The issue or effect; the subject, adjunct, or accident, or produce of a thing, is frequently denominated its son or child. O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; Lamentations 3 - Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible - Bible How great soever his affliction may be, he is still alive; therefore, he may seek and find mercy unto eternal life. 1. Wherever God leaves life, He leaves hope. The yoke in his youth: Early habits, when good, are invaluable. He has made my chain heavy. If he show us kindness, it is because so it seems good unto him; but, if he write bitter things against us, it is because we both deserve them and need them. I am their taunting song. a. Luke-Acts 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 ). 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. We are men, and not devils, are not in that deplorable, helpless, hopeless, state that they are in, but have something to comfort ourselves with which they have not. However it be, yet God is good to them (Ps 73 1), and they may by faith see love in his heart even when they see frowns in his face and a rod in his hand. 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. 2 10. He that knows all things knew, (1.) Jeremiahs personal lament is a reminder that suffering is always personal. He has hedged me about, that I cannot get out." In your experience you had many a Cape of Storms, but you have weathered them all, and now, let them be a Cape of Good Hope to you. (Spurgeon). (2.) 7. 10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. Lamentations 3:21 Commentaries: This I recall to my mind, Therefore I If inward impressions be not in some measure answerable to outward expressions, we do but mock God and deceive ourselves. That though he makes use of men as his hand, or rather instruments in his hand, for the correcting of his people, yet he is far from being pleased with the injustice of their proceedings and the wrong they do them, v. 34-36. here are mercies in the plural number, denoting the abundance and variety of those mercies. Lamentations 3 introduces another character: the geber, or "strongman," who is expected to defend the city from its attackers (verse 1). Peculiarities a. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. i. Though all this take place, yet let his "trust be in God, who will not cast off for ever." 2. Wisdom Literature 58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life. i. They are new every morning; 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. None of these makes any material change in the meaning of the words. The people of this once great city experienced the judgment of the holy God, and the results were devastating. Each of the first four chapters of Lamentations is an acrostic poem. The contempt and calumny wherewith they loaded him, all that they spoke slightly of him, and all that they spoke reproachfully: "Thou hast heard their reproach (v. 61), all the bad characters they give me, laying to my charge things that I know not, all the methods they use to make me odious and contemptible, even the lips of those that rose up against me (v. 62), the contumelious language they use whenever they speak of me, and that at their sitting down and rising up, when they lie down at night and get up in the morning, when they sit down to their meat and with their company, and when they rise from both, still I am their music; they make themselves and one another merry with my miseries, as the Philistines made sport with Samson." of As for Wesley I have heard that on one occasion he said that he had been charged with every crime in the calendar, except drunkenness; and when a woman stood up in the crowd and accused him of that, he then said, Blessed God, I have now had all manner of evil spoken against me falsely, for Christs name sake. (Spurgeon). To every mourner we may say, on the authority of God, Fear not! Some make all this to be spoken by the prophet himself when he was imprisoned and persecuted; but it seems rather to be spoken in the person of the church now in captivity and in a manner desolate, and in the desolations of which the prophet did in a particular manner interest himself. And what are all our sorrows, compared with those of the Redeemer? Many times through the affliction he felt God to be his adversary, not his friend. 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. Does God Really Work All Things Together for Good? 49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission, 50 Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven. 4. 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. It leads too to the willingness to be treated like a slave (v. 30), for the yoke was a symbol of servitude (but cf. 5 He has besieged me and surrounded me. Why, said the master, I have first to teach you to hold your tongue, and afterwards to instruct you how to speak. The Lord teaches true penitents how to hold their tongues. (Spurgeon), ii. ( 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. 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 the time of his trial the Lord had become terrible to him. Or, let us put our heart on our hand, and offer it to God; so some have translated this clause. Pentateuch That he bear the yoke in his youth. Here Jeremiah fulfills that role with tears that flow and do not cease, without interruption. "Our Daily Homily: Isaiah-Malachi" Volume 4 (Westwood, New Jersey: Revell, 1966), Morgan, G. Campbell "Searchlights from the Word" (New York: Revell, 1926), Morgan, G. Campbell "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Revell, 1959), Poole, Matthew "A Commentary on the Holy Bible" Volume 2 (Psalms-Malachi) (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1968), Ryken, Philip Graham "Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope" (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2001), Spurgeon, Charles Haddon "The New Park Street Pulpit" Volumes 1-6 and "The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit" Volumes 7-63 (Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications, 1990), Trapp, John "A Commentary on the Old and New Testaments" Volume 3 (Proverbs to Daniel) (Eureka, California: Tanski Publications, 1997). This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. Through the good hand of our God upon us we are alive yet, though dying daily; and shall a living man complain? 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? "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. Those that blame their lot reproach him that allotted it to them. 1. Verse 22. 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. Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness. thou hast seen my wrong, that I have done no wrong at all, but suffer a great deal." And set me up as a target for the arrow. I. Commentary for Lamentations 3 . Bad as the case is, one favourable look from heaven will set all to rights. We should observe what makes for us, as well as what is against us. 1 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; 2 he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; 3 surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. When we are humble and patient under our affliction. "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. 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. 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. And could God hear them out of the low dungeon, and would he? As breathing is a proof of animal life, so is prayer, though never so weak, of spiritual. Lamentations 3 1 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the LORD's wrath. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point Like a lawyer pleading for his client, God pleaded the case for his life. He silenced their fears, and quieted their spirits. of Scripture. i. That even in the depth of their affliction they still have experience of the tenderness of the divine pity and the truth of the divine promise. Why should a living man complain, 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). That, whatever sorrow we are in, it is what God has allotted us, and his hand is in it. 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. The waters flowed over my head; You have heard my voice: It is good because it gives you more years to serve God. Major Prophets He was so low that life seemed ebbing out, and he groaned. (Spurgeon), ii. He is filled full with reproach. These are the words of a satisfied soul. My enemies without cause hunted me down like a bird: Jeremiah and those like him felt under constant pressure from capture or killing. Lamentations 3 New International Version 3 [ a]I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord's wrath. While they continued weeping, they continued waiting; and neither did nor would expect relief and succour from any but the Lord. The above verse is quoted in reference to our Lord's passion, by Matthew 26:62. Blue Letter Bible is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. My soul still remembers Minor Prophets Lamentations 1:3. There was still a remnant, and remnant with a promise of restoration. If he be tempted to murmur, let him remember that he is yet alive, and that is more than his part cometh to, since it is the Lords mercy that he is not consumed, and sent packing hence to hell. It was an affliction that was misery itself; for sin makes the cup of affliction a bitter cup. According to the multitude of His mercies. The Hebrew exclamation ekah2 ("How," which expresses "dismay"), used in 1:1; 2:1, and 4:1, gives the book its Hebrew title. 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. 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. A serious consideration of ourselves and a reflection upon our past lives. You have redeemed my life. 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. In the time of his trial the Lord had become terrible to him. The caliph replied, 'The children of Adam must flee unto the Lord.'" Having sunk low in his soul (Lamentations 3:20), Jeremiah now remembered something that started hope within. 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. V. That afflictions are really good for us, and, if we bear them aright, will work very much for our good. My enemies without cause - Universal Beginnings (Chuck Missler), God was like the judge, giving a cup of judgment and. The wormwood and the gall. Our Lord Jesus has left us an example of this, for he gave his back to the smiter, Isa 50 6. That woe and well-being proceed? Some read it, at my gasping. He will deliver his people from every trouble, and revive his church from every persecution. Our hearts must go with our prayers. The New Testament Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe and well-being proceed? 11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate. 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.
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