ALEPH I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
KJV
I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
Commentary
Commentary
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. Here is,
I. A sad complaint of God's displeasure and the fruits of it, ver. 1-20 .
II. Words of comfort to God's people when they are in trouble and
distress, ver. 21-36 .
III. Duty prescribed in this afflicted state, ver. 37-41 .
IV. The complaint renewed, ver. 42-54 .
V. Encouragement taken to hope in God, and continue waiting for his
salvation, with an appeal to his justice against the persecutors of the
church, ver. 55-66 .
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. 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. 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. xvi. 14 )
and to him many of the passages here may be applied.
1 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his
wrath.
2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.
3 Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against
me all the day.
4 My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my
bones.
5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and
travail.
6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.
7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made
my chain heavy.
8 Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.
9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my
paths crooked.
10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion
in secret places.
11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he
hath made me desolate.
12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my
reins.
14 I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the
day.
15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken
with wormwood.
16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath
covered me with ashes.
17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat
prosperity.
18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the
L ORD :
19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and
the gall.
20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in
me.
The title of the 102nd Psalm might very fitly be prefixed to this chapter-- The prayer of the
afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and pours out his complaint before
the Lord; for it is very feelingly and fluently that the complaint
is here poured out. Let us observe the particulars of it. The prophet
complains,
1. That God is angry. This gives both birth and bitterness to the
affliction
( v. 1 ): I am the man, the remarkable man, that has seen
affliction, and has felt it sensibly, by the rod of his
wrath. 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. 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.
2. That he is at a loss and altogether in the dark. Darkness is put
for great trouble and perplexity, the want both of comfort and of
direction; this was the case of the complainant
( v. 2 ):
" He has led me by 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." And
( v. 6 ), He has set me in dark places, dark as the grave, like those
that are dead of old, that are quite forgotten, nobody knows who or
what they were. Note, The Israel of God, though children of light,
sometimes walk in darkness. 3. That God appears against him as an enemy, as a professed enemy. 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. I am chastened every morning, " Ps. lxxiii. 14 .
And, when God's hand is continually turned against us, we are tempted
to think that his heart is turned against us too. God had said once
( Hos. v. 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." Do men shoot at those thy are enemies to? He has
bent his bow, the bow that was ordained against the church's
prosecutors, that is bent against her sons, v. 12 . 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 .
Note, God has many arrows in his quiver, and they fly swiftly and
pierce deeply.
4. That he is as one sorely afflicted both in body and mind. The Jewish
state may now be fitly compared to a man wrinkled with age, for which
there is no remedy
( v. 4 ):
" My flesh and my skin has he made old; they are wasted and
withered, and I look like one that is ready to drop into the grave;
nay, he has broken my bones, and so disabled me to help myself, v. 15 . He has filled me with bitterness, a bitter sense of his
calamities." God has access to the spirit, and can so embitter that as
thereby to embitter all the enjoyments; as, when the stomach is foul,
whatever is eaten sours in it: " He has made me drunk with
wormwood, so intoxicated me with the sense of my afflictions that I
know not what to say or do. 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. He has covered
me with ashes, as mourners used to be, or (as some read it) he
has fed me with ashes. I have eaten ashes like bread, " Ps. cii. 9 .
5. That he is not able to discern any way of escape or deliverance
( v. 5 ):
" He has built against me, as forts and batteries are built
against a besieged city. Where there was a way open it is now quite
made up: He has compassed me on ever side with gall and
travel; I vex, and fret, and tire myself, to find a way of escape,
but can find none, v. 7 . He has hedged me about, that I cannot get out. " When Jerusalem
was besieged it was said to be compassed in on every side, Luke xix. 43 .
"I am chained; and as some notorious malefactors are double-fettered,
and loaded with irons, so he has made my chain heavy. He has also
( v. 9 ) enclosed my ways with hewn stone, not only hedged up my way with thorns ( Hos. ii. 6 ),
but stopped it up with a stone wall, which cannot be broken through, so
that my paths are made crooked; I traverse to and fro, to the
right hand, to the left, to try to get forward, but am still turned
back." 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. So
( v. 11 ),
" He has turned aside my ways; he has blasted all my counsels,
ruined my projects, so that I am necessitated to yield to my own ruin.
He has pulled me in pieces; he has torn and is gone away
( Hos. v. 14 ),
and has made me desolate, has deprived me of all society and all
comfort in my own soul."
6. 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." 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. Thus sometimes God
seems to be angry even against the prayers of his people ( Ps. lxxx. 4 ),
and their case is deplorable indeed when they are denied not only the
benefit of an answer, but the comfort of acceptance.
7. That his neighbours make a laughing matter of his troubles
( v. 14 ): I was a derision to all my people, to all the wicked among them,
who made themselves an one another merry with the public judgments, and
particularly the prophet Jeremiah's griefs. I am their song, their neginath, or hand-instrument of music, their tabret ( Job xvii. 6 ),
that they play upon, as Nero on his harp when Rome was on fire.
8. That he was ready to despair of relief and deliverance: "Thou hast
not only taken peace from me, but hast removed my soul far off from
peace ( v. 17 ),
so that it is not only not within reach, but no within view. 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. I have
been so inured to sorrow and servitude that I know not what joy and
liberty mean. I have even given up all for gone, concluding, My
strength and my hope have perished from the Lord ( v. 18 );
I can no longer stay myself upon God as my support, for I do not find
that he gives me encouragement to do so; nor can I look for his
appearing in my behalf, so as to put an end to my troubles, for the
case seems remediless, and even my God inexorable." Without doubt it
was his infirmity to say this
( Ps. lxxvii. 10 ),
for with God there is everlasting strength, and he is his
people's never-failing hope, whatever they may think.
9. That grief returned upon every remembrance of his troubles, and his
reflections were as melancholy as his prospects, v. 19, 20 .
