lamentations 3 explained

God can entangle the head that thinks itself clearest, and sink the heart that thinks itself stoutest. 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. They confess the righteousness of God in afflicting them (v. 42): We have transgressed and have rebelled. They rejected and rebelled for generations, then looked to others for rescue. 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. 1. 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. 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. He has made me drink wormwood. 2. It is easier to chide ourselves for complaining than to chide ourselves out of it. All our enemies 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. It was an affliction that was misery itself; for sin makes the cup of affliction a bitter cup. According to the work of their hands. i. a. I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. He faithfully announced His judgments and performed them, and God would prove to be just as faithful in His promised restoration. For the Lord will not cast off forever: The suffering endured was not everlasting. We should observe what makes for us, as well as what is against us. I make to return to my heart (so the margin words it); what we have had in our hearts, and have laid to our hearts, is sometimes as if it were quite lost and forgotten, till God by his grace make it return to our hearts, that it may be ready to us when we have occasion to use it. Many of the young men were carried into captivity. In the time of his trial the Lord had become terrible to him. (Lamentations 3:48-51) Weeping over destruction. These rivers of mercy run fully and constantly, but never run dry. To every mourner we may say, on the authority of God, Fear not! What God does we must not open our mouths against, Ps 39 9. Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it? 1:6 . Before the face of the Most High, 57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not. Let him sit alone and keep silent, The living man should be grateful he still has life, and recognize there is some justice in the punishment of his sins. Why should a living man complain, For the destruction of the daughter of my people. 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. In the time of his trial the Lord had become terrible to him. 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." Pentateuch To be thrown into a mass or bed of perfect dust, where the eyes are blinded by it, the ears stopped, and the mouth and lungs filled at the very first attempt to respire after having been thrown into it-what a horrible idea of suffocation and drowning! 43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied. That, bad as things are, it is owing to the mercy of God that they are not worse. Give them despondence of heart" (so others read it); "let them be driven to despair, and give themselves up for gone." Thank you for registering. Even if he could only manage a sigh, it would be his cry for help that he longed for God to hear. Matthew Henrys Bible Commentary (concise), Matthew Henry Bible Commentary (complete), California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. 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. That, when God does cause grief, it is for wise and holy ends, and he takes not delight in our calamities, v. 33. 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. We must offer up ourselves to God, and our best affections and services, in the flames of devotion, v. 41. They had not the assurance and comfort of the pardon; the judgments brought upon them for their sins were not removed, and therefore they thought they could not say the sin was pardoned, which was a mistake, but a common mistake with the people of God when their souls are cast down and disquieted within them. I am chastened every morning," Ps 73 14. 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. b. Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul: From formerly feeling forsaken, Jeremiah rested in the confidence that God was his advocate. It was an affliction that was misery itself; for sin makes the cup of . And what are all our sorrows, compared with those of the Redeemer? iii. He comforts himself with an appeal to God's justice, and (in order to the sentence of that) to his omniscience. 1. Verse 51. (2.) Note, The Israel of God, though children of light, sometimes walk in darkness. Like the dead of long ago. Whatever measure he was to receive, whatever inheritance, whatever future, it would all be found in Yahweh. Call sin a transgression, call it a rebellion, and you do not miscall it. Or it may include the remnant of good people that were among the Jews, who had found that it was not in vain to wait upon God. Those that blame their lot reproach him that allotted it to them. No matter how bad the past day was, Gods people can look to the new morning with faith and hope. Fear and a snare Jeremiah 48:13. Verse 27. 3. Note, Those that are cast down are commonly tempted to think themselves cast off, Ps 31 22; Jon 2 4. 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? This verse seems to allude to the Chaldaic prediction, in Jeremiah 10:11. And surely they are such as afford a sufficient ground for trusting in God under the severest trials. Their enemies chased them till they had quite prevailed over them (v. 53): They have cut off my life in the dungeon. That is, Thou wilt give it to them freely, and without reserve; intimating that God felt no longer any bowels of compassion for them. They have loaded us with curses; as they loved cursing, so let it come unto them, thy curse which will make them truly miserable. The sovereign God alone can revive it. The prophet here laments the injuries and indignities done to those to whom respect used to be shown, ver 1, 2. Wherefore doth a living man complain He who has his life still lent to him has small cause of complaint. While they continued weeping, they continued waiting; and neither did nor would expect relief and succour from any but the Lord. 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. Waters of affliction flowed over my head. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point God's compassions fail not; of this we have fresh instances every morning. Though all this take place, yet let his "trust be in God, who will not cast off for ever." 2 He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light. He recognized the necessity of the suffering, but suffered with the sufferers. (Morgan), iv. The sufferings of the people of Judah are described as though one man had experienced them. 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. - Blayney. 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. A man's heart devises his way; he projects and purposes; he says that he will do so and so (Jam 4 13); but the Lord directs his steps far otherwise than he designed them, and what he contrived and expected does not come to pass, unless it be what God's hand and his counsel had determined before to be done, Prov 16 9; Jer 10 23. In His wise judgments God caused grief, but promised to also show compassion, and would do so according to the multitude of His mercies. From my sighing, my cry for help: He dared not even to complain, nor to cry, nor to pray aloud: he was obliged to whisper his prayer to God. You have covered Yourself with a cloud, There are times when the only thing a sufferer can do is wait for God. In chapter 3, every third of the 66 verses begins with successive Greek letters. 