish without filters, assured the Lord hears every sigh (Psalm 6:6-9).

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summary

Lamentations 1:22 records a cry for divine justice that balances confession with complaint. The prophet, fully aware that Judah’s own sins invited God’s chastening, now asks the Lord to hold their enemies to the same righteous standard. He trusts that the Judge who saw and punished his nation’s guilt will also expose and repay the oppressors’ wickedness, while candidly laying before God the depth of his own suffering.