II. He that has seasonably succoured particular saints will not fail the church in general. (Lamentations 3:19-20) The sinking soul. It will tell her so much. Having sunk low in his soul (Lamentations 3:20), Jeremiah now remembered something that started hope within. This was the language of God's grace, by the witness of his Spirit with their spirits. b. While there is life there is hope; and instead of complaining that things are bad, we should encourage ourselves with the hope they will be better. Our own wickedness corrects us, Prov 19 3. 4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old. 1. Let him sit alone and keep silent, Mine enemies chased me From this to the end of the chapter the prophet speaks of his own personal sufferings, and especially of those which he endured in the dungeon. Prophets The Jewish state may now be fitly compared to a man wrinkled with age, for which there is no remedy (v. 4): "My flesh and my skin has he made old; they are wasted and withered, and I look like one that is ready to drop into the grave; nay, he has broken my bones, and so disabled me to help myself, v. 15. The New Testament We should, we must, turn away from sin and self and turn back to the LORD. And, when God's hand is continually turned against us, we are tempted to think that his heart is turned against us too. Let us see what these things are which he calls to mind. I have drunk the cup of misery till I am intoxicated with it. So unworthy we are that nothing but an abundant mercy will relieve us; and from that what may we not expect? i. Or, "Thou hast covered us up as men that are buried are covered up and forgotten." They look upon the Jewish nation as dead and buried, and imagine that there is not possibility of its resurrection. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. To be thrown into a mass or bed of perfect dust, where the eyes are blinded by it, the ears stopped, and the mouth and lungs filled at the very first attempt to respire after having been thrown into it-what a horrible idea of suffocation and drowning! a. If inward impressions be not in some measure answerable to outward expressions, we do but mock God and deceive ourselves. Blue Letter Bible study tools make reading, searching and studying the Bible easy and rewarding. d. He shuts out my prayer: When things are right with our relationship with God, He is our refuge and defense in affliction. Their destruction is compared not only to the burying of a dead man, but to the sinking of a living man into the water, who cannot long be a living man there, v. 54. The perverting of justice, and the subverting of the just, are a great affront to God; and, though he may make use of them for the correction of his people, yet he will sooner or later severely reckon with those that do thus. All their schemes against me, c. And turn back to the LORD: All the self-examination in the world does little good if it does not lead us back to this place. Let him put his mouth in the dust Thou saidst, Fear not. of Scripture. Salem Media Group. Had we been dealt with according to our sins, we should have been consumed long ago; but we have been dealt with according to God's mercies, and we are bound to acknowledge it to his praise. Almost in all countries, and in all languages, bitterness is a metaphor to express trouble and affliction. I am their song, their neginath, or hand-instrument of music, their tabret (Job 17 6), that they play upon, as Nero on his harp when Rome was on fire. No; he has more reason to be thankful for life than to complain of any of the burdens and calamities of life. This verse seems to allude to the Chaldaic prediction, in Jeremiah 10:11. He has bent His bow And their whispering against me all the day. And my hope That first, that last support of the miserable-it is gone! 3. III. In the time of his trial the Lord had become terrible to him. Even if he could only manage a sigh, it would be his cry for help that he longed for God to hear. hichphishani beepher, "he hath plunged me into the dust." More is implied than is expressed. 26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. 20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. Yes, he did: Thou hast heard my voice; and some read the following words as carrying on the same thankful acknowledgment: Thou didst not hide thy ear at my breathing, at my cry; and the original will bear that reading. Or, let us put our heart on our hand, and offer it to God; so some have translated this clause. 5. Note, While trouble is prolonged, and deliverance is deferred, we must patiently wait for God and his gracious returns to us. Our lives are frail and forfeited, and yet we are alive; now the living, the living, they should praise, and not complain (Isa 38 19); while there is life there is hope, and therefore, instead of complaining that things are bad, we should encourage ourselves with the hope that they will be better. b. Note, The prolonging of troubles is sometimes a temptation, even to praying people, to question whether God be what they have always believed him to be, a prayer-hearing God. 5. 42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned. 2. Though all this take place, yet let his "trust be in God, who will not cast off for ever." He has besieged me with bitterness and hardship. In Your anger, They did it by despising him (their reproach), with schemes, with whispering lies, and their taunting song against him. