Or, "Thou hast covered us up as men that are buried are covered up and forgotten." And be full of reproach. I. c. LORD, You have seen how I am wronged: Jeremiah rested in the confidence that God was a righteous judge, who would see how he was wronged and who would rightly judge his case. And it is no diminution to any to be much in tears for the sins of sinners and the sufferings of saints; our Lord Jesus was so; for, when he came near, he beheld this same city and wept over it, which the daughters of Jerusalem did not. Verse 20. 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. In the time of his trial the Lord had become terrible to him. 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. The struggle between unbelief and faith is often very severe. These rivers of mercy run fully and constantly, but never run dry. They were against him like a fowler is against a bird. Verse 24. But this was not all: Thou saidst, Fear not. They complain of his frowns and the tokens of his displeasure against them. 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. 2. 65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. 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. i. 3. He comes out of his place to punish, for his place is the mercy-seat. Wisdom Literature 1. Verse 30. Many times through the affliction he felt God to be his adversary, not his friend. We should observe what makes for us, as well as what is against us. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Our hearts must go with our prayers. We must look up to God as a God in the heavens, infinitely above us, and who has an incontestable dominion over us; for the heavens do rule, and are therefore not to be quarrelled with, but submitted to. Wisdom Literature If hope become impatient, faith will be impossible: for who can believe for his salvation when his mind is agitated? The yoke in his youth. Verse 33. 2. That God is, and ever will be, the all-sufficient happiness of his people, and they have chosen him and depend upon him to be such (v. 24): The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; that is, 1. And surrounded me with bitterness and woe. Theirs is causeless, and therefore fruitless, it shall not come; but thine is just, and shall take effect. Observe here, 1. range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed Verse Lamentations 3:5. All their schemes against me, Let us observe the particulars of it. Let him sit alone and keep silent: Under adversity, it is best to not try and figure everything out right away. They complain of their own excessive grief and fear upon this account. We are men; let us herein show ourselves men. Here is, I. O LORD, You have seen how I am wronged; That, whatever sorrow we are in, it is what God has allotted us, and his hand is in it. 41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. 4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old. Yet. According to the multitude of His mercies. Let us search and try our ways, search what they have been, and then try whether they have been right and good or no; search as for a malefactor in disguise, that flees and hides himself, and then try whether guilty or not guilty. When we are in affliction it is seasonable to consider our ways (Hag 1 5), that what is amiss may be repented of and amended for the future, and so we may answer the intention of the affliction. ( Lamentations 3:1-9) The man afflicted by the LORD. My seeing eye affects my heart. 3. The enemies, having taken some of them like a bird in a snare, chased others as a harmless bird is chased by a bird of prey (v. 52): My enemies chased me sorely like a bird which is beaten from bush to bush, as Saul hunted David like a partridge. 2. He retains his kindness for his people even when he afflicts them. He who can bear contempt and reproach, and not render railing for railing, and bitterness for bitterness, who, when he is filled full with reproach, keeps it to himself, and does not retort it and empty it again upon those who filled him with it, but pours it out before the Lord (as those did, Ps 123 4, whose souls were exceedingly filled with the contempt of the proud), he shall find that it is good to bear the yoke, that it shall turn to his spiritual advantage. 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. When a man hopes for salvation, he should not only wait for it, but use every means that may lead to it; for hope cannot live, if there be no exercise. With this should go the complete submission to God pictured in v. 29 by the Oriental obeisance. 2. 2. Let us search out and examine our ways, Prayer is the breath of the new man, sucking in the air of mercy in petitions and returning it in praises; it is both the evidence and the maintenance of the spiritual life. 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. - Blayney. 3. He has not only failed in his dutyhis own suffering has left him without peace, happiness, energy, or hope (verses 17-18). The prophet therefore considers them on the utmost verge of final reprobation: another plunge, and they are lost for ever. The Lamentations are the expression of a heart full of love for the earthly people of Jehovah, a people punished for their sins by loosing their kingdom, their land, their city and their sanctuary. 