Their heart cried to the Lord: wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; Give yourself no respite; don't let the apple of your eye cease.
Duff considered these verses as a plea by the narrator in which, "He urges the city to cry to God for help."[21]  However, the words, "Their heart cried unto the Lord," which stand at the head of the passage seem to identify all of this as the actual prayer of the people.  However it may be, here is the divine answer to the question of, "What shall we do when total disaster, shame, sorrow and humiliation have overwhelmed us"?  The answer: "Pray to God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength."