Midrasch zu Ejchah 5:7

“Our fathers have sinned, and are no more; and we have suffered their iniquities” (Lamentations 5:7).
“Our fathers have sinned, and are no more.” The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘It is for your own that you are standing in this situation.’⁹You are being punished for your own sins. Alternatively, they said to them: ‘It is because of us that you exist.’¹⁰The fathers said to them: You are not suffering on account of our sins. On the contrary, the fact that you continue to exist and have not been entirely destroyed is due to our merits (Rabbi David Luria).

..."Visiting (poked)" - visiting is always to remember. And so it states (Genesis 21:1), "And the Lord visited Sarah"; and it states (Exodus 3:16), "I will surely visit you." R. Yehudah says, "I gather together the iniquities with me, and suspend them until the fourth generation; as with Jehu, the son of Nimshi. Accordingly, it states [about him] (II Kings 15:12), "Four generations of your descendants shall occupy the throne of Israel." And so it was for him...