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation. God never hides His ear from our breathing; or from those in- articulate cries, which express, as words could not do, the deep anguish and yearning of the heart. The waters flowed over my head; If there be any way to acquire and secure a good hope under our afflictions, it is this way, and yet we must be very modest in our expectations of it, must look for it with an it may be, as those who own ourselves utterly unworthy of it. 3. The stanzas consist of three lines, each of which begins with the same Hebrew letter. 54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off. Note, However God may for a time suffer evil-doers to prosper, and serve his own purposes by them, yet he does not therefore approve of their evil doings. Who could be preserved in the night, if the Watchman of Israel ever slumbered or slept? Pursue and destroy them And I said, My strength and my hope For He does not afflict willingly, Some read it, at my gasping. 45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. Whatever measure he was to receive, whatever inheritance, whatever future, it would all be found in Yahweh. Your partnership makes all we do possible. In their depths of affliction, this was not the experience of Jeremiah and the people of Judah. Bad as things are, it is owing to the mercy of God that they are not worse. Commentary for Lamentations 3 . a. 27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. Let us observe the particulars of it. Surely He has turned His hand against me Time and time again throughout the day. While they continued weeping, they continued waiting; and neither did nor would expect relief and succour from any but the Lord. Prayer is the breath of the new man, drawing in the air of mercy in petitions, and returning it in praises; it proves and maintains the spiritual life. Note, When we draw nigh to God in a way of duty we may by faith see him drawing nigh to us in a way of mercy. Now Jeremiah prayed that Yahweh would repay their enemies, and give them a veiled heart even as Judah was blind. Their enemies had brought them into the deepest miseries. (Poole). The villages about Jerusalem. Hide not thine ear at my breathing He dared not even to complain, nor to cry, nor to pray aloud: he was obliged to whisper his prayer to God. Prophets i. 2. 66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord. At the south of Africa the sea was generally so stormy, when the frail barks of the Portuguese went sailing south, that they named it the Cape of Storms; but after that cape had been well rounded by bolder navigators, they named it the Cape of Good Hope. 2 15, 16. And this is an encouragement to them to hope that he would yet further appear for them: "Thou hast delivered my soul from death, and therefore wilt deliver my feet from falling; thou hast pleaded the causes of my life, and therefore wilt plead my other causes.". 39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Verse 16. It is sin that makes the cup of affliction a bitter cup. Verse 51. Our enemies have opened their mouths against us (v. 46), have gaped upon us as roaring lions, to swallow us up, or made mouths at us, or have taken liberty to say what they please of us." But waiting is good because God is worth waiting for. (Ryken). Remember my affliction and roaming: Jeremiah did not prescribe positive thinking for this deep affliction. To subvert a man in his cause To prevent his having justice done him in a lawsuit, &c., by undue interference, as by suborning false witnesses, or exerting any kind of influence in opposition to truth and right.-Blayney. Their taunting song: Mocking or taunt-songs were also frequently used to express derision or contempt for an enemy. (Harrison). I have eaten ashes like bread," Ps 102 9. And God's causing our grief ought to be no discouragement at all to those expectations. i. He has aged my flesh and my skin, And broken my bones. Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness. e. Great is Your faithfulness: All this made Jeremiah consider the great faithfulness of God; that He never fails in sending His mercies and compassions. In addition, emotional attributes of joy (Proverbs 23:16) and sorrow (Job 19:27; Psalm 73:21) were credited to them. (Harrison). He must expect, and yet be dumb, as the words imply; ever feeling his utter unworthiness; and, without murmuring, struggle into life. You have slain and not pitied. Though the covenant seemed to be broken, they owned that it still continued in full force; and, though Jerusalem be in ruins, the truth of the Lord endures for ever. 1 Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament, 334.LaSor, Hubbard, and Bush affirm that Some rabbis also used the name Qinot, meaning 'funeral dirges' or 'lamentations (Old Testament Survey, 617).2 LaSor, Hubbard, and Bush, Old Testament Survey, 617.. 3 Hill and Walton write, The despairing tone of the petition for national renewal in the closing lines of the final poem (5 . Here we find a different feeling; he humbles himself under the mighty hand of God, and then his hope revives, Lamentations 3:21. 40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. If they had not made themselves vile, their enemies could not have made them so: but therefore men call them reprobate silver, because the Lord has rejected them for rejecting him. Jesus gave his cheek to the one who strikes him as He patiently received the suffering His Father had appointed (Matthew 26:67-68, Luke 22:64). We may bear ourselves up with this, 1. Lamentations 3 Hebrew with Rashi's Commentary; Christian. It is our wisdom then to submit, and to kiss the rod; for, if we still walk contrary to God, he will punish us yet seven times more; for when he judges he will overcome. He comes out of his place to punish, for his place is the mercy-seat. 3. He has set me as a mark for his arrow, which he aims at, and will be sure to hit, and then the arrows of his quiver enter into my reins, give me a mortal wound, an inward wound, v. 13. 