Did he endeavour as Job did
( Job ix. 27 ),
to forget his complaint? Alas! it was to no purpose; he
remembers, upon all occasions, the affliction and the misery, the
wormwood and the gall. Thus emphatically does he speak of his
affliction, for thus did he think of it, thus heavily did it lie when
he reviewed it! It was an affliction that was misery itself. 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. It is sin that makes
the cup of affliction a bitter cup. My soul has them still in
remembrance. The captives in Babylon had all the miseries of the
siege in their mind continually and the flames and ruins of Jerusalem
still before their eyes, and wept when they remembered
Zion; nay, they could never forget Jerusalem, Ps. cxxxvii. 1, 5 . My soul, having them in remembrance, is humbled in me, not only oppressed with a sense of the trouble, but in bitterness for
sin. Note, It becomes us to have humble hearts under humbling
providences, and to renew our penitent humiliations for sin upon every
remembrance of our afflictions and miseries. Thus we may get good by
former corrections and prevent further.
21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
22 It is of the L ORD 's mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
24 The L ORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I
hope in him.
25 The L ORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait
for the salvation of the L ORD .
27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.
29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be
hope.
30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled
full with reproach.
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.
33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of
men.
34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most
High,
36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.
Here the clouds begin to disperse and the sky to clear up; the
complaint was very melancholy in the former part of the chapter, and
yet here the tune is altered and the mourners in Zion begin to look a
little pleasant. But for hope, the heart would break. 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. 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.
" I recall it to mind; therefore have I hope, and am kept
from downright despair." Let us see what these things are which he
calls to mind.
I. That, bad as things are, it is owing to the mercy of God that they
are not worse. We are afflicted by the rod of his wrath, but it is of the lord's mercies that we are not consumed, v. 22 .
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.
Things are bad but they might have been worse, and therefore there is
hope that they may be better. Observe here,
1. The streams of mercy acknowledged: We are not consumed. Note,
The church of God is like Moses's bush, burning, yet not
consumed; whatever hardships it has met with, or may meet with, it
shall have a being in the world to the end of time. It is persecuted of men, but not forsaken of God, and
therefore, though it is cast down, it is not destroyed ( 2 Cor. iv. 9 ),
corrected, yet not consumed, refined in the furnace as silver,
but not consumed as dross.
2. These streams followed up to the fountain: It is of the Lord's
mercies. here are mercies in the plural number, denoting the
abundance and variety of those mercies. God is an inexhaustible fountain of mercy, the Father of mercies. Note, We all owe it to
the sparing mercy of God that we are not consumed. Others have
been consumed round about us, and we ourselves have been in the
consuming, and yet we are not consumed; we are out of the grave;
we are out of hell. 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.
II. 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. They had several times complained that God had not
pitied
( ch. ii. 17, 21 ),
but here they correct themselves, and own,
1. 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. These rivers of mercy run fully and constantly, but never
run dry. No; they are new every morning; every morning we have
fresh instances of God's compassion towards us; he visits us with them every morning ( Job vii. 18 ); every morning does he bring his judgment to light, Zeph. iii. 5 .
When our comforts fail, yet God's compassions do not.
2. That great is his faithfulness. 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. Note, Whatever hard things we suffer, we must never entertain
any hard thoughts of God, but must still be ready to own that he is
both kind and faithful.
III. That God is, and ever will be, the all-sufficient happiness of his
people, and they have chosen him and depend upon him to be such
( v. 24 ): The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; that is,
1. "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."
Portions on earth are perishing things, but God is portion for
ever. 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." Whatever we are robbed of our portion is safe.
3. "This is that which I depend upon and rest satisfied with: Therefore will I hope in him. I will stay myself upon him, and
encourage myself in him, when all other supports and encouragements
fail me." Note, It is our duty to make God the portion of our souls,
and then to make use of him as our portion and to take the comfort of
it in the midst of our lamentations.
IV. That those who deal with God will find it is not in vain to trust
in him; for,
1. He is good to those who do so, v. 25 .
He is good to all; his tender mercies are over all his works; all his creatures taste of his goodness. But he is in a particular
manner good to those that wait for him, to the soul that seeks
him. Note, While trouble is prolonged, and deliverance is deferred,
we must patiently wait for God and his gracious returns to us. While we wait for him by faith, we must seek him by prayer: our souls must seek him, else we do not seek so as to find.
Our seeking will help to keep up our waiting. And to those who thus
wait and seek God will be gracious; he will show them his marvellous
lovingkindness. 2. Those that do so will find it good for them
( v. 26 ): It is good (it is our duty, and will be our unspeakable comfort
and satisfaction) to hope and quietly to wait for the salvation of
the Lord, to hope that it will come, thought the difficulties that
lie in the way of it seem insupportable, to wait till it does come,
though it be long delayed, and while we wait to be quiet and silent,
not quarrelling with God nor making ourselves uneasy, but acquiescing
in the divine disposals. Father, thy will be done. If we call
this to mind, we may have hope that all will end well at last.
V. That afflictions are really good for us, and, if we bear them
aright, will work very much for our good. 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. Many of
the young men were carried into captivity. 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. It is very applicable to the yoke of
God's commands. It is good for young people to take that yoke upon them
in their youth; we cannot begin too soon to be religious. It will make
our duty the more acceptable to God, and easy to ourselves, if we
engage in it when we are young. But here it seems to be meant of the
yoke of affliction. 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. But when do we bear the yoke so
that it is really good for us to bear it in our youth? He
answers in the following verses,
1. When we are sedate and quiet under our afflictions, when we sit
alone and keep silence, do not run to and fro into all companies
with our complaints, aggravating our calamities, and quarrelling with
the disposals of Providence concerning us, but retire into privacy,
that we may in a day of adversity consider, sit alone, that we
may converse with God and commune with our own hearts, silencing
all discontented distrustful thoughts, and laying our hand upon our
mouth, as Aaron, who, under a very severe trial, held his peace. We
must keep silence under the yoke as those that have borne it upon us,
not wilfully pulled it upon our own necks, but patiently submitted to
it when God laid it upon us. 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. 2. When we are humble and patient under our affliction. 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. lxxii. 9 .
And we must thus humble ourselves, if so be there may be hope, or (as it is in the original) peradventure there is hope. 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. 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.
3. When we are meek and mild towards those who are the instruments of
our trouble, and are of a forgiving spirit, v. 30 . He gets good by the yoke who gives his cheek to him that
smites him, and rather turns the other cheek ( Matt. v. 39 )
than returns the second blow. Our Lord Jesus has left us an example of
this, for he gave his back to the smiter, Isa. l. 6 .