7. "While I have an interest in God, therein I have enough; I have that which is sufficient to counterbalance all my troubles and make up all my losses." Title. 4. Email / username or password was incorrect! That grief returned upon every remembrance of his troubles, and his reflections were as melancholy as his prospects, v. 19, 20. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. Note, God will one day call sinners to account for all the hard speeches which they have spoken against him and his people, Jude 15. When we are sedate and quiet under our afflictions, when we sit alone and keep silence, do not run to and fro into all companies with our complaints, aggravating our calamities, and quarrelling with the disposals of Providence concerning us, but retire into privacy, that we may in a day of adversity consider, sit alone, that we may converse with God and commune with our own hearts, silencing all discontented distrustful thoughts, and laying our hand upon our mouth, as Aaron, who, under a very severe trial, held his peace. "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. It leads too to the willingness to be treated like a slave (v. 30), for the yoke was a symbol of servitude (but cf. 33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. Note, It becomes us, when we are in trouble, to justify God, by owning our sins, and laying the load upon ourselves for them. We need a constant supply and God has promised to send them without fail. It is no pleasure to God to afflict men. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. God has access to the spirit, and can so embitter that as thereby to embitter all the enjoyments; as, when the stomach is foul, whatever is eaten sours in it: "He has made me drunk with wormwood, so intoxicated me with the sense of my afflictions that I know not what to say or do. It is our duty, and will be our comfort and satisfaction, to hope and quietly to wait for the salvation of the Lord. Having stated his distress and temptation, the prophet shows how he was raised above it. This verse seems to allude to the Chaldaic prediction, in Jeremiah 10:11. b. That we may be entitled to the comforts administered to the afflicted in the foregoing verses, and may taste the sweetness of them, we have here the duties of an afflicted state prescribed to us, in the performance of which we may expect those comforts. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, (Hebrew/Greek Search by English Definition), * 'Number Delimiters' only apply to 'Paragraph Order', Search verses, phrases, and topics (e.g. Hab 1 13, Wherefore lookest thou upon those that deal treacherously? Great and long grief exhausts the spirits, and brings not only many a gray head, but many a green head too, to the grave. Yet the consideration of Gods sovereignty would also become the source of their hope. 2 17, 21), but here they correct themselves, and own, 1. To every mourner we may say, on the authority of God, Fear not! Or subvert a man in his cause You need to be saved from sin, in this Book God has revealed the way of salvation, therefore do not shut up the Book, and fasten the clasps, and leave it neglected. He who has not got under wholesome restraint in youth will never make a useful man, a good man, nor a happy man. Dr. Blayney thinks that elyon, instead of being referred to God, should be considered as pointing out one of the chief of the people. John 3:16, Jesus faith love), Select a Beginning Point Fear not. The daughters of my city. These complaints we had before, ch. Every morning brings new forgiveness for new sins. ii. My eyes overflow with rivers of water "If God, who now covers himself with a cloud, as if he took no notice of our troubles (Job 22 13), would but shine forth, all would be well; if he look upon us, we shall be saved," Ps 80 19; Dan 9 17. But, if we accommodate ourselves to him, though we be chastened of the Lord we shall not be condemned with the world. Silenced my life in the pit: Seemeth not to be here taken literally, for the lowest and nastiest place in prisons, which probably was the portion but of a few of the Jews; but metaphorically, for the lowest and saddest condition of misery. For he doth not afflict willingly It is no pleasure to God to afflict men. Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, There are times when the only thing a sufferer can do is wait for God. (Lamentations 3:37-39) The God who cannot be opposed. Mine eye runneth down I weep incessantly. If therefore you cannot speak, weep - tears also have a voice; [Psalms 39:12] if you cannot weep, sigh - a storm of sighs may do as much as a shower of tears; if you cannot sigh, yet breathe, as here. Of this, death would deprive him; therefore let not a living man complain. (Clarke), ii. b. Therefore I hope in Him! 