2. a. Lamentations 3:32 (HCSB) Verse Thoughts Jeremiah is often called 'the weeping prophet' for he was to prophecy to deaf ears and witness to blinded, callused hearts. i. Blue Letter Bible is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Historical Books Wisdom Literature again and again, all day long. I. 41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. God will plead thy cause, and redeem thy soul. Look at their sitting down and their rising up; That he is not able to discern any way of escape or deliverance (v. 5): "He has built against me, as forts and batteries are built against a besieged city. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; he forms the light and creates the darkness, as he did at first. Do not fear: How powerful is this word when spoken by the Spirit of the Lord to a disconsolate heart. It is very applicable to the yoke of God's commands. That God has compassions and comforts in store even for those whom he has himself grieved. 1:6 . That God will graciously return to his people with seasonable comforts according to the time that he has afflicted them, v. 31, 32. That he is at a loss and altogether in the dark. 2. (Lamentations 3:52-56) Praying for help under enemy attack. General Epistles 46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. His discipline is not happy nor is it unfair (to turn aside the justice due a man). Many have found it good to bear this in youth; it has made those humble and serious, and has weaned them from the world, who otherwise would have been proud and unruly, and as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Yes, this was Jeremiah, but it certainly was not only him. The poets mention of the LORD broke the spell of misery that had bound him. (Ellison). 1. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed Being thus humbled, and seeing himself and his sinfulness in a proper point of view, he finds that God, instead of dealing with him in judgment, has dealt with him in mercy; and that though the affliction was excessive, yet it was less than his iniquity deserved. III. To turn aside the justice due a man This must accompany the former and be the fruit of it; therefore we must search and try our ways, that we may turn from the evil of them to God. Persecute and destroy them Thou wilt pursue them with destruction. He has mingled gravel with my bread, so that my teeth are broken with it (v. 16) and what I eat is neither pleasant nor nourishing. 34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, 35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, 36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. To the soul who seeks Him. Lamentations 3 - Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible - Bible The LORD is my portion, says my soul, "Let us lift up our hand;" let us solemnly promise to be his, and bind ourselves in a covenant to be the Lord's only: so much lifting up the hand to God implies. Lamentations 3 - Clarke's Commentary - StudyLight.org It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. See Jeremiah 38:6, &c. Verse 56. Therefore the sufferer is thus penitent, thus patient, because he believes that God is gracious and merciful, which is the great inducement both to evangelical repentance and to Christian patience. He has broken my bones. Here is, I. "This cloud is so thick that our prayers seem as if they were lost in it; they cannot pass through; we cannot obtain an audience." There are times when the only thing a sufferer can do is wait for God. They cannot but know it is so, and therefore it is in defiance of him that they do it. When we are meek and mild towards those who are the instruments of our trouble, and are of a forgiving spirit, v. 30. To make them easy in it, he tells them that it was good for them to bear the yoke of that captivity, and they would find it so if they would but accommodate themselves to their condition, and labour to answer God's ends in laying that heavy yoke upon them. To save the heart from being quite broken, here is something called to mind, which gives ground for hope (v. 21), which refers to what comes after, not to what goes before. He silenced their fears, and quieted their spirits. 37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? They are new every morning; 2 10. Let conscience be employed both to search and to try, and let it have leave to deal faithfully, to accomplish a diligent search and to make an impartial trial. Bible Introductions - Lamentations by John MacArthur 1 Cor 4 13, We are made as the filth of the world and are the off-scouring of all things. If tribulation work patience, that patience will work experience, and that experience a hope that makes not ashamed. They complain of the contempt of their neighbours and the reproach and ignominy they were under (v. 45): "Thou hast made us as the off-scouring, or scrapings, of the first floor, which are thrown to the dunghill." Why should a living man complain, 3 I am the one who has seen the afflictions. The sufferings of the people of Judah are described as though one man had experienced them. in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry. Its New Testament counterpart (1 Corinthians 4:13) is equally rare, depicting the suffering of the apostles. (Harrison), ii. Verse 47. Hoping and waiting differ but as the mother and daughter, hope being the mother of patience and waiting; or as the habit and act, hoping and waiting being ranch the same, flowing from a gracious power and habit given the soul to wait. Gerlach has