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. cxxiii. 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. The sum is, If tribulation
work patience, that patience will work experience, and that experience a hope that makes not ashamed.
VI. That God will graciously return to his people with seasonable
comforts according to the time that he has afflicted them, v. 31, 32 . Therefore the sufferer is thus penitent, thus patient, because
he believes that God is gracious and merciful, which is the great
inducement both to evangelical repentance and to Christian patience. We
may bear ourselves up with this,
1. That, when we are cast down, yet we are not cast off; the father's
correcting his son is not a disinheriting of him.
2. That though we may seem to be cast off for a time, while sensible
comforts are suspended and desired salvations deferred, yet we are not
really cast off, because not cast off for ever; the controversy
with us shall not be perpetual.
3. That, whatever sorrow we are in, it is what God has allotted us, and
his hand is in it. 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 Pet. i. 6 .
4. That God has compassions and comforts in store even for those whom
he has himself grieved. We must be far from thinking that, though God
cause grief, the world will relieve and help us. No; the very same that
caused the grief must bring in the favour, or we are undone. Una
eademque manus vulnus opemque tulit--The same hand inflicted the wound
and healed it. He has torn, and he will heal us, Hos. vi. 1 .
5. That, when God returns to deal graciously with us, it will not be
according to our merits, but according to his mercies, according to
the multitude, the abundance, of his mercies. So unworthy we
are that nothing but an abundant mercy will relieve us; and from that
what may we not expect? And God's causing our grief ought to be no
discouragement at all to those expectations.
VII. That, when God does cause grief, it is for wise and holy ends, and
he takes not delight in our calamities, v. 33 .
He does indeed afflict, and grieve the children of men; all
their grievances and afflictions are from him. But he does not do it willingly, not from the heart; so the word is.
1. He never afflicts us but when we give him cause to do it. He does
not dispense his frowns as he does his favours, ex mero
motu -- from his mere good pleasure. 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.
2. He does not afflict with pleasure. He delights not in the death of
sinners, or the disquiet of saints, but punishes with a kind of
reluctance. He comes out of his place to punish, for his place is the
mercy-seat. 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.
3. He retains his kindness for his people even when he afflicts them.
If he does not willingly grieve the children of men, much less
his own children. However it be, yet God is good to them
( Ps. lxxiii. 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.
VIII. 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 .
Though God serves his own purposes by the violence of wicked and
unreasonable men, yet it does no therefore follow that he countenances
that violence, as his oppressed people are sometimes tempted to think. Hab. i. 13 , Wherefore lookest thou upon those that deal treacherously? 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. If men injure them by force of arms, God does not approve of that.
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 barbarous
to trample on those that are down, and to crush those that are bound
and cannot help themselves.
2. 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.) That God sees them. 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. They
cannot but know it is so, and therefore it is in defiance of him that
they do it. 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. v. 8 .
(2.) That God does not approve of them. More is implied than is
expressed. The perverting of justice, and the subverting of the just,
are a great affront to God; and, though he may make use of them for the
correction of his people, yet he will sooner or later severely reckon
with those that do thus. Note, However God may for a time suffer
evil-doers to prosper, and serve his own purposes by them, yet he does
not therefore approve of their evil doings. Far be it from God that
he should do iniquity, or countenance those that do it.
37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the
Lord commandeth it not?
38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and
good?
39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the
punishment of his sins?
40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the L ORD .
41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the
heavens.
That we may be entitled to the comforts administered to the afflicted
in the foregoing verses ,
and may taste the sweetness of them, we have here the duties of an
afflicted state prescribed to us, in the performance of which we may
expect those comforts.
I. 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 .
This is here laid down as a great truth, which will help to quiet our
spirits under our afflictions and to sanctify them to us.
1. 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? Men can do nothing but according to the counsel of God, nor
have any power or success but what is given them from above. A man's
heart devises his way; he projects and purposes; he says that he
will do so and so
( Jam. iv. 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. xvi. 9; Jer. x. 23 .
The Chaldeans said that they would destroy Jerusalem, and it came to
pass, not because they said it, but because God commanded it and
commissioned them to do it. Note, Men are but tools which the great God
makes use of, and manages as he pleases, in the government of this
lower world; and they cannot accomplish any of their designs without
him.
2. 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? 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? Is it not what he has ordained and appointed for us?
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. This comfort I receive from the hand of God,
and shall I not receive that evil also? so Job argues, ch. ii. 10 .
Are we healthful or sickly, rich or poor? Do we succeed in our designs,
or are we crossed in them? It is all what God orders; every man's
judgment proceeds from him. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken
away; he forms the light and creates the darkness, as he did at
first. Note, All the events of divine Providence are the products of a
divine counsel; whatever is done God has the directing of it, and the
works of his hands agree with the words of his mouth; he speaks, and
it is done, so easily, so effectually are all his purposes
fulfilled.
II. 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? 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 I well to be angry? Why do I fret thus?" Those who in their haste
have chidden with God must, in the reflection, chide themselves for it.
From the doctrine of God's sovereign and universal providence, which he
had asserted in the verses before ,
he draws this inference, Wherefore does a living man complain? What God does we must not open our mouths against, Ps. xxxix. 9 .
Those that blame their lot reproach him that allotted it to them. The
sufferers in the captivity must submit to the will of God in all their
sufferings. Note, Though we may pour out our complaints before God, we
must never exhibit any complaints against God. What! Shall a living
man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? The reasons
here urged are very cogent.
1. We are men; let us herein show ourselves men. Shall a man
complain? And again, a man! 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. We are men, and not children that cry for
every thing that hurts them. 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. 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. 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.
2. We are living men. Through the good hand of our God upon us we are
alive yet, though dying daily; and shall a living man complain? No; he has more reason to be thankful for life than to complain of any
of the burdens and calamities of life. Our lives are frail and
forfeited, and yet we are alive; now the living, the living,
they should praise, and not complain
( Isa. xxxviii. 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.
3. 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. WE have little reason to complain of our trouble, for it
is our own doing; we may thank ourselves. Our own wickedness corrects
us, Prov. xix. 3 .
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. Are we
suffering for our sins? 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. Are we punished for our
sins? It is our wisdom then to submit, and to kiss the rod; for, if
we still walk contrary to God, he will punish us yet seven times more;
for when he judges he will overcome. But, if we accommodate
ourselves to him, though we be chastened of the Lord we shall
not be condemned with the world.