55 I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon. (Lamentations 3:1-9) The man afflicted by the LORD. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, 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), In the Hebrew Bible, the first three verses all start with aleph, the second three verses with beth, and so forth. (Philipp Ryken). Even when I cry and shout, Life in any sense is a sweet mercy, even that which to the afflicted may seem a lifeless life. (Trapp). Here Jeremiah fulfills that role with tears that flow and do not cease, without interruption. 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. Till the LORD from heaven 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. What Every Christian Should Know about the Protestant Reformation. But these and similar expressions in the following verses may be merely metaphorical, to point out their straitened, oppressed, and distressed state. (Clarke), ii. Earlier in this chapter, Jeremiah felt God was his adversary (Lamentations 3:1-18). He has made my paths crooked. 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. Verse 23. Does the Bible Condemn Using Tarot Cards? As breathing is a proof of animal life, so is prayer, though never so weak, of spiritual. We may bear ourselves up with this, 1. Like many psalms (see Psalms 22 and 88 for examples), the poem begins with painful and heartfelt statements about the horrors of the author (Lamentations 3:1-20). (2.) Thou saidst, Fear not. 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 stanzas consist of three lines, each of which begins with the same Hebrew letter. 3. Note, God is sometimes angry with his own people; yet it is to be complained of, not as a sword to cut off, by only as a rod to correct; it is to them the rod of his wrath, a chastening which, though grievous for the present, will in the issue be advantageous. Remember my affliction and roaming, That they were satisfied that God's gracious regard to them in their miseries would be an effectual redress of all their grievances. This was the language of God's grace, by the witness of his Spirit with their spirits. Our Lord Jesus has left us an example of this, for he gave his back to the smiter, Isa 50 6. It was an affliction that was misery itself. 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. 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 LORD is my portion: As in Psalm 119:57, Jeremiah found the key to satisfactionfinding ones portion in the LORD. "This is that which I depend upon and rest satisfied with: Therefore will I hope in him. 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. Error: Passwords should have at least 6 characters, Error: Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores. And pursued us; Why, he was accused of every crime that even Sodom knew; and perjury stood up and swore that all was true. For He does not afflict willingly, You have redeemed my life. Proud member Thus we may get good by former corrections and prevent further. 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. "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. 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. He marvels that God should have drawn near to him, for his condition was a very pitiful one. He has made my chain heavy. 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 This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope: For perhaps the first time in the book, hope is allowed. But this was not all: Thou saidst, Fear not. 5. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee (Ps 130 1), as Jonah out of the whale's belly. b. All their schemes against me. If you turn to the life of Whitfield our great and mighty Whitfield in more modern times, what was his character? He sitteth alone He has learned that necessary lesson of independence, that shows him how he is to serve himself; to give no trouble to others; and keep his troubles, as far as possible, in his own bosom. Note, We all owe it to the sparing mercy of God that we are not consumed. of Scripture. 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. Blue Letter Bible study tools make reading, searching and studying the Bible easy and rewarding. 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. My eyes bring suffering to my soul Note, God will one day call sinners to account for all the hard speeches which they have spoken against him and his people, Jude 15. 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. "Do I well to be angry? Verse 7. 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. Amralkeis, one of the writers of the Moallakat, terms a man grievously afflicted [Arabic] a pounder of wormwood. Fear not. The Gospels 4. i. The daughters of my city. Verse 48. To this very day it is asserted by Romanists that Martin Luther was a drunkard. 2. In darkness and not in light. Luke-Acts Judge my case. This St. Paul refers to in his account of the sufferings of the apostles. You drew near: Jeremiah seems to record this fact with a considerable amount of surprise. 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." We should, we must, turn away from sin and self and turn back to the LORD. Seeking Him again would bring renewed expressions of His goodness. He hath made me drunken with wormwood. 1. Jerusalem was the tabret they played upon. 6. From my sighing, from my cry for help.. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point He silenced their fears, and quieted their spirits. How powerful is this word when spoken by the Spirit of the Lord to a disconsolate heart. Spurgeon suggested many reasons why it is good to bear the yoke when young: b. 2 17, 21), but here they correct themselves, and own, 1. 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. To pierce my loins: Literally, kidneys. Note, We should consider, to our terror and caution, that God knows all the revengeful thoughts we have in our minds against others, and therefore we should not allow of those thoughts nor harbour them, and that he knows all the revengeful thoughts others have causelessly in their minds against us, and therefore we should not be afraid of them, but leave it to him to protect us from them. 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. He delights not in the death of sinners, or the disquiet of saints, but punishes with a kind of reluctance. i. 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. He remembered that as beat down and defeated the people of Jerusalem and Judah were, they were not yet completely consumed. He is good to all; his tender mercies are over all his works; all his creatures taste of his goodness. "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." With God as adversary, what strength is there? 3 Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day. He putteth his mouth in the dust Lives in a state of deep humility. 9. 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. 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.

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lamentations 3 explained

lamentations 3 explained