rightly opposed to these arguments the following considerations: (1) That, after the outburst of despair in Lamentations 3:18, "my strength is gone, and my hope from Jahveh," the words "my soul is bowed down in me" form far too feeble a conclusion; (2) That it is undoubtedly more correct to make the relief begin with a prayer breathed Give them despondence of heart" (so others read it); "let them be driven to despair, and give themselves up for gone." Desolation and destruction. My soul still remembers and sinks within me: It was good for Jeremiahs soul to sink, to find its bottom point so that he could build on the right foundation. Alas! It is not only good to hope and wait for the salvation, but it is good to be under the trouble in the mean time (v. 27): It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. This was the language of God's prophets preaching to them not to fear (Isa 41 10, 13, 14), of his providence preventing those things which they were afraid of, and of his grace quieting their minds, and making them easy, by the witness of his Spirit with their spirits that they were his people still, though in distress, and therefore ought not to fear. He hath builded against me Perhaps there is a reference here to the mounds and ramparts raised by the Chaldeans in order to take the city. This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope: For perhaps the first time in the book, hope is allowed. Note, Those that are cast down are commonly tempted to think themselves cast off, Ps 31 22; Jon 2 4. My soul, having them in remembrance, is humbled in me, not only oppressed with a sense of the trouble, but in bitterness for sin. If we cannot say with unwavering voice, The Lord is my portion; may we not say, I desire to have Him for my portion and salvation, and in his word do I hope? Darkness is put for great trouble and perplexity, the want both of comfort and of direction; this was the case of the complainant (Lamentations 3:2; Lamentations 3:2): "He has led meby his providence, and an unaccountable chain of events, into darkness and not into light,the darkness I feared and not into the light I hoped for." The walling-up of prisoners within confined spaces so that they died very quickly was a form of torture made popular by the Assyrians., iii. Verse 57. Our seeking will help to keep up our waiting. As Abraham said of God, shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? But these and similar expressions in the following verses may be merely metaphorical, to point out their straitened, oppressed, and distressed state. They shall be not only excluded from the happiness of the invisible heavens, but cut off from the comfort even of these visible ones, which are the heavens of the Lord (Ps 115 16) and which those therefore are unworthy to be taken under the protection of who rebel against him. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Proud member The reasons here urged are very cogent. Here he began to write as the voice of an individual sufferer. 4 He has made my skin and flesh grow old. II. We must offer up ourselves to God, and our best affections and services, in the flames of devotion, v. 41. Let us search How are we to get the pardon of our sins? "When I lay gasping for life, and ready to expire, and thought i was breathing my last, then thou tookest cognizance of my distressed case." 44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through. Verse 18. Cookie Notice: Verse 15. He has made my paths crooked. Email / username or password was incorrect! These mercies are always new because they come from God. Two ways the people of God are injured and oppressed by their enemies, and the prophet here assures us that God does not approve of either of them:1. Verse 20. (Lamentations 3:37-39) The God who cannot be opposed. Verse 52. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee (Ps 130 1), as Jonah out of the whale's belly. O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; He was overwhelmed like a man drowning in a pit (the waters flowed over my head). Give them sorrow of heart They shall have a callous heart, covered with obstinacy, and thy execration. In Lamentations 3:34-36, certain acts of tyranny, malice, and injustice are specified, which men often indulge themselves in the practice of towards one another, but which the Divine goodness is far from countenancing or approving by any similar conduct. Jeremiahs personal lament is a reminder that suffering is always personal. Keep silent: There came a young man to Demosthenes to learn oratory; he talked away at a great rate, and Demosthenes said, I must charge you double fees. Why? he asked. This gives both birth and bitterness to the affliction (v. 1): I am the man, the remarkable man, that has seen affliction, and has felt it sensibly, by the rod of his wrath. He is the Most High, whose authority over them they contemn by abusing their authority over their subjects, not considering that he that is higher than the highest regardeth, Eccl 5 8. He hath hedged me about This also may refer to the lines drawn round the city during the siege. For the Lord will not cast off forever: The suffering endured was not everlasting. Lamentations 1:3. Lamentations 3:21 Commentaries: This I recall to my mind, Therefore I Spurgeon suggested many reasons why it is good to bear the yoke when young: b. 5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail. Pentateuch The above verse is quoted in reference to our Lord's passion, by Matthew 26:62. According to the multitude of His mercies. Darkness is put for great trouble and perplexity, the want both of comfort and of direction; this was the case of the complainant (v. 2): "He has led me by his providence, and an unaccountable chain of events, into darkness and not into light, the darkness I feared and not into the light I hoped for." See where Jeremiah gets his comfort; he seems to say, Bad as my case is, it might have been worse, for I might have been consumed, and I should have been consumed if the Lords compassions had failed. (Spurgeon). 