He has been to me like a bear lying in wait: Using the eloquence that misery sometimes brings, Jeremiah described all the ways that they felt God opposed and even attacked them. Major Prophets We should complain to God, and not of him. 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. Lamentations 3 is the third chapter of the Book of Lamentations in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, . In the process of remembering Gods attributes, Jeremiah was drawn back into living fellowship and intimate communion with his faithful God. (Ryken). The title of the 102nd Psalm might very fitly be prefixed to this chapterThe prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and pours out his complaint before the Lord; for it is very feelingly and fluently that the complaint is here poured out. i. Verse 28. Approveth not, lo raah, doth not see, turns away his face from it, abhors it. Verse 35. He that knows all things knew, (1.) Here is one word of comfort. Due thoughts of the evil of sin, and of our own sinfulness, will convince us that it is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed. range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed But through all of his long and faithful ministry, he was (like the Lord Jesus) despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with much grief. Almost in all countries, and in all languages, bitterness is a metaphor to express trouble and affliction. 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. Father, thy will be done. 1. Life in any sense is a sweet mercy, even that which to the afflicted may seem a lifeless life. (Trapp). The more I look upon the desolation of the city and country the more I am grieved. Lamentations 3 - Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible - Bible In the time of his trial the Lord had become terrible to him. These are good times for reflection (sit alone) and listening rather than speaking. He hath covered me with ashes. 43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied. 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. Major Prophets Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. All our enemies He has hedged me about, that I cannot get out." That God turns a deaf ear to his prayers (v. 8): "When I cry and shout, as one in earnest, as one that would make him hear, yet he shuts out my prayer and will not suffer it to have access to him." Like the book of Job, Lamentations pictures a man of God puzzling over the results of evil and suffering in the world. Verse 22. He has caused the arrows of His quiver No; he has more reason to be thankful for life than to complain of any of the burdens and calamities of life. 2 He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light. God's having heard our voice when we cried to him, even out of the low dungeon, is an encouragement for us to hope that he will not at any time hide his ear. You drew near on the day I called on You, Duty prescribed in this afflicted state, ver 37-41. (3.) Give them sorrow of heart They shall have a callous heart, covered with obstinacy, and thy execration. Verse 13. 2. He does not afflict with pleasure. 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. Are we suffering for our sins? 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? 4 He has made my skin and flesh grow old. b. 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. Lamentations chapter 3. b. Did ever man paint sorrow like this man? GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point Surely He has turned His hand against me I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. Great and long grief exhausts the spirits, and brings not only many a gray head, but many a green head too, to the grave. Of this, death would deprive him; therefore let not a living man complain. (Clarke), ii. 2. (2.) Verse 51. 3. You perceive there is not a word concerning himself or his own pleadings. Lamentations 3 Hebrew with Rashi's Commentary; Christian. It is all what God orders; every man's judgment proceeds from him. a. In the time of his trial the Lord had become terrible to him. (Lamentations 3:10-18) God an adversary in many ways. That God does not approve of them. And surrounded me with bitterness and woe. 49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission, 50 Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven. Note, Those that are cast down are commonly tempted to think themselves cast off, Ps 31 22; Jon 2 4. Are we punished for our sins? 3. (Lamentations 3:37-39) The God who cannot be opposed. Commentary on Lamentations 3:22-33 - Working Preacher from Luther Seminary 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. 7. 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." You have covered Yourself with anger 61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, and all their imaginations against me; 62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day. III. Lamentations Chapter 3 Kjv - King James Bible Online Even when I cry and shout, And turn back to the LORD; From which it most assuredly follows, that God never afflicts us but for our good, nor chastises but that we may be partakers of his holiness. It is good because it gives one many years of experience. He has besieged me And I said, My strength and my hope In Your anger, Verse Lamentations 3:66. Remember my affliction and roaming, i. From under the heavens of the Lord. Historical Books 2. 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. 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. Lamentations 3 - Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible - Bible Pentateuch He faithfully announced His judgments and performed them, and God would prove to be just as faithful in His promised restoration. 2. 1 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. God had been for him, but no "Surely against me is he turned (v. 3), as far as I can discern; for his hand is turned against me all the day. My enemies without cause 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. Historical Books It is very applicable to the yoke of God's commands. He takes no delight in our pain and misery: yet, like a tender and intelligent parent, he uses the rod; not to gratify himself, but to profit and save us. (Clarke), ii. But he does not do it willingly, not from the heart; so the word is. We must pray to him, with a believing expectation to receive mercy from him; for that is implied in our lifting up our hands to him (a gesture commonly used in prayer and sometimes put for it, as Ps 141 2, Let the lifting up of my hands be as the evening sacrifice); it signifies our requesting mercy from him and our readiness to receive that mercy. Or, My weeping eye affects my heart; the venting of the grief, instead of easing it, did but increase and exasperate it. 