III. We must set ourselves to answer God's intention in afflicting us,
which is to bring sin to our remembrance, and to bring us home to
himself, v. 40 .
These are the two things which our afflictions should put us upon.
1. A serious consideration of ourselves and a reflection upon our past
lives. 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. Let conscience be employed both to
search and to try, and let it have leave to deal faithfully, to
accomplish a diligent search and to make an impartial trial. Let us
try our ways, that by them we may try ourselves, for we are to
judge of our state not by our faint wishes, but by our steps, not by
one particular step, but by our ways, the ends we aim at, the rules we
go by, and the agreeableness of the temper of our minds and the tenour
of our lives to those ends and those rules. When we are in affliction
it is seasonable to consider our ways ( Hag. i. 5 ),
that what is amiss may be repented of and amended for the future, and
so we may answer the intention of the affliction. 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. We have work enough to do at home; we must each of us say,
"What have I done? What have I contributed to the public flames?" that
we may each of us mend one, and then we should all be mended.
2. 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.
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." 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. This was the method David took. Ps. cxix. 59 , I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy
testimonies.
IV. We must offer up ourselves to God, and our best affections and
services, in the flames of devotion, v. 41 .
When we are in affliction,
1. We must look up to God as a God in the heavens, infinitely
above us, and who has an incontestable dominion over us; for the
heavens do rule, and are therefore not to be quarrelled with, but
submitted to.
2. 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. cxli. 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.
(3.) Our hearts must go along with our prayers. We must lift up our
hearts with our hands, as we must pour out our souls with our
words. It is the heart that God looks at in that and every other
service; for what will a sacrifice without a heart avail? If inward
impressions be not in some measure answerable to outward expressions,
we do but mock God and deceive ourselves. Praying is lifting up the
soul to God
( Ps. xxv. 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.
42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not
pardoned.
43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast
slain, thou hast not pitied.
44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer
should not pass through.
45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the
midst of the people.
46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and
destruction.
48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the
destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any
intermission,
50 Till the L ORD look down, and behold from heaven.
51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters
of my city.
52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.
53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone
upon me.
54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
It is easier to chide ourselves for complaining than to chide ourselves
out of it. 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.
I. They confess the righteousness of God in afflicting them
( v. 42 ): We have transgressed and have rebelled. Note, It becomes us,
when we are in trouble, to justify God, by owning our sins, and laying
the load upon ourselves for them. Call sin a transgression, call it a
rebellion, and you do not miscall it. This is the result of their
searching and trying their ways; the more they enquired into them the
worse they found them. Yet,
II. 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.
1. They complain of his frowns and the tokens of his displeasure
against them. Their sins were repented of, and yet
( v. 42 ), Thou hast not pardoned. 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. Their
case was really pitiable, yet they complain, Thou hast not
pitied, v. 43 .
Their enemies persecuted and slew them, but that was not the worst of
it; they were but the instruments in God's hand: " Thou hast
persecuted us, and thou hast slain us, though we expected thou
wouldst protect and deliver us." They complain that there was a wall of
partition between them and God, and,
(1.) This hindered God's favours from coming down upon them. The
reflected beams of God's kindness to them used to be the beauty of
Israel; but now " thou hast covered us with anger, so that
our glory is concealed and gone; now God is angry with us, and we do
not appear that illustrious people that we have formerly been thought
to be." Or, " Thou hast covered us up as men that are buried are
covered up and forgotten."
(2.) 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.
"This cloud is so thick that our prayers seem as if they were
lost in it; they cannot pass through; we cannot obtain an
audience." Note, The prolonging of troubles is sometimes a temptation,
even to praying people, to question whether God be what they have
always believed him to be, a prayer-hearing God.
2. 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." This St. Paul refers to
in his account of the sufferings of the apostles. 1 Cor. iv. 13 , We are made as the filth of the world and are the off-scouring of
all things. "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. Our enemies have opened
their mouths against us ( v. 46 ),
have gaped upon us as roaring lions, to swallow us up, or made
mouths at us, or have taken liberty to say what they please of us."
These complaints we had before, ch. ii. 15, 16 .
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. But this they brought upon themselves by sin. 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.
3. 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 enemies, having taken some of them like a bird in a snare, chased others as a harmless bird is chased by a bird of prey
( v. 52 ): My enemies chased me sorely like a bird which is beaten from
bush to bush, as Saul hunted David like a partridge. Thus
restless was the enmity of their persecutors, and yet causeless. They
have done it without cause, without any provocation given them.
Though God was righteous, they were unrighteous. David often complains
of those that hated him without cause; and such are the enemies
of Christ and his church, John xv. 25 .
Their enemies chased them till they had quite prevailed over them
( v. 53 ): They have cut off my life in the dungeon. 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. They look upon the Jewish nation as dead
and buried, and imagine that there is not possibility of its
resurrection. Thus Ezekiel saw it, in vision, a valley full of dead
and dry bones. Their destruction is compared not only to the
burying of a dead man, but to the sinking of a living man into the
water, who cannot long be a living man there, v. 54 . Waters of affliction flowed over my head. The deluge
prevailed and quite overwhelmed them. 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. 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.
4. They complain of their own excessive grief and fear upon this
account.
(1.) 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. The distemper was in continual extremity,
and they had no better day. It is added
( v. 51 ),
" My eye affects my heart. My seeing eye affects my heart. The
more I look upon the desolation of the city and country the more I am
grieved. 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. Or, My weeping eye affects my heart; the venting of
the grief, instead of easing it, did but increase and exasperate it.
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. xxxi. 9, 10 .
Great and long grief exhausts the spirits, and brings not only many a gray head, but many a green head too, to the grave. I
weep, ways the prophet, more than all the daughters of my city (so the margin reads it); he outdid even those of the tender sex in the
expressions of grief. And it is no diminution to any to be much in
tears for the sins of sinners and the sufferings of saints; our Lord
Jesus was so; for, when he came near, he beheld this same city and wept over it, which the daughters of Jerusalem did not.
(2.) 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." Note, Those that are cast down are commonly tempted
to think themselves cast off, Ps. xxxi. 22; Jon. ii. 4 .