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.". hichphishani beepher, "he hath plunged me into the dust." 30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach. In a magnificent expression of faith in the unfailing mercies of God, the writer looks to the distant future with renewed hope. (Harrison), ii. Note, The Israel of God, though children of light, sometimes walk in darkness. The LORD is my portion: As in Psalm 119:57, Jeremiah found the key to satisfactionfinding ones portion in the LORD. God had said once (Hos 5 14), I will be as a lion to the house of Judah, and now he has made his word good (v. 10): "He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, surprising me with his judgments, and as a lion in secret places; so that which way soever I went I was in continual fear of being set upon and could never think myself safe." Let them be dealt with as they have dealt with us; let thy hand be against them as their hand has been against us. 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. like those long dead. You have covered Yourself with a cloud, That God sees them. Note, God is sometimes angry with his own people; yet it is to be complained of, not as a sword to cut off, by only as a rod to correct; it is to them the rod of his wrath, a chastening which, though grievous for the present, will in the issue be advantageous. It is the heart that God looks at in that and every other service; for what will a sacrifice without a heart avail? He recognized the necessity of the suffering, but suffered with the sufferers. (Morgan), iv. He hath - brought me into darkness In the sacred writings, darkness is often taken for calamity; light, for prosperity. This intimates, (1.) GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation. My soul still remembers Verse 16. Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, We dont live constantly focused on our sins and failings, but there are appropriate times to carefully, deliberately search out and examine our ways. From my sighing, my cry for help: He dared not even to complain, nor to cry, nor to pray aloud: he was obliged to whisper his prayer to God. We have transgressed and rebelled; You perceive there is not a word concerning himself or his own pleadings. iii. (Lamentations 3:1-9) The man afflicted by the LORD. 2. 1. The New Testament But waiting is good because God is worth waiting for. (Ryken). It is good for young people to take that yoke upon them in their youth; we cannot begin too soon to be religious. He has made my paths crooked. Verse 28. The sum is, If tribulation work patience, that patience will work experience, and that experience a hope that makes not ashamed. 64 Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. Nor grieve the children of men. You have heard my voice: There was rich comfort in realizing that the tender affection of God was not completely spent; these compassions were new every morning. b. Read full chapter Lamentations 2 Lamentations 4 New International Version (NIV) That though we may seem to be cast off for a time, while sensible comforts are suspended and desired salvations deferred, yet we are not really cast off, because not cast off for ever; the controversy with us shall not be perpetual. (3.) He who has not got under wholesome restraint in youth will never make a useful man, a good man, nor a happy man. (Clarke), ii. From under the heavens of the Lord. He has bent His bow: This figure shows the power of the archers arm, which transfixed the poet with arrows. (Ellison), ii. Earlier in this chapter, Jeremiah felt God was his adversary (Lamentations 3:1-18). Bad as things are, it is owing to the mercy of God that they are not worse. Look at their sitting down and their rising up; I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. I. He has besieged me 27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. It is evident that in the preceding verses there is a bitterness of complaint against the bitterness of adversity, that is not becoming to man when under the chastising hand of God; and, while indulging this feeling, all hope fled. 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. it is perished! Those curses came upon Jerusalem in Jeremiahs day; now he prayed that those curses come upon their enemies. 66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord. Bad as the case is, one favourable look from heaven will set all to rights. He will deliver his people from every trouble, and revive his church from every persecution. Have perished from the LORD.. Every morning brings new strength for new temptations, duties, and trials. Verse 17. That while they continued weeping they continued waiting, and neither did nor would expect relief and succour from any hand but his; nothing shall comfort them but his gracious returns, nor shall any thing wipe tears from their eyes till he look down. i. Please see Blue Letter Bible's Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. It was and is worse to be at the mercy of blind fate. Minor Prophets 1. Great is Your faithfulness. These are the words of a satisfied soul. I am their taunting song. b. Till the LORD from heaven looks down and sees: The intense weeping of Jeremiah and those like him must continue until God looks and sees, taking notice of and mercy to their misery. We have been with him, and it has never been well with us since we forsook him; let us therefore now turn again to him." 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. God will plead thy cause, and redeem thy soul. (Clarke). Even when I cry and shout, You have heard their reproach, O LORD, At first, the language sounds like the stock vocabulary of the lament psalms: darkness, pains, broken bones, desolation, arrows, etc. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. Verse 48. We have little reason to complain of our trouble, for it is our own doing; we may thank ourselves. That which is most impressive in this song is the identification of the prophet with the people and with God. 7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy. Duty prescribed in this afflicted state, ver 37-41. 2. 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. With gravel: It could be argued that it refers to the type of bread made from the sweepings of the granary floor that Jeremiah must have received toward the end of the siege. (Ellison), iv. "We are the refuse, or dross, in the midst of the people, trodden upon by every body, and looked upon as the vilest of the nations, and good for nothing but to be cast out as salt which has lost its savour. A sincere conversion to God: "Let us turn again to the Lord, to him who is turned against us and whom we have turned from; to him let us turn by repentance and reformation, as to our owner and ruler. But the complaints here are somewhat more general than those in the foregoing chapter, being accommodated to the case as well of particular persons as of the public, and intended for the use of the closet rather than of the solemn assembly. i. Note, The most secret contrivances of the church's enemies are perfectly known to the church's God, from whom they can hide nothing. 10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. All their schemes against me. Wisdom Literature Here is, I. 2 He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; 3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. Verse 23. Let us lift our hearts and hands (Lamentations 3:24-26) Gods goodness to the seeking soul. 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. He does indeed afflict, and grieve the children of men; all their grievances and afflictions are from him. He shuts out my prayer. He has filled me with bitterness, They did it by despising him (their reproach), with schemes, with whispering lies, and their taunting song against him. 57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not. The New Testament Our treasures, which we lay up on earth, are the stagnant pools; but the treasure which God gives us from heaven, in providence and in grace, is the crystal fount which wells up from the eternal deeps, and is always fresh and always new. (Spurgeon). He has pulled me in pieces; he has torn and is gone away (Hos 5 14), and has made me desolate, has deprived me of all society and all comfort in my own soul." The Bibles Tab is found in the Tools feature on Bible pages: Note: MLA no longer requires the URL as part of their citation standard. And threw stones at me. The stanzas consist of three lines, each of which begins with the same Hebrew letter. Let us search How are we to get the pardon of our sins? My enemies without cause That God has compassions and comforts in store even for those whom he has himself grieved. He delights not in the misery of any of his creatures, but, as it respects his own people, he is so far from it that in all their afflictions he is afflicted and his soul is grieved for the misery of Israel. Historical Books Note, The distresses of God's people sometimes prevail to such a degree that they cannot find any footing for their faith, nor keep their head above water, with any comfortable expectation. 20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. Seeking Him again would bring renewed expressions of His goodness. 4. i. He does not himself crush under his feet the prisoners of the earth, but he regards the cry of the prisoners; nor does he approve of men's doing it; nay, he is much displeased with it. "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. This is here laid down as a great truth, which will help to quiet our spirits under our afflictions and to sanctify them to us. 2 15, 16. i. It is good for a man to bear No; the very same that caused the grief must bring in the favour, or we are undone. 2 He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; 3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. He that knows all things knew, (1.) The Whole Bible Their eyes, which now run down with water, shall still wait upon the Lord their God until he have mercy upon them, Ps 123 2. And (v. 6), He has set me in dark places, dark as the grave, like those that are dead of old, that are quite forgotten, nobody knows who or what they were. 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. To crush under his feet He can neither gain credit nor pleasure in trampling upon those who are already bound, and in suffering; such he knows to be the state of man here below. Your partnership makes all we do possible. (Lamentations 3:27-29) Hope for the silent soul. Why do I fret thus?" 31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever: 32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul" (that is, as it follows), "thou hast redeemed my life, hast rescued that out of the hands of those who would have taken it away, hast saved that when it was ready to be swallowed up, hast given me that for a prey."

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