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. a. Judge thou my cause, v. 59. It is possible to interpret this chapter as a record of the feelings of Jeremiah himself, or as a personification in an otherwise unknown individual or the nations tragic sufferings. (Harrison), ii. Our Lord Jesus has left us an example of this, for he gave his back to the smiter, Isa 50 6. If, indeed, any sinner be kept out of hell, it is because God's compassion faileth not. Note, Men are but tools which the great God makes use of, and manages as he pleases, in the government of this lower world; and they cannot accomplish any of their designs without him. i. Our own wickedness corrects us, Prov 19 3. 4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; 5 he has besieged . Salem Media Group. ii. They rejected and rebelled for generations, then looked to others for rescue. Many of the young men were carried into captivity. They have loaded us with curses; as they loved cursing, so let it come unto them, thy curse which will make them truly miserable. When Jerusalem was besieged it was said to be compassed in on every side, Luke 19 43. This hindered God's favours from coming down upon them. The captives in Babylon had all the miseries of the siege in their mind continually and the flames and ruins of Jerusalem still before their eyes, and wept when they remembered Zion; nay, they could never forget Jerusalem, Ps 137 1, 5. Would you prayerfully consider a gift of support today? Like a lawyer pleading for his client, God pleaded the case for his life. Far be it from God that he should do iniquity, or countenance those that do it. We must lift up our hearts with our hands, as we must pour out our souls with our words. And to those who thus wait and seek God will be gracious; he will show them his marvellous lovingkindness. Let us search How are we to get the pardon of our sins? Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. The wormwood and the gall. And be full of reproach. Did he endeavour as Job did (Job 9 27), to forget his complaint? Email / username or password was incorrect! 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. Lamentations 1:3 Commentaries: Judah has gone into exile under 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. The nations recognition of itself as offscouring (so most evv) employs a descriptive term sehi, occurring here only in the Hebrew Bible, and in the context denotes anything rejected as unfit for use. Read full chapter Lamentations 2 Lamentations 4 New International Version (NIV) What is said of the idols is here said of their worshippers (who in this also shall be like unto them), They shall perish from under these heavens, Jer 10 11. The faithful lament their calamities, and hope in God's mercies. II. To give emphasis, Jeremiah asked the same question in different words. (3.) The Gospels Matthew Henrys Bible Commentary (concise), Matthew Henry Bible Commentary (complete), California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. It is good because obedience to God is best learned when young. 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. Lamentations - Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary - StudyLight.org 55 I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon. 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 daughters of my city. Instead of Adonai, seventeen MSS., of Kennicott's, and one ancient of my own, have Yehovah. Fear and a snare Jeremiah 48:13. Verse 24. 5. Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores. Let them be dealt with," (1.) He was so low that life seemed ebbing out, and he groaned. (Spurgeon), ii. They look upon the Jewish nation as dead and buried, and imagine that there is not possibility of its resurrection. 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. VII. A mother listens for the breathing of her babe in the dark. He gets good by the yoke who gives his cheek to him that smites him, and rather turns the other cheek (Matt 5 39) than returns the second blow. Those who in their haste have chidden with God must, in the reflection, chide themselves for it. 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. 53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. He does not dispense his frowns as he does his favours, ex mero motufrom his mere good pleasure. In the midst of these sad complaints here is one word of comfort, by which it appears that their case was not altogether so bad as they made it, v. 50. 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 Lord Adonai; but one of my ancient MSS. Jeremiah proposes his own experience under afflictions, as an example as to how the Jews should behave under theirs, so as to have hope of a restoration; hence the change from singular to plural ( Lamentations 3:22 Lamentations 3:40-47 ). The malice they had against him: "Thou hast seen all their vengeance, how they desire to do me a mischief, as if it were by way of reprisal for some great injury I had done them." The LORD is my portion: As in Psalm 119:57, Jeremiah found the key to satisfactionfinding ones portion in the LORD. 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 Their taunting song all the day. And covered me with ashes. John 3:16, Jesus faith love), Select a Beginning Point How great soever his affliction may be, he is still alive; therefore, he may seek and find mercy unto eternal life. According to the work of their hands. By this rod we must expect to see affliction, and, if we be made to see more than ordinary affliction by that rod, we must not quarrel, for we are sure that the anger is just and affliction mild and mixed with mercy. Verse 27. Are we healthful or sickly, rich or poor? General Epistles I have even given up all for gone, concluding, My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord (v. 18); I can no longer stay myself upon God as my support, for I do not find that he gives me encouragement to do so; nor can I look for his appearing in my behalf, so as to put an end to my troubles, for the case seems remediless, and even my God inexorable." Jeremiahs personal lament is a reminder that suffering is always personal. The sufferings of the people of Judah are described as though one man had experienced them. He has hedged me in: Harrison saw this as a picture of cruel imprisonment. You have covered Yourself with a cloud, That grief returned upon every remembrance of his troubles, and his reflections were as melancholy as his prospects, v. 19, 20. Verse 7. Who could exist throughout the day, if there were not a continual superintending Providence? We are men; let us herein show ourselves men. Surely He has turned His hand against me Time and time again throughout the day. 