5. 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 .
We continue thus weeping till the Lord look down and behold from
heaven. This intimates,
(1.) That they were satisfied that God's gracious regard to them in
their miseries would be an effectual redress of all their grievances.
"If God, who now covers himself with a cloud, as if he took no
notice of our troubles
( Job xxii. 13 ),
would but shine forth, all would be well; if he look upon us, we
shall be saved, " Ps. lxxx. 19; Dan. ix. 17 .
Bad as the case is, one favourable look from heaven will set all to
rights.
(2.) That they had hopes that he would at length look graciously upon
them and relieve them; nay, they take it for granted that he will:
"Though he contend long, he will not contend for ever, thou we deserve
that he should."
(3.) That while they continued weeping they continued waiting, and
neither did nor would expect relief and succour from any hand but his;
nothing shall comfort them but his gracious returns, nor shall any
thing wipe tears from their eyes till he look down. Their eyes,
which now run down with water, shall still wait upon the Lord
their God until he have mercy upon them, Ps. cxxiii. 2 .
55 I called upon thy name, O L ORD , out of the low dungeon.
56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my
breathing, at my cry.
57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou
saidst, Fear not.
58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast
redeemed my life.
59 O L ORD , thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.
60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their
imaginations against me.
61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O L ORD , and all their
imaginations against me;
62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device
against me all the day.
63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their
music.
64 Render unto them a recompence, O L ORD , according to the work
of their hands.
65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.
66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens
of the L ORD .
We may observe throughout this chapter a struggle in the prophet's
breast between sense and faith, fear and hope; he complains and then
comforts himself, yet drops his comforts and returns again to his
complaints, as Ps. xlii .
But, as there, so here, faith gets the last word and comes off a
conqueror; for in these verses he concludes with some comfort. And here
are two things with which he comforts himself:--
I. His experience of God's goodness even in his affliction. This may
refer to the prophet's personal experience, with which he encourages
himself in reference to the public troubles. He that has seasonably
succoured particular saints will not fail the church in general. 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. In three things the
prophet and his pious friends had found God good to them:--
1. 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. When they were in the low dungeon, as free among
the dead, they called upon God's name ( v. 55 );
their weeping did not hinder praying. Note, Though we are cast into
ever so low a dungeon, we may thence find a way of access to God in the
highest heavens. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee ( Ps. cxxx. 1 ),
as Jonah out of the whale's belly. And could God hear them out of the
low dungeon, and would he? Yes, he did: Thou hast heard my
voice; and some read the following words as carrying on the same
thankful acknowledgment: Thou didst not hide thy ear at my
breathing, at my cry; and the original will bear that reading. We
read it as a petition for further audience: Hide not thy ear. God's having heard our voice when we cried to him, even out of the low dungeon, is an encouragement for us to hope that he will
not at any time hide his ear. Observe how he calls prayer his
breathing; for in prayer we breathe towards God, we breathe after
him. Though we be but weak in prayer, cannot cry aloud, but only breathe in groanings that cannot be uttered, yet we shall
not be neglected if we be sincere. Prayer is the breath of the new man,
sucking in the air of mercy in petitions and returning it in praises;
it is both the evidence and the maintenance of the spiritual life. Some
read it, at my gasping. "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."
2. He had silenced their fears and quieted their spirits
( v. 57 ):
" Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee; thou
didst graciously assure me of thy presence with me, and give me to see
thee nigh unto me, whereas I had thought thee to be at a distance from
me." 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. But this was not all: Thou saidst, Fear not. This was the language of God's prophets
preaching to them not to fear
( Isa. xli. 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.
3. He had already begun to appear for them
( v. 58 ):
" O Lord! thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul " (that is, as
it follows), " thou hast redeemed my life, hast rescued that out
of the hands of those who would have taken it away, hast saved that
when it was ready to be swallowed up, hast given me that for a prey."
And this is an encouragement to them to hope that he would yet further
appear for them: " Thou hast delivered my soul from death, and
therefore wilt deliver my feet from falling; thou hast pleaded the causes of my life, and therefore wilt plead my other
causes."
II. He comforts himself with an appeal to God's justice, and (in order
to the sentence of that) to his omniscience.
1. He appeals to God's knowledge of the matter of fact, how very
spiteful and malicious his enemies were
( v. 59 ):
" O Lord! thou hast seen my wrong, that I have done no wrong at
all, but suffer a great deal." He that knows all things knew,
(1.) 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." 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.
(2.) 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." Note, The most secret contrivances of the church's enemies are
perfectly known to the church's God, from whom they can hide nothing.
(3.) 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." Jerusalem was the tabret they
played upon. 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. 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 .
2. 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. Judge thou my cause, v. 59 .
Let them be dealt with,"
(1.) "As they deserve
( v. 64 ): Render to them a recompence according to the work of their
hands. Let them be dealt with as they have dealt with us; let thy
hand be against them as their hand has been against us. They have
created us a great deal of vexation; now, Lord, give them sorrow of
heart ( v. 65 ), perplexity of heart " (so some read it); "let them be surrounded
with threatening mischiefs on all sides, and not be able to see their
way out. Give them despondence of heart " (so others read it);
"let them be driven to despair, and give themselves up for gone." God
can entangle the head that thinks itself clearest, and sink the heart
that thinks itself stoutest.
(2.) "Let them be dealt with according to the threatenings: Thy
curse unto them; that is, let thy curse come upon them, all the
evils that are pronounced in thy word against the enemies of thy
people, v. 65 .
They have loaded us with curses; as they loved cursing, so let it come
unto them, thy curse which will make them truly miserable. Theirs is
causeless, and therefore fruitless, it shall not come; but thine is
just, and shall take effect. Those whom thou cursest are cursed indeed.
Let the curse be executed, v. 66 . Persecute and destroy them in anger, as they persecute and
destroy us in their anger. Destroy them from under the heavens of
the Lord; let them have no benefit of the light and influence of
the heavens. Destroy them in such a manner that all who see it may say,
It is a destruction from the Almighty, who sits in the heavens and
laughs at them ( Ps. ii. 4 ),
and may own that the heavens do rule, " Dan. iv. 26 .
