Great and long grief exhausts the spirits, and brings not only many a gray head, but many a green head too, to the grave. Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it? The designs and projects they had laid to do him a mischief: Thou hast seen all their imaginations against me (v. 60), and again, "Thou hast heard all their imaginations against me (v. 61), both the desire and the device they have to ruin me; whether it show itself in word or deed, it is known to thee; nay, though the products of it are not to be seen nor heard, yet their device against me all the day is perceived and understood by him to whom all things are naked and open." 1. 29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. We are apt, in times of public calamity, to reflect upon other people's ways, and lay blame upon them; whereas our business is to search and try our own ways. 2 He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point Even if he could only manage a sigh, it would be his cry for help that he longed for God to hear. "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. All Rights Reserved. He who has his life still lent to him has small cause of complaint. He will deliver his people from every trouble, and revive his church from every persecution. As breathing is a proof of animal life, so is prayer, though never so weak, of spiritual. We are men, and not gods, subjects, not lords; we are not our own masters, not our own carvers; we are bound and must obey, must submit. Lamentations 3 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate This page was last edited on 17 April 2023, at 10:57 (UTC). II. He who has not got under wholesome restraint in youth will never make a useful man, a good man, nor a happy man. But he does not do it willingly, not from the heart; so the word is. Perhaps they had some tune or play, some opera or interlude, that was called the destruction of Jerusalem, which, though in the nature of a tragedy, was very entertaining to those who wished ill to the holy city. 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. 10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. Formerly he inflicted punishments with reluctance, while there was any hope of amendment: but, in the instance before us, the case was so hopeless, that God acts according to the simple principle of vindictive justice. Far be it from God that he should do iniquity, or countenance those that do it. The prophet here seems to check himself for the complaint he had made in the former part of the chapter, wherein he seemed to reflect upon God as unkind and severe. There may yet be hope. i. (Lamentations 3:21-23) New mercies from a faithful God. In three things the prophet and his pious friends had found God good to them:1. (2.) It has already been noticed in the introduction, that this chapter contains a triple acrostic, three lines always beginning with the same letter; so that the Hebrew alphabet is thrice repeated in this chapter, twenty-two multiplied by three being equal to sixty-six. Judah has gone into exile, but she does not find any rest there among the nations. 24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. It is good because it keeps from bearing the devils yoke. 9. Lamentations 3 1 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the LORD's wrath. (Lamentations 3:10-18) God an adversary in many ways. It hindered their prayers from coming up unto God (v. 44): "Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud," not like that bright cloud in which he took possession of the temple, which enabled the worshippers to draw near to him, but like that in which he came down upon Mount Sinai, which obliged the people to stand at a distance. ii. It is added (v. 51), "My eye affects my heart. 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. Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe and well-being proceed? Prophets The yoke in his youth: Early habits, when good, are invaluable. The waters flowed over my head; 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. That, whatever men's lot is, it is God that orders it: Out of the mouth of the Most High do not evil and good proceed? GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Use semicolons to separate groups: 'Gen;Jdg;Psa-Mal' or 'Rom 3-12;Mat 1:15;Mat 5:12-22', There are options set in 'Advanced Options', The Whole Bible In Your anger, 46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. Thou saidst, Fear not. 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. No; he has more reason to be thankful for life than to complain of any of the burdens and calamities of life. i. Surely He has turned His hand against me 8. 2. One can scarcely read this without feeling a suppression of breath, or a stricture upon the lungs! They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. b. The reason is, there is nothing more disagreeable to the taste than the one; and nothing more distressing to the mind than the other. If you cannot speak, cry, sob, or groan, then be still. Title. I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. You can copy the order of your preferred Bible translations from the Bibles Tab to the Version Picker (this popup) or vice versa. General Epistles Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. 3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me. When we are meek and mild towards those who are the instruments of our trouble, and are of a forgiving spirit, v. 30. Those whom thou cursest are cursed indeed. And set me up as a target for the arrow. When Jerusalem was besieged it was said to be compassed in on every side, Luke 19 43. If inward impressions be not in some measure answerable to outward expressions, we do but mock God and deceive ourselves. Passwords should have at least 6 characters. Praying is lifting up the soul to God (Ps 25 1) as to our Father in heaven; and the soul that hopes to be with God in heaven for ever will thus, by frequent acts of devotion, be still learning the way thither and pressing forward in that way. c. The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him: All the misery of Gods people had come because they would not truly seek God and wait for Him. 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. Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. Fear and a snare Jeremiah 48:13. 