lamentations 3 explained

Verse 47. 48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. He has made my paths crooked. These rivers of mercy run fully and constantly, but never run dry. Minor Prophets 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. Let him sit alone and keep silent, He was overwhelmed like a man drowning in a pit (the waters flowed over my head). My strength and my hope have perished from the LORD: No wonder Jeremiah and Jerusalem could say this. (Lamentations 3:64-66) Giving vengeance to God. Every morning brings new forgiveness for new sins. Lamentations 3 - Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible - Bible 45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. We are afflicted by the rod of his wrath, but it is of the lord's mercies that we are not consumed, v. 22. Mine eye runneth down I weep incessantly. If we call this to mind, we may have hope that all will end well at last. These are good times for reflection (sit alone) and listening rather than speaking. "Do I well to be angry? Major Prophets Early habits, when good, are invaluable. Text is available under the . 4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones. Remember my affliction and roaming, He has turned His hand against me: A metaphor from buffeters, who double their blows, beating their adversaries on both sides, as the smith doth his red hot iron upon the anvil till he hath shaped it. (Trapp). Note, The Israel of God, though children of light, sometimes walk in darkness. 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. "In more ways than one this brings us to the very heart of the book. Minor Prophets Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. What have I contributed to the public flames?" Verse Lamentations 3:5. It is before the face of the Most High (v. 35); it is in his sight, under his eye, and is very displeasing to him. He was so low that life seemed ebbing out, and he groaned. (Spurgeon), ii. ii. 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. My affliction and my transgression (so some read it), my trouble and my sin that brought it upon me; this was the wormwood and the gall in the affliction and the misery. That God's compassions fail not; they do not really fail, no, not even when in anger he seems to have shut up his tender mercies. Through the LORDs mercies we are not consumed, Wherefore doth a living man complain He who has his life still lent to him has small cause of complaint. For he doth not afflict willingly It is no pleasure to God to afflict men. I. Our lives are frail and forfeited, and yet we are alive; now the living, the living, they should praise, and not complain (Isa 38 19); while there is life there is hope, and therefore, instead of complaining that things are bad, we should encourage ourselves with the hope that they will be better. Lamentations 3:3 "Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand [against me] all the day." The course of God's providence toward me is quite altered, his hand, that is, his power, which was accustomed to being with me, and for me, against my enemies, is now turned against me. I called on Your name, O LORD, 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 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. Or, it may be rendered, "let him give his cheek.". They complain of the lamentable destruction that their enemies made of them (v. 47): Fear and a snare have come upon us; the enemies have not only terrified us with those alarms, but prevailed against us by their stratagems, and surprised us with the ambushes they laid for us; and then follows nothing but desolation and destruction, the destruction of the daughter of my people (v. 48), of all the daughters of my city, v. 51. Some think Jeremiah makes these complaints, not only as an intercessor for Israel, but as a type of Christ, who was thought by some to be Jeremiah the weeping prophet, because he was much in tears (Matt 16 14) and to him many of the passages here may be applied. We must lift up our hearts with our hands, as we must pour out our souls with our words. 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. 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. Jeremiah 20:1-2). (Ellison). That God is angry. 2. "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." 2. When we are in distress we should, for the encouragement of our faith and hope, observe what makes for us as well as what makes against us. Note, Though we may pour out our complaints before God, we must never exhibit any complaints against God. The Gospels See Jeremiah 38:6, &c. Verse 56. 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). The prophet addressed him personally and directly: Great is your faithfulness. Words of comfort to God's people when they are in trouble and distress, ver 21-36. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point 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. 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. b. Shall a man complain? A serious consideration of ourselves and a reflection upon our past lives. He has caused the arrows of His quiver Yet these flashes of light are welcome and necessary. Verse 16. Now he prayed to God as his advocate. Lamentations 3 Bible Commentary - Matthew Henry (concise) - Christianity ii. Thou hast seen - all their imaginations Every thing is open to the eye of God. God never hides His ear from our breathing; or from those in- articulate cries, which express, as words could not do, the deep anguish and yearning of the heart. 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). If inward impressions be not in some measure answerable to outward expressions, we do but mock God and deceive ourselves. 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). 