1. Oh, Book of books, the map of the way to glory; that man invokes a terrible curse upon his own head who refuses to study thee! I said, I am cut off! You drew near on the day I called on You, He retains his kindness for his people even when he afflicts them. Who could exist throughout the day, if there were not a continual superintending Providence? The sum is, If tribulation work patience, that patience will work experience, and that experience a hope that makes not ashamed. If you turn to the life of Whitfield our great and mighty Whitfield in more modern times, what was his character? Verse 27. 64 Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. Did he endeavour as Job did (Job 9 27), to forget his complaint? Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him: Jeremiah said this in the context of patiently enduring suffering (Lamentations 3:27-29). (Lamentations 3:40-47) Humbly turning back to God. b. Commentary on Lamentations 3:22-33 - Working Preacher from Luther Seminary They have shut up their captives in close and dark prisons, where they are as it were cut off from the land of the living (as v. 6), or the state and kingdom are sunk and ruined, the life and being of them are gone, and they are as it were thrown into the dungeon or grave and a stone cast upon them, such as used to be rolled to the door of the sepulchres. He gets good by the yoke who puts his mouth in the dust, not only lays his hand upon his mouth, in token of submission to the will of God in the affliction, but puts it in the dust, in token of sorrow, and shame, and self-loathing, at the remembrance of sin, and as one perfectly reduced and reclaimed, and brought as those that are vanquished to lick the dust, Ps 72 9. He sitteth alone He has learned that necessary lesson of independence, that shows him how he is to serve himself; to give no trouble to others; and keep his troubles, as far as possible, in his own bosom. How powerful is this word when spoken by the Spirit of the Lord to a disconsolate heart. O LORD, You have seen how I am wronged; Verse 26. In offering the cheek to the smiter the captive was conveying the idea of absolute surrender. (Harrison). "Let them be dealt with according to the threatenings: Thy curse unto them; that is, let thy curse come upon them, all the evils that are pronounced in thy word against the enemies of thy people, v. 65. He marvels that God should have drawn near to him, for his condition was a very pitiful one. The Gospels When we are in distress we should, for the encouragement of our faith and hope, observe what makes for us as well as what makes against us. Having stated his distress and temptation, the prophet shows how he was raised above it. To every mourner we may say, on the authority of God, Fear not! Lamentations 3 NLT - Hope in the LORD's Faithfulness - BibleGateway It seemed as a butt for all God's arrows; and each arrow of calamity entered into the soul, for God was the unerring marksman. Peculiarities "Lamentations: The Expositor's Bible Commentary" Volume 6 (Isaiah-Ezekiel) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1985), Harrison, R.K. "Jeremiah and Lamentations: An Introduction and Commentary" Volume 20 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries) (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973), Meyer, F.B. He doth not ascribe his deliverance in any measure to any man, much less to his own merit; but it is thou. (Spurgeon). Such burdens can best be borne in youth when a man has the requisite vigour, and when his personality needs to be disciplined more than would be the case in his more mature years. (Harrison). Lamentations 3:1-66 . 3 Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day. "Lamentations" was derived from a translation of the title as found in the Latin Vulgate (Vg.) Judah has gone into exile, but she does not find any rest there among the nations. b. i. Lamentations 3 - NIV Bible - I am the man who has seen affliction by Remember my affliction and roaming, Or, My eye melts my soul; I have quite wept away my spirits; not only my eye is consumed with grief, but my soul and my life are spent with it, Ps 31 9, 10. Note, It is common for base and ill-natured men to run upon, and run down, those that have fallen into the depths of distress from the height of honour. It is good for young people to take that yoke upon them in their youth; we cannot begin too soon to be religious. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. There was rich comfort in realizing that the tender affection of God was not completely spent; these compassions were new every morning. A sad complaint of God's displeasure and the fruits of it, ver 1-20. Commentary on Lamentations 3 by Matthew Henry He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces; Note, The Israel of God, though children of light, sometimes walk in darkness. Great is Your faithfulness. My eyes overflow with rivers of water Luke-Acts This hindered God's favours from coming down upon them. He does not dispense his frowns as he does his favours, ex mero motufrom his mere good pleasure. I have forgotten prosperity. Note, Whatever hard things we suffer, we must never entertain any hard thoughts of God, but must still be ready to own that he is both kind and faithful.