What is said of the idols is here said of their worshippers (who in
this also shall be like unto them), They shall perish from under
these heavens, Jer. x. 11 .
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. cxv. 16 )
and which those therefore are unworthy to be taken under the protection
of who rebel against him.
INTRODUCTION TO LAMENTATIONS 3
This chapter is a complaint and lamentation like the former, and on the same subject, only the prophet mixes his own afflictions and distresses with the public calamities; or else he represents the church in her complaints; and some have thought him to be a type of Christ throughout the whole; to whom various things may be applied. It is indeed written in a different form from the other chapters, in another sort of metre; and though in an alphabetical manner as the rest, yet with this difference, that three verses together begin with the same letter; so that the alphabet is gone through three times in it. Here is first a complaint of the afflictions of the prophet, and of the people, expressed by a rod, by darkness, by wormwood and gall, and many other things; and especially by the Lord's appearing against them as an enemy, in a most severe and terrible manner; shutting out their prayer; being as a bear and lion to them; and giving them up to the cruelty and scorn of their enemies, La 3:1; then follows some comfort taken by them, from the mercy, faithfulness, and goodness of God; from the usefulness of patience in bearing afflictions; and from the end of God in laying them upon men; and from the providence of God, by which all things are ordered, La 3:22; wherefore, instead of complaining, it would be better, it is suggested, to attend to the duties of examination of their ways, and of repentance, and of prayer, La 3:39; and a particular prayer is directed to, in which confession of sin is made, and their miseries deplored, by reason of the hidings of God's face, and the insults of their enemies, La 3:42; and then the prophet expresses his sympathy with his people under affliction, and declares what he himself met with from his enemies, La 3:48; and relates bow he called upon the Lord, and he heard and delivered him, La 3:55; and concludes with a request that he would judge his cause, and avenge him on enemies, La 3:59.
Ver. 1. I [am] the man [that] hath seen affliction,.... Had a much experience of it, especially ever since he had been a prophet; being reproached and ill used by his own people, and suffering with them in their calamities; particularly, as Jarchi observes, his affliction was greater than the other prophets, who indeed prophesied of the destruction of the city and temple, but did not see it; whereas he lived to see it: he was not indeed the only man that endured affliction, but he was remarkable for his afflictions; he had a large share of them, and was herein a type of Christ, who was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs:
by the rod of his wrath; that is, by the rod of the wrath of God, for he is understood; it is a relative without an antecedent, as in So 1:1; unless the words are to be considered in connection La 2:22. The Targum is,
"by the rod of him that chastiseth in his anger;''
so Jarchi; but God's chastisements of his own people are in love, though thought sometimes by them to be in wrath and hot displeasure; so the prophet imagined, but it was not so; perhaps some regard may be had to the instrument of Jerusalem's destruction, the king of Babylon, called the rod of the Lord's anger, Isa 10:5; all this was true of Christ, as the surety of his people, and as sustaining their persons, and standing in their room.
Lamentations 3:2
Ver. 2. He hath led me, and brought [me into] darkness,.... Which oftentimes signifies distress, calamity, and affliction, of one sort or another: thus the Jews were brought into the darkness of captivity; Jeremiah to the darkness of a dungeon, to which there may be an allusion; and Christ his antitype was under the hidings of God's face; and at the same time there was darkness all around him, and all over the land; and all this is attributed to God; it being by his appointment, and by his direction and permission:
but not [into] light; prosperity and joy; the affliction still continuing; though God does in his due time bring his people to the light of comfort, and of his gracious presence, as he did the above persons; see Ps 97:11.
Lamentations 3:3
Ver. 3. Surely against me is he turned,.... As an enemy, who used to be a friend; he has so altered and changed the course of his providence, as if his favour and affections were wholly removed; he has planted his artillery against me, and made me the butt of his arrows: or, "only against me"; so Jarchi; as if he was the only person, or the Jews the only people, so afflicted of God:
he turneth his hand [against me] all the day; to smite with one blow after another, and that continually, without ceasing; so the hand of justice was turned upon Christ, as the surety of his people, and he was smitten and stricken of God; while the hand of grace and mercy was turned upon them; see Zec 13:7.
Lamentations 3:4
Ver. 4. My flesh and my skin hath he made old,.... His flesh with blows, and his skin with smiting, as the Targum; his flesh was so emaciated, and his skin so withered and wrinkled, that he looked like an old man; as our Lord, when little more than thirty years of age, what with his sorrows and troubles, looked like one about fifty:
he hath broken my bones; that is, his strength was greatly weakened, which lay in his bones; and he could not stir to help himself, any more than a man whose bones are broken; and was in as much pain and distress as if this had been his case; otherwise it was not literally true, either of the Jews, or of Jeremiah, or of Christ.
Lamentations 3:5
Ver. 5. He hath builded against me,.... Fortresses, as the Targum adds; as when forts and batteries were raised by the Chaldeans against the city of Jerusalem, in which the prophet was:
and compassed [me] with gall and travail; or "weariness" {e}; the same with gall and wormwood, La 3:19; as Jarchi observes. The sense is, he was surrounded with sorrow, affliction, and misery, which were as disagreeable as gall; or like poison that drank up his spirits, and made him weary of his life. Thus our Lord was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; perilupov, encompassed with sorrows, Mt 26:38. The Targum is,
"he hath surrounded the city, and rooted up the heads of the people, and caused them to fail.''
{e} haltw "et fatigatione", Montanus, Vatablus, Castalio.
Lamentations 3:6
Ver. 6. He hath set me in dark places,.... In the dark house of the prison, as the Targum; in the dark dungeon where the prophet was put; or the captivity in which the Jews were, and which was like the dark grave or state of the dead; and hence they are said to be in their graves, Eze 37:12. Christ was laid in the dark grave literally:
as [they that be] dead of old: that have been long dead, and are forgotten, as if they had never been; see Ps 88:5; or, "as the dead of the world" {f}, or age; who, being dead, are gone out of the world, and no more in it. The Targum is,
"as the dead who go into another world.''
{f} Mlwe ytmk wv nekrouv aiwnov, Sept. "quasi mortuos seculi", Montanus, Calvin.
