A serious consideration of ourselves and a reflection upon our past lives. 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. 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. Do men shoot at those thy are enemies to? (1.) Pentateuch Things are bad but they might have been worse, and therefore there is hope that they may be better. When our comforts fail, yet God's compassions do not. 5. 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. 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. Note, The most secret contrivances of the church's enemies are perfectly known to the church's God, from whom they can hide nothing. God will take his part, and bring him safely through all hardships. Wherever God leaves life, He leaves hope. i. And here are two things with which he comforts himself:, I. 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. In the midst of the peoples. b. 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. Through the good hand of our God upon us we are alive yet, though dying daily; and shall a living man complain? I do not see that we gain any thing by this. He has not only failed in his dutyhis own suffering has left him without peace, happiness, energy, or hope (verses 17-18). Hab 1 13, Wherefore lookest thou upon those that deal treacherously? He delights not in the misery of any of his creatures, but, as it respects his own people, he is so far from it that in all their afflictions he is afflicted and his soul is grieved for the misery of Israel. 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. 51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city. 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? To turn aside the right of a man To make a man lose his right, because one of the higher orders opposes him. You have seen all their vengeance, Verse 28. Verse Lamentations 3:66. VII. III. Many have found it good to bear this in youth; it has made those humble and serious, and has weaned them from the world, who otherwise would have been proud and unruly, and as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. i. The Whole Bible 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. Luke-Acts Jeremiahs personal lament is a reminder that suffering is always personal. They complain that there was a wall of partition between them and God, and, (1.) b. Desolation and destruction. How powerful is this word when spoken by the Spirit of the Lord to a disconsolate heart. iii. 3 I am the one who has seen the afflictions. Pauline Epistles If, indeed, any sinner be kept out of hell, it is because God's compassion faileth not. Lamentations 3 - Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible - Bible Verse 22. 4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old. A verification email has been sent to the address you provided. But here it seems to be meant of the yoke of affliction. Though He causes grief, We have work enough to do at home; we must each of us say, "What have I done? i. My strength and my hope have perished from the LORD: No wonder Jeremiah and Jerusalem could say this. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. This was the method David took. Verse 23. Verse 31. i. Father, thy will be done. This hindered God's favours from coming down upon them. 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. The Gospels Prophets I am chastened every morning," Ps 73 14. Or, My weeping eye affects my heart; the venting of the grief, instead of easing it, did but increase and exasperate it. My eyes bring suffering to my soul Lamentations 3:1-66 . The more I look upon the desolation of the city and country the more I am grieved. And pursued us; That he is as one sorely afflicted both in body and mind. 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). Do not fear: How powerful is this word when spoken by the Spirit of the Lord to a disconsolate heart. Having sunk low in his soul (Lamentations 3:20), Jeremiah now remembered something that started hope within. 28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. Verse 16. 4 He has made my skin and flesh grow old. The prophet complains, 1. 2. Blue Letter Bible is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. If so be there may be hope. 2 17, 21), but here they correct themselves, and own, 1. 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. And, when God's hand is continually turned against us, we are tempted to think that his heart is turned against us too. 41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. What! 48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. If tribulation work patience, that patience will work experience, and that experience a hope that makes not ashamed. His experience of God's goodness even in his affliction. 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. Wisdom Literature David Guzik :: Study Guide for Lamentations 3 He has hedged me in: Harrison saw this as a picture of cruel imprisonment. They look upon the Jewish nation as dead and buried, and imagine that there is not possibility of its resurrection. He who can bear contempt and reproach, and not render railing for railing, and bitterness for bitterness, who, when he is filled full with reproach, keeps it to himself, and does not retort it and empty it again upon those who filled him with it, but pours it out before the Lord (as those did, Ps 123 4, whose souls were exceedingly filled with the contempt of the proud), he shall find that it is good to bear the yoke, that it shall turn to his spiritual advantage. He hath hedged me about This also may refer to the lines drawn round the city during the siege. 13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. 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. II. That, whatever sorrow we are in, it is what God has allotted us, and his hand is in it. 43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied. And I said, My strength and my hope 4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; 5 he has besieged . He retains his kindness for his people even when he afflicts them. It is good because it gives you more years to serve God. 22 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 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. 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. It is good because it keeps from bearing the devils yoke. (2.) Lamentations 3 1 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the LORD's wrath. 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. 29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. They were against him like a fowler is against a bird. Yes, certainly it is; and for the reconciling of us to our own afflictions, whatever they be, this general truth must thus be particularly applied. The prophet tells us: 3. Persecute and destroy them Thou wilt pursue them with destruction. If you cannot speak, cry, sob, or groan, then be still. From my sighing, from my cry for help.. The prophet here laments the injuries and indignities done to those to whom respect used to be shown, ver 1, 2. By soul - is humbled in me. i. It is not only good to hope and wait for the salvation, but it is good to be under the trouble in the mean time (v. 27): It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. It is good because it saves from a thousand snares. The prophet had owned that a living man should not complain, as if he checked himself for his complaints in the former part of the chapter; and yet here the clouds return after the rain and the wound bleeds afresh; for great pains must be taken with a troubled spirit to bring it into temper. Now he prayed to God as his advocate. The sufferers in the captivity must submit to the will of God in all their sufferings. 55 I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon. He was overwhelmed like a man drowning in a pit (the waters flowed over my head). Though the covenant seemed to be broken, they owned that it still continued in full force; and, though Jerusalem be in ruins, the truth of the Lord endures for ever. 46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. 33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. ( Lamentations 3:1-21) "I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. The former is their state, the latter their fate. Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete). He does not dispense his frowns as he does his favours, ex mero motufrom his mere good pleasure. "This is that which I depend upon and rest satisfied with: Therefore will I hope in him. I am their taunting song. The LORD is my portion: As in Psalm 119:57, Jeremiah found the key to satisfactionfinding ones portion in the LORD. Verse 47. Surely He has turned His hand against me Time and time again throughout the day. 5. 21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. b. i. When those who are afflicted in their youth accommodate themselves to their afflictions, fit their necks to the yoke and study to answer God's end in afflicting them, then they will find it good for them to bear it, for it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are thus exercised thereby. It is no pleasure to God to afflict men. I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point Does the Bible Condemn Using Tarot Cards? They shall be not only excluded from the happiness of the invisible heavens, but cut off from the comfort even of these visible ones, which are the heavens of the Lord (Ps 115 16) and which those therefore are unworthy to be taken under the protection of who rebel against him. Till the LORD from heaven GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation. 4. The New Testament Bad as things are, it is owing to the mercy of God that they are not worse. 1:6 . According to the multitude of His mercies. Lamentations chapter 3. To pierce my loins. 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. The Gospels 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 aged my flesh and my skin, And broken my bones. More is implied than is expressed. - Universal Beginnings (Chuck Missler), God was like the judge, giving a cup of judgment and. He does not himself crush under his feet the prisoners of the earth, but he regards the cry of the prisoners; nor does he approve of men's doing it; nay, he is much displeased with it. It is very applicable to the yoke of God's commands. 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 has been to me a bear lying in wait, i. VI. Individual instructors or editors may still require the use of URLs. God had said once (Hos 5 14), I will be as a lion to the house of Judah, and now he has made his word good (v. 10): "He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, surprising me with his judgments, and as a lion in secret places; so that which way soever I went I was in continual fear of being set upon and could never think myself safe." 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. Verse 15. If men injure them under colour of law, and in the pretended administration of justice,if they turn aside the right of a man, so that he cannot discover what his rights are or cannot come at them, they are out of his reach,if they subvert a man in his cause, and bring in a wrong verdict, or give a false judgment, let them know, (1.) They complain of their own excessive grief and fear upon this account. God's compassions fail not; of this we have fresh instances every morning. Lamentations Chapter 3 Kjv - King James Bible Online They are new every morning; Time and time again throughout the day. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. But when do we bear the yoke so that it is really good for us to bear it in our youth? John 3:16, Jesus faith love), Select a Beginning Point That which is most impressive in this song is the identification of the prophet with the people and with God. 45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. Their taunting song all the day. The issue or effect; the subject, adjunct, or accident, or produce of a thing, is frequently denominated its son or child. 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. And to those who thus wait and seek God will be gracious; he will show them his marvellous lovingkindness. Lamentations 3 Commentary - Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Lamentations 3:57-63) Thankful and confident of future help. One can scarcely read this without feeling a suppression of breath, or a stricture upon the lungs! Lamentations: Bible at a Glance 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). Then let us not complain; for we have other work to do; instead of repining, we must be repenting; and, as an evidence that God is reconciled to us, we must be endeavouring to reconcile ourselves to his holy will. Lamentations 3:21 Commentaries: This I recall to my mind, Therefore I 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. 4. Yes, certainly they do; and it is more emphatically expressed in the original: Do not this evil, and this good, proceed out of the mouth of the Most High? This comfort I receive from the hand of God, and shall I not receive that evil also? One can scarcely read this description without feeling the toothache. (Clarke), iii. I have eaten ashes like bread," Ps 102 9. (Lamentations 3:27-29) Hope for the silent soul. Luke-Acts Lamentations 3 Hebrew with Rashi's Commentary; Christian. Thus restless was the enmity of their persecutors, and yet causeless. it is perished! Let him sit alone and keep silent, Life in any sense is a sweet mercy, even that which to the afflicted may seem a lifeless life. (Trapp). Over this terrible calamity, rivers of tears must be shed, until the Lord looks down from heaven on it, Lamentations 3:48-51. 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? "We have transgressed;" let our confession of sin be fervent and sincere. All their schemes against me, Bible Introductions - Lamentations by John MacArthur Poetical Books ( 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. 2. 2 He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light. To every mourner we may say, on the authority of God, Fear not! Note, Those that are cast down are commonly tempted to think themselves cast off, Ps 31 22; Jon 2 4. In offering the cheek to the smiter the captive was conveying the idea of absolute surrender. (Harrison). We have been with him, and it has never been well with us since we forsook him; let us therefore now turn again to him." 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. Though all this take place, yet let his "trust be in God, who will not cast off for ever." 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. We must see and acknowledge the hand of God in all the calamities that befal us at any time, whether personal or public, v. 37, 38. Having stated his distress and temptation, the prophet shows how he was raised above it. Note, Though we may pour out our complaints before God, we must never exhibit any complaints against God. c. For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men: When God does allow or send His judgments, He does not do it with a happy heart. 2. The Lord is my portion Psalms 119:57. Benson Commentary Lamentations 3:31-33. Search out and examine our ways: Sins must not be casually and superficially confessed and dealt with. 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. And sinks within me. It is all what God orders; every man's judgment proceeds from him. d. It is good that he should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD: Everything previous in Lamentations was deep in despair, and the misery was by no means over. b. "Do I well to be angry? You have slain and not pitied. Great and long grief exhausts the spirits, and brings not only many a gray head, but many a green head too, to the grave. Minor Prophets Major Prophets i. in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry. The next figure is not less expressive. 9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked. (2.) "Let us lift up our heart;" let us make fervent prayer and supplication for mercy. 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.
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