5. They complain of the afflictions they are under, not without some reflections upon God, which we are not to imitate, but, under the sharpest trials, must always think and speak highly and kindly of him. VIII. (3.) He putteth his mouth in the dust Lives in a state of deep humility. He has mingled gravel with my bread, so that my teeth are broken with it (v. 16) and what I eat is neither pleasant nor nourishing. Commentary on Lamentations 3 by Matthew Henry Blayney translates, "Thou wilt give with a hearty concordance thy curse unto them." He appeals to God's judgment upon this fact: "Lord, thou hast seen my wrong; there is no need of any evidence to prove it, nor any prosecutor to enforce and aggravate it; thou seest it in its true colours; and now I leave it with thee. Now Jeremiah prayed that Yahweh would repay their enemies, and give them a veiled heart even as Judah was blind. 25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. b. I. 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. 49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission, 50 Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven. The struggle between unbelief and faith is often very severe. 2. 18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord: 19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. In His wise judgments God caused grief, but promised to also show compassion, and would do so according to the multitude of His mercies. This must accompany the former and be the fruit of it; therefore we must search and try our ways, that we may turn from the evil of them to God. What God does we must not open our mouths against, Ps 39 9. Lamentations 3:1-66 . 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. II. He has not only failed in his dutyhis own suffering has left him without peace, happiness, energy, or hope (verses 17-18). While there is life there is hope; and instead of complaining that things are bad, we should encourage ourselves with the hope they will be better. "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." GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point The faithful lament their calamities, and hope in God's mercies. 64 Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. The Lord approved not. Yet the consideration of Gods sovereignty would also become the source of their hope. 4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old. It is our duty, and will be our comfort and satisfaction, to hope and quietly to wait for the salvation of the Lord. That, whatever sorrow we are in, it is what God has allotted us, and his hand is in it. Do we succeed in our designs, or are we crossed in them? 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 Old Testament And to us who profess Christianity it may be added, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as having died for thee; and thou shalt not perish, but have everlasting life. 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. He has also broken my teeth with gravel, 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. 1. We have work enough to do at home; we must each of us say, "What have I done? 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. Pauline Epistles Their sins were repented of, and yet (v. 42), Thou hast not pardoned. He marvels that God should have drawn near to him, for his condition was a very pitiful one. b. Thank you for registering. Here is one word of comfort. He has filled me with bitterness, a bitter sense of his calamities." 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. 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). b. 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. Lamentations 3 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. "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. That God sees them. Though all this take place, yet let his "trust be in God, who will not cast off for ever." b. The sovereign God alone can revive it. 9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked. And we must thus humble ourselves, if so be there may be hope, or (as it is in the original) peradventure there is hope. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. That God has compassions and comforts in store even for those whom he has himself grieved. 11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate. 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. Lamentations 4 Commentary - Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible Call sin a transgression, call it a rebellion, and you do not miscall it. 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." He has bent His bow: This figure shows the power of the archers arm, which transfixed the poet with arrows. (Ellison), ii. Blue Letter Bible is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Note, Those that are cast down are commonly tempted to think themselves cast off, Ps 31 22; Jon 2 4. To give emphasis, Jeremiah asked the same question in different words. 26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. We are men, and not angels, and therefore cannot expect to be free from troubles as they are; we are not inhabitants of that world where there is no sorrow, but this where there is nothing but sorrow. Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores. 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. Duty prescribed in this afflicted state, ver 37-41. He will deliver his people from every trouble, and revive his church from every persecution. The more I look upon the desolation of the city and country the more I am grieved. 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. There have been various translations of the original: but they all amount to this. If, indeed, any sinner be kept out of hell, it is because God's compassion faileth not. Even if he could only manage a sigh, it would be his cry for help that he longed for God to hear. 1. But these and similar expressions in the following verses may be merely metaphorical, to point out their straitened, oppressed, and distressed state. 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. 1:6 . 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. 16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. We are sinful men, and that which we complain of is the just punishment of our sins; nay, it is far less than our iniquities have deserved. If you will turn to the lives of any of the saints of God, you will discover that they were the victims of slanders of the grossest kind. And again, a man! 