Lamentations 3:7
Ver. 7. He hath hedged me about, that I cannot go out,.... When in prison, or in the dungeon, or during the siege of Jerusalem; though the phrase may only denote in general the greatness of his troubles, with which he was encompassed, and how inextricable they were; like a hedge about a vineyard, or a wall about a city, which could not easily be got over:
he hath made my chain heavy; his affliction intolerable. It is a metaphor taken from malefactors that have heavy chains put upon their legs, that they may not make their escape out of prison: or, "my brass" {g}; that is, chains, or a chain made of brass; so the Targum,
"he hath made heavy upon my feet fetters of brass.''
{g} ytvxn calkon mou Sept. "aes meum, [vel] chalybem meum", Piscator.
Lamentations 3:8
Ver. 8. Also when I cry and shout,.... Cry, because of the distress of the enemy within; "shout", or cry aloud for help from others without; as persons in a prison do, to make them hear and pity their case: thus the prophet in his affliction cried aloud to God; was fervent, earnest, and importunate in prayer; and yet not heard:
he shutteth out my prayer; shuts the door, that it may not enter; as the door is sometimes shut upon beggars, that their cry may not be heard. The Targum is,
"the house of my prayer is shut.''
Jarchi interprets it of the windows of the firmament being shut, so that his prayer could not pass through, or be heard; see La 3:44. The phrase designs God's disregard, or seeming disregard, of the prayer of the prophet, or of the people; and his shutting his ears against it. Of this, as the Messiah's case, see Ps 22:2.
Lamentations 3:9
Ver. 9. He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone,.... Not with a hedge of thorns, or mud walls, but with a fence of stones; and these not rough, and laid loosely together, but hewn and put in order, and well cemented. The Targum is, with marble hewn stones, which are harder than common stones, and not so easily demolished; this may respect the case of the prophet in prison, and in the dungeon, and in Jerusalem, when besieged; or in general his afflictive state, from whence he had no prospect of deliverance; or the state of the Jews in captivity, from which there was no likelihood of a release;
he hath made my paths crooked; or, "perverted my ways" {h}; so that he could not find his way out, when he attempted it; he got into a way which led him wrong; everything went cross and against him, and all his measures were disconcerted, and his designs defeated; no one step he took prospered.
{h} hwe ytbytn "semitas meas pervertit", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Calvin; "contorsit", Michealis.
Lamentations 3:10
Ver. 10. He [was] unto me [as] a bear lying in wait,.... For its prey, which seizes on it at once, and tears it in pieces; such were the Chaldeans to the Jews by divine permission:
[and as] a lion in secret places; lurking there, in order to take every opportunity and advantage, and fall upon any creature that comes that way. The same thing is signified here as before; see Ho 5:14.
Lamentations 3:11
Ver. 11. He hath turned aside my ways,.... Or caused me to depart or go back from the way I was in, and so fall into the hand of the enemy that lay in wait, as before. Jarchi interprets the word of thorns, and of scattering the way with thorns, and hedging it up with them, so that there was no passing, Ho 2:6; the sense seems to be the same with La 3:9;
and pulled me in pieces: as any creature that falls into the hands of a bear or lion. Jarchi says it signifies a stopping of the feet, so that the traveller cannot go on in his way; and in the Talmudic language it is used for the breaking off of branches of trees, which being strowed in the way, hinder passengers from travelling; and this sense agrees with what goes before:
he hath made me desolate; or brought me into a desolate condition, into ruin and destruction, as the Jews were in Babylon.
Lamentations 3:12
Ver. 12. He hath bent his bow,.... Which is put for all the instruments, of war; the Chaldeans were archers, and shot their arrows into the city:
and set me as a mark for the arrow; as a target to shoot at; signifying that God dealt with him, or his people, as enemies, the object of his wrath and indignation; and if he directed his arrow against them, it must needs hit them; there was no escaping his vengeance; see Job 7:20.
Lamentations 3:13
Ver. 13. He hath caused the arrows of his quiver,.... Or, "the sons of his quiver" {i}; an usual Hebraism; the quiver is compared, as Aben Ezra observes, to a pregnant woman; and Horace has a like expression, "venenatis gravidam sagittis pharetram" {k}; the judgments of God are often signified by this metaphor, even his four sore ones, sword, famine, pestilence, and noisome beast, De 32:23; these, says the prophet, he caused
to enter into my reins; that is, into the midst of his land and people, or into the city of Jerusalem; or these affected his mind and heart as if so many arrows had stuck in him, the poison of which drank up his spirits, Job 6:4.
{i} wtpva ynb "filios pharetrae suae", Montanus, Munster, Cocceius, Michaelis. {k} L. 1. Ode 22.
Lamentations 3:14
Ver. 14. I was a derision to all my people,.... So Jeremiah was to the people of the Jews, and especially to his townsmen, the men of Anathoth, Jer 20:7; but if he represents the body of the people, others must be intended; for they could not be a derision to themselves. The Targum renders it, to the spoilers of my people; that is, either the wicked among themselves, or the Chaldeans; and Aben Ezra well observes, that "ammi" is put for "ammim", the people; and so is to be understood of all the people round about them, the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites, that laughed at their destruction; though some interpret it of the wicked among the Jews, to whom the godly were a derision; or of those who had been formerly subject to the Jews, and so their people, though not now:
[and] their song all the day; beating on their tabrets, and striking their harps, for joy; for the word {l} used signifies not vocal, but instrumental music; of such usage of the Messiah, see Ps 69:12.
{l} Mtnygn a Ngn "pulsare istrumentum musicum".
Lamentations 3:15
Ver. 15. He hath filled me with bitterness,.... Or "with bitternesses" {m}; instead of food, bitter herbs; the allusion perhaps is to the bitter herbs eaten at the passover, and signify bitter afflictions, sore calamities, of which the prophet and his people had their fill. The Targum is,
"with the gall of serpents;''
see Job 20:14;
he hath made me drunken with wormwood; with wormwood drink; but this herb being a wholesome one, though bitter, some think that henbane, or wolfsbane, is rather meant, which is of a poisonous and intoxicating nature; it is no unusual thing for persons to be represented as drunk with affliction, Isa 51:17.
{m} Myrwrmb "amaritudinibus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Michaelis, "amaroribus", Cocceius.
