We are men, and not brutes, reasonable creatures, who should act with reason, who should look upward and look forward, and both ways may fetch considerations enough to silence our complaints. We have no reason to quarrel with God, for he is righteous in it; he is the governor of the world, and it is necessary that he should maintain the honour of his government by chastising the disobedient. One can scarcely read this description without feeling the toothache. They confess the righteousness of God in afflicting them (v. 42): We have transgressed and have rebelled. They complain of their own excessive grief and fear upon this account. You have moved my soul far from peace; Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year. III. Surely He has turned His hand against me: Jeremiah did not stay in this dark and desperate place, but he would not deny being there. (great love [mercies]), the covenant love and loyalty of the Lord that leads to rahamim (compassion, mercy), derived from re?em (womb). (Ellison), ii. Historical Books Jeremiah 20:1-2). (Ellison). The Old Testament He has led me and made me walk In darkness and not in light. VIII. One can scarcely read this description without feeling the toothache. (Clarke), iii. 44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through. i. 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). That, when God does cause grief, it is for wise and holy ends, and he takes not delight in our calamities, v. 33. Text is available under the . b. I called on your name, O LORD: Even from the pit Jeremiah knew he could call upon the LORD, and that God would hear His voice. No; the very same that caused the grief must bring in the favour, or we are undone. Thou hast seen - all their imaginations Every thing is open to the eye of God. a. 3. 26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. a. a. The more the prophet looked on the desolations, the more he was grieved. We must be far from thinking that, though God cause grief, the world will relieve and help us. that come from the rod of the Lord's anger. (2.) 17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. Though God was righteous, they were unrighteous. To every mourner we may say, on the authority of God, Fear not! He putteth his mouth in the dust Lives in a state of deep humility. I have drunk the cup of misery till I am intoxicated with it. (Lamentations 3:40-47) Humbly turning back to God. (2.) Earlier in this chapter, Jeremiah felt God was his adversary (Lamentations 3:1-18). Lamentations 3 - Wikipedia Even if he could only manage a sigh, it would be his cry for help that he longed for God to hear. Men can do nothing but according to the counsel of God, nor have any power or success but what is given them from above. Is it not what he has ordained and appointed for us? 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. Are we healthful or sickly, rich or poor? Your curse be upon them: According to the terms of the covenant Israel made with God (as in Deuteronomy 27-28), Israel would be terribly cursed if they disobeyed and rejected God. These streams followed up to the fountain: It is of the Lord's mercies. 46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. In a magnificent expression of faith in the unfailing mercies of God, the writer looks to the distant future with renewed hope. (Harrison), ii. 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. d. You have made us an offscouring and refuse: In the desire to turn back to the LORD, Jeremiah knew that it was important to honestly see their condition. i. 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." When we are humble and patient under our affliction. ( Lamentations 3:1-21) "I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. 2. It will tell her so much. We should observe what makes for us, as well as what is against us. 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. Having stated his distress and temptation, the prophet shows how he was raised above it. The distemper was in continual extremity, and they had no better day. 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. Benson Commentary Lamentations 3:31-33. While they continued weeping, they continued waiting; and neither did nor would expect relief and succour from any but the Lord. Yes, certainly it is; and for the reconciling of us to our own afflictions, whatever they be, this general truth must thus be particularly applied. He has hedged me in: Harrison saw this as a picture of cruel imprisonment. He answers in the following verses, 1. The poets mention of the LORD broke the spell of misery that had bound him. (Ellison). Here Jeremiah fulfills that role with tears that flow and do not cease, without interruption. He is good to those who do so, v. 25. Pauline Epistles Portions on earth are perishing things, but God is a portion for ever. They silenced my life in the pit That, whatever men's actions are, it is God that overrules them: Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass (that designs a thing and bring his designs to effect), if the Lord commandeth it not? 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." 