A vain hope

Our eyes failed, ever watching
vainly for help;
in our watching we watched
for a nation which could not save.

Lamentations 4:17

One of the indictments brought against Israel and Judah by the LORD was that they looked to political alliances for their salvation instead of looking to him. This is a recurring theme throughout the Old Testament prophets. For a great example of this see Isaiah 30. In the passage above the prophet of Lamentations (probably Jeremiah) paints a picture of complete futility. Can you hear echoes of Jeremiah 2:13? "For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water." This is a warning to us as Christians "the Israel of God" not to repeat the sin of placing our hope in a nation -- even our own.