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. b. Pauline Epistles He has not only failed in his dutyhis own suffering has left him without peace, happiness, energy, or hope (verses 17-18). That woe and well-being proceed? Though all this take place, yet let his "trust be in God, who will not cast off for ever." II. though thou knowest not what thy enemies meditate against thee; yet he who loves thee does, and will infallibly defeat all their plots, and save thee. 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. 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). 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. conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy Error: Passwords should have at least 6 characters, Error: Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores. 60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. This is the result of their searching and trying their ways; the more they enquired into them the worse they found them. The Old Testament 4. 8. To God in heaven. He delights not in the death of sinners, or the disquiet of saints, but punishes with a kind of reluctance. We read it as a petition for further audience: Hide not thy ear. He who has not got under wholesome restraint in youth will never make a useful man, a good man, nor a happy man. Without interruption, Let us see what these things are which he calls to mind. "In more ways than one this brings us to the very heart of the book. My soul, having them in remembrance, is humbled in me, not only oppressed with a sense of the trouble, but in bitterness for sin. 2 15, 16. In darkness and not in light. 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. Clarke, Adam "Clarke's Commentary: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments with a Commentary and Critical Notes" Volume 4 (Isaiah-Malachi) (New York: Eaton and Mains, 1827), Ellison, H.L. 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.". 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. Early habits, when good, are invaluable. Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it? Those whom thou cursest are cursed indeed. 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 . It will tell her so much. It leads too to the willingness to be treated like a slave (v. 30), for the yoke was a symbol of servitude (but cf. Of this, death would deprive him; therefore let not a living man complain. 2. These complaints we had before, ch. 30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach. It is good because it saves from a thousand snares. 9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked. This was the state of poor Jerusalem. All rights reserved. Note, The church of God is like Moses's bush, burning, yet not consumed; whatever hardships it has met with, or may meet with, it shall have a being in the world to the end of time. Those that blame their lot reproach him that allotted it to them. Every morning brings new forgiveness for new sins. Verse 48. 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. He has set me in dark places It is persecuted of men, but not forsaken of God, and therefore, though it is cast down, it is not destroyed (2 Cor 4 9), corrected, yet not consumed, refined in the furnace as silver, but not consumed as dross. Desolation and destruction. The prophet addressed him personally and directly: Great is your faithfulness. d. He shuts out my prayer: When things are right with our relationship with God, He is our refuge and defense in affliction. Some read it, at my gasping. III. He shuts out my prayer. Till the LORD from heaven a. I have been so inured to sorrow and servitude that I know not what joy and liberty mean. He hath made me drunken with wormwood. And said, Do not fear! so Job argues, ch. This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope: For perhaps the first time in the book, hope is allowed. Commentary on Lamentations 3:22-33 - Working Preacher He never afflicts us but when we give him cause to do it. Though God was righteous, they were unrighteous. Blue Letter Bible study tools make reading, searching and studying the Bible easy and rewarding. 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? Note, Though we may pour out our complaints before God, we must never exhibit any complaints against God. Fear and a snare have come upon us, Yet. (2.) 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. My eyes bring suffering to my soul Johannine Writings Verse 31. ii. It is easier to chide ourselves for complaining than to chide ourselves out of it. And surely they are such as afford a sufficient ground for trusting in God under the severest trials. 6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. 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. God's ear is wont to be open to the prayers of his people, and his door of mercy to those that knock at it; but now both are shut, even to one that cries and shouts. i. The former is their state, the latter their fate. 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? Lamentations 3 Commentary - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Verse Lamentations 3:2. Wherefore doth a living man complain He who has his life still lent to him has small cause of complaint. ( Lamentations 3:1-9) The man afflicted by the LORD. Theirs is causeless, and therefore fruitless, it shall not come; but thine is just, and shall take effect. But when do we bear the yoke so that it is really good for us to bear it in our youth? But this they brought upon themselves by sin. Because His compassions fail not. Whatever we are robbed of our portion is safe. b. 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. They did it by despising him (their reproach), with schemes, with whispering lies, and their taunting song against him. 16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. 3. Verse Lamentations 3:65. 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. The reason is, there is nothing more disagreeable to the taste than the one; and nothing more distressing to the mind than the other. 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.
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