37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? He has made my chain heavy: As the convict sometimes drags about his chain, and has a ball at his foot, so the prophet felt as if God had clogged him with a heavy chain, so that he could not move because of its terrible weight. (Spurgeon). so Job argues, ch. 2. Let them be dealt with as they have dealt with us; let thy hand be against them as their hand has been against us. When those who are afflicted in their youth accommodate themselves to their afflictions, fit their necks to the yoke and study to answer God's end in afflicting them, then they will find it good for them to bear it, for it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are thus exercised thereby. 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. Note, Those who are truly humbled for sin will be glad to obtain a good hope, through grace, upon any terms, though they put their mouth in the dust for it; and those who would have hope must do so, and ascribe it to free grace if they have any encouragements, which may keep their hearts from sinking into the dust when they put their mouth there. They were surrounded, hedged, and blocked. b. Life in any sense is a sweet mercy, even that which to the afflicted may seem a lifeless life. (Trapp). It is good that a man should both hope Hope is essentially necessary to faith; he that hopes not, cannot believe; if there be no expectation, there can be no confidence. 2. The second ( Lamentations 3:32) rests on the fact that compassion underlies chastisement ( Psalm 30:5; Job 5:18; Isaiah 54:8 ); the third ( Lamentations 3:33) on the truth that the primary eternal will of God is on the side of love, and that punishment is, as it were, against that will. Note, The most secret contrivances of the church's enemies are perfectly known to the church's God, from whom they can hide nothing. An Introduction to the Book of Lamentations | Bible.org Wisdom Literature He faithfully announced His judgments and performed them, and God would prove to be just as faithful in His promised restoration. The scope of this chapter is the same with that of the two foregoing chapters, but the composition is somewhat different; that was in long verse, this is in short, another kind of metre; that was in single alphabets, this is in a treble one. Thus emphatically does he speak of his affliction, for thus did he think of it, thus heavily did it lie when he reviewed it! "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." Verse 20. Johannine Writings Give them sorrow of heart They shall have a callous heart, covered with obstinacy, and thy execration. 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). No; he has more reason to be thankful for life than to complain of any of the burdens and calamities of life. 2. All the prisoners of the earth By the prisoners of the earth, or land, Dr. Blayney understands those insolvent debtors who were put in prison, and there obliged to work out the debt. He is filled full with reproach. Passwords should have at least 6 characters. 2. 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. By soul - is humbled in me. In the time of his trial the Lord had become terrible to him. If we call this to mind, we may have hope that all will end well at last. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; he forms the light and creates the darkness, as he did at first. 3. You have heard their reproach, O LORD, 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. For the destruction of the daughter of my people. John 3:16, Jesus faith love), Select a Beginning Point Lamentations 3 NIV - I am the man who has seen affliction by - Bible He has also broken my teeth with gravel: What a figure to express disgust, pain, and the consequent incapacity of taking food for the support of life; a man, instead of bread, being obliged to eat small pebbles till all his teeth are broken to pieces by endeavouring to grind them. This was the state of poor Jerusalem. Though God serves his own purposes by the violence of wicked and unreasonable men, yet it does no therefore follow that he countenances that violence, as his oppressed people are sometimes tempted to think. He has aged my flesh and my skin, And broken my bones. 65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. Matthew Henrys Bible Commentary (concise), Matthew Henry Bible Commentary (complete), California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed 4. "When I have lost all I have in the world, liberty, and livelihood, and almost life itself, yet I have not lost my interest in God." We must not quarrel with God for any affliction that he lays upon us at any time (v. 39): Wherefore does a living man complain? Approveth not, lo raah, doth not see, turns away his face from it, abhors it. 54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off. Peculiarities General Epistles 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. Note, It is our duty to make God the portion of our souls, and then to make use of him as our portion and to take the comfort of it in the midst of our lamentations. If inward impressions do not answer to outward expressions, we mock God, and deceive ourselves. The Chaldean forces broke in upon them as the breaking forth of waters, which rose so high as to flow over their heads; they could not wade, they could not swim, and therefore must unavoidably sink. 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.