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. If you turn to the life of Whitfield our great and mighty Whitfield in more modern times, what was his character? That they were satisfied that God's gracious regard to them in their miseries would be an effectual redress of all their grievances. The streams of mercy acknowledged: We are not consumed. Our Lord Jesus has left us an example of this, for he gave his back to the smiter, Isa 50 6. Historical Books 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. What Every Christian Should Know about the Protestant Reformation. Alas! 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. The prophet complains, 1. He is not quarrelsome, nor apt to resent injuries; he suffers long and is kind. "Lamentations: The Expositor's Bible Commentary" Volume 6 (Isaiah-Ezekiel) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1985), Harrison, R.K. "Jeremiah and Lamentations: An Introduction and Commentary" Volume 20 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries) (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973), Meyer, F.B. 3. Book of Lamentations Overview - Insight for Living Ministries Wherever God leaves life, He leaves hope. 1. Even when I cry and shout, 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). 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." I have eaten ashes like bread," Ps 102 9. "Let us lift up our heart;" let us make fervent prayer and supplication for mercy. 41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. God feels breath; and happy is he that can say, In thee I hope, Lord, and after thee I breathe or pant. (Trapp), iii. Lamentations 3:31 Commentaries: For the Lord will not reject forever, 3. 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. It is just with God to make those who walk in the crooked paths of sin, crossing God's laws, walk in the crooked paths of affliction, crossing their designs and breaking their measures. Does the Bible Condemn Using Tarot Cards? IV. Lamentations 3 - Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible - Bible They complain of his frowns and the tokens of his displeasure against them. If God disciplines us when we are young, it is to train us for a fruitful future. Men can do nothing but according to the counsel of God, nor have any power or success but what is given them from above. He hath made me drunken with wormwood. Yes, this was Jeremiah, but it certainly was not only him. Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD, You have made us an offscouring and refuse, flow and do not cease, without interruption, Till the LORD from heaven looks down and sees, My enemies without cause hunted me down like a bird, Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul, Repay them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands, In Your anger, pursue and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD, David Guzik :: 1 Corintios 7 Principios Sobre el Matrimonio y la Soltera, David Guzik :: Hechos 9 La Conversin de Saulo de Tarso, David Guzik :: Apocalipsis 20 Satans, el Pecado y la Muerte son Finalmente Eliminados, David Guzik :: Gnesis 3 La tentacin y cada del hombre, David Guzik :: 2 Samuel 22 El Salmo de Alabanza de David, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus and the Holy Trinity (Walter Martin), The Meaning of the Cross Part 2 (Elisabeth Elliot), Spiritism: Prophecy and Astrology (Walter Martin), 2 Thessalonians 1-3 (1982-85 Audio) (Chuck Smith), Genesis 2-3 (1979-82 Audio) (Chuck Smith), Intro. Their taunting song all the day. When nations go through times of tragedy and tribulation, the greatest suffering always takes place at the individual level. (Ryken), iii. Let us see what these things are which he calls to mind. That, when God does cause grief, it is for wise and holy ends, and he takes not delight in our calamities, v. 33. Lamentations 3 Commentary - John Gill's Exposition of the Bible This I recall to my mind, &c. Here the prophet begins to suggest motives of patience and consolation: as if he had said, I call to mind the following considerations, and thereupon I conceive hope and comfort. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee (Ps 130 1), as Jonah out of the whale's belly. Enduring Word Bible Commentary Lamentations Chapter 3 And sinks within me. Great is Your faithfulness. (2.) The LORD is my portion: As in Psalm 119:57, Jeremiah found the key to satisfactionfinding ones portion in the LORD. I am chastened every morning," Ps 73 14. 14 I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day. a. The lips of my enemies In their depths of affliction, this was not the experience of Jeremiah and the people of Judah. Which way soever I cast my eye, I see that which renews my sorrow, even because of all the daughters of my city," all the neighbouring towns, which were as daughters to Jerusalem the mother-city. To every mourner we may say, on the authority of God, Fear not! 1. These past deliverances created his assurance that Jehovah would yet act on behalf of His people and destroy their enemies from under the heavens. (Morgan), 2021 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik [email protected], The Whole Bible 4. 6. One can scarcely read this description without feeling the toothache. (Clarke), iii. And their whispering against me all the day. That is, Thou wilt give it to them freely, and without reserve; intimating that God felt no longer any bowels of compassion for them. Quietness is necessary to waiting, for all turbulency and impatience of spirit under sad providences is opposed to waiting. (Poole). i. Lamentations 3 Commentary - Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible 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. Our seeking will help to keep up our waiting. Great and long grief exhausts the spirits, and brings not only many a gray head, but many a green head too, to the grave.

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