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. I have become the ridicule of all my people Portions on earth are perishing things, but God is a portion for ever. 30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach. It is he that causes grief, and therefore we may be assured it is ordered wisely and graciously; and it is but for a season, and when need is, that we are in heaviness, 1 Pt. That is, thou hast made us to all nations extremely contemptible, so as they value us no more than the sweepings of their houses, or the most vile, refuse, and contemptible things imaginable. (Poole). His experience of God's goodness even in his affliction. According to the work of their hands. 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. (Read Lamentations 3:21-36) Having stated his distress and temptation, the prophet shows how he was raised above it. The Septuagint and Vulgate seem to have read "From under heaven, O Jehovah:" and the Syriac reads, "Thy heavens, O Jehovah!" (Lamentations 3:30-36) The goodness of God even in His justice. Why should a living man complain, 5. it is perished! i. 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." And what are all our sorrows, compared with those of the Redeemer? b. 2. To the soul who seeks Him. I am chastened every morning," Ps 73 14. (Lamentations 3:57-63) Thankful and confident of future help. Here we find a different feeling; he humbles himself under the mighty hand of God, and then his hope revives. (Clarke). These are good times for reflection (sit alone) and listening rather than speaking. What hope is there of either peace or prosperity? Those who in their haste have chidden with God must, in the reflection, chide themselves for it. 47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction. 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. He silenced their fears, and quieted their spirits. 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? Do not hide Your ear ( Lamentations 3:21-23 KJV) Verse 23 tells us, "They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness," like we sing in the old hymn. And surrounded me with bitterness and woe. Give them sorrow of heart They shall have a callous heart, covered with obstinacy, and thy execration. Note, The Israel of God, though children of light, sometimes walk in darkness. 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. Here we find a different feeling; he humbles himself under the mighty hand of God, and then his hope revives, Lamentations 3:21. 21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. She is overwhelmed with fears, not only grieves for what is, but fears worse, and gives up all for gone (v. 54): "Then I said, I am cut off, ruined, and see no hope of recovery; I am as one dead." conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy How great soever his affliction may be, he is still alive; therefore, he may seek and find mercy unto eternal life. He had heard their prayers; though they had been ready to fear that the cloud of wrath was such as their prayers could not pass through (v. 44), yet upon second thoughts, or at least upon further trial, they find it otherwise, and that God had not said unto them, Seek you me in vain. 4. Hab 1 13, Wherefore lookest thou upon those that deal treacherously? II. The Gospels Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. 6 He has made me dwell in darkness. Verse 51. This and other passages in this poem have been applied to Jesus Christ's passion; but, in my opinion, without any foundation. We dont live constantly focused on our sins and failings, but there are appropriate times to carefully, deliberately search out and examine our ways. He was so low that life seemed ebbing out, and he groaned. (Spurgeon), ii. 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. 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. 4. b. Verse 36. Happy shall we be, if we learn to receive affliction as laid upon us by the hand of God. The issue or effect; the subject, adjunct, or accident, or produce of a thing, is frequently denominated its son or child. Lamentations 3 - God's Mercy in the Midst of Disaster "The third poem is significantly different in structure from the others, being made up of single lines grouped in threes, and commencing with the same consonant of the Hebrew alphabet." (R.K. Harrison) The afflicted church is drowned in tears, and the prophet for her (v. 48, 49): My eye runs down with rivers of water, so abundant was their weeping; it trickles down and ceases not, so constant was their weeping, without any intermission, there being no relaxation of their miseries. I forget prosperity; it is so long since I had it, and so unlikely that I should ever recover it, that I have lost the idea of it. 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." That he is at a loss and altogether in the dark. I. i. He has aged my flesh and my skin, And broken my bones. Our hearts must go with our prayers. 16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. Pentateuch 39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? 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. They did it by despising him (their reproach), with schemes, with whispering lies, and their taunting song against him. Every morning brings new provision for the day. The New Testament 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. b. Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul: From formerly feeling forsaken, Jeremiah rested in the confidence that God was his advocate. 2. We may bear ourselves up with this, 1. Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe and well-being proceed? Like the dead of long ago. Persecute and destroy them in anger, as they persecute and destroy us in their anger. 65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. Verse 22. It is barbarous to trample on those that are down, and to crush those that are bound and cannot help themselves. Minor Prophets 2. This may refer to the prophet's personal experience, with which he encourages himself in reference to the public troubles. 11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate. Luke-Acts He has set me in dark places translation of the Greek OT, the Septuagint (LXX) 1, and conveys the idea of "loud cries.". Lamentations 3 He preached in the same church as C. H. Spurgeon over one hundred years earlier. 57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not. All our enemies The former is their state, the latter their fate. Even in their catastrophe, God was faithful. It is good for young people to take that yoke upon them in their youth; we cannot begin too soon to be religious. They are new every morning Day and night proclaim the mercy and compassion of God. The poet said in effect, that he has had so little of this worlds goods and pleasures because his share has been the Lord. (Ellison).