Lamentations 3:16
Ver. 16. He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones,.... With gritty bread, such as is made of corn ground with new millstones, the grit of which mixes with the flour; or with stony bread, as Seneca {n} calls a benefit troublesome to others; with bread that has little stones mixed with it, by eating of which the teeth are broken, as Jarchi observes: the phrase signifies afflictions and troubles, which are very grievous and disagreeable, like gravel in the mouth, as sin in its effects often proves, Pr 20:17;
he hath covered me with ashes; as mourners used to be; the word rendered "covered" is only used in this place. Aben Ezra renders it, "he hath defiled me"; and Jarchi and Ben Melech, from the Misnah, "he hath pressed me", without measure; see Lu 6:38; and so the Targum,
"he hath humbled me:''
but the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it, "he hath fed me with ashes"; which version is defended by Castel {o} and Noldius {p}, and best agrees with the preceding clause; the sense is the same with Ps 102:9.
{n} "Pane lapidoso", Seneca De Beneficiis, l. 7. {o} Lexic. Polyglott, col. 1791. {p} Concordant. Ebr. Part. p. 168. No. 763.
Lamentations 3:17
Ver. 17. And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace,.... From the time the city was besieged by the Chaldeans, and now the people was carried captive; who could have no true peace, being in a foreign land, in an enemy's country, and out of their own, and far from the place of divine worship; nor could the prophet have any peace of soul, in the consideration of these things, the city, temple, and nation, being desolate, though he himself was not in captivity.
I forgat prosperity; or "good" {q}; he had been so long from the enjoyment of it, that he had lost the idea of it, and was thoughtless about it, never expecting to see it any more.
{q} hbwj "bonorum", V. L. "boni", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis.
Lamentations 3:18
Ver. 18. And I said, my strength and my hope are perished from the Lord. The former of these words signifies, according to Aben Ezra, "my standing", my subsistence, my continuance in being, or my perpetuity; according to Jarchi, my abiding {r} in this world; it is rendered "blood" in Isa 63:3; which is the support of life; and which when gone, or ceases to circulate, a man ceases to be: the sense is, that the prophet, or those he represents, looked upon themselves as dead men, at least of a short continuance; their natural strength was exhausted, and they must quickly die, and had no hope of living, or of enjoying the divine favour, or good things, at the hand of God. Some understand it of spiritual strength to do good, and of hope of having good things, or deliverance from the hand of God, which they were despairing of; for the words are the language of despondency, and betray great, weakness and infirmity; for in the Lord is everlasting strength, and he is the hope of his people, and the Saviour of them in time of trouble, Isa 26:4.
{r} yxun "duratio mea", Montanus; "perennitas mea", Cocceius.
Lamentations 3:19
Ver. 19. Remembering mine affliction and my misery,.... The miserable affliction of him and his people; the remembrance of which, and poring upon it continually, caused the despondency before expressed: though it may be rendered imperatively, "remember my affliction, and my misery" {s}; so the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions; and Aben Ezra observes, that the words may be considered as a request to God, and so they seem to be; the prophet, and the people he represents, were not so far gone into despair, as to cast off prayer before God; but once more looked up to him, beseeching that he would, in his great mercy and pity, remember them in their distressed condition, and deliver out of it; for none could do it but himself:
the wormwood and the gall; figurative expressions of bitter and grievous afflictions, La 3:5.
{s} rkz "recordare", Munster, Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Cocceius, Michealis.
Lamentations 3:20
Ver. 20. My soul hath [them] still in remembrance,.... That is, according to our version, affliction and misery, compared to wormwood and gall: but the words, "my soul", are fetched from the next clause, where they ought to stand, and this to be rendered, "in remembering thou wilt remember" {t}; or, "thou wilt surely remember", and so expresses the confidence of the prophet, and his firm belief, his faith and hope increasing in prayer, that God would in much mercy remember his people, and their afflictions, and save them out of them:
and is humbled in me; both under the afflicting hand of God, and in view and hope of his mercy: though rather it should be rendered, "and" or "for my soul meditateth within me" {u}; says or suggests such things to me, that God will in wrath remember mercy; see Ps 77:7. So Jarchi makes mention of a Midrash, that interprets it of his soul's waiting till the time that God remembers.
{t} rwkzt rwkz "recordando recordaberis", Luther, Michaelis. {u} yvpn yle xyvtw "meditatur apud me anima mea", Junius & Tremellius; "et animo meo meditor", Castalio.
Lamentations 3:21
Ver. 21. This I recall to my mind,.... Not affliction and misery, but the Lord's remembrance of his people; what he had been used to do, and would do again; and particularly what follows, the abundant mercy of God, and his great faithfulness; these things the prophet fetched back to his mind; and revolved them in his heart; says he,
and therefore have I hope; this revived his hope, which he was ready to say was perished from the Lord, and there was no foundation for it; but now he saw there was, and therefore took heart, and encouraged himself in the grace and mercy of God.
Lamentations 3:22
Ver. 22. [It is of] the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,.... It was true of the prophet, that he died not in prison, or in the dungeon; and of the people of the Jews, who though many of them perished by the sword, famine, and pestilence, yet God did not make a full end of them, according to his gracious promise, Jer 30:11; but left them a seed, a remnant, from whence the Messiah, the mercy promised, should come, and to which it was owing they were not utterly cut off for their sins: nor are any of the Lord's special people ever consumed; their estates may be consumed, and so may their bodies by wasting diseases, and at last by death; but not their souls, not only as to their being, but as to their well being, here and hereafter; though their peace, joy, and comfort, may be gone for a while, through temptation, desertion, and the prevalence of corruption; and they may be in declining circumstances, as to the exercise of grace, yet the principle itself can never be lost; faith, hope, and love, will abide; nor can they eternally perish, or be punished with an everlasting destruction: all which is to be ascribed not to their own strength to preserve themselves, nor to any want of desert in them to be destroyed, or of power in God to consume them; but to his "mercies" and "goodnesses", the multitude of them; for there is an abundance of mercy, grace, and goodness in God, and various are the instances of it; as in the choice of his people to grace and glory; in the covenant of grace, and the blessings of it they are interested in; in redemption by Christ; in regeneration by his Spirit; in the forgiveness of their sins; and in their complete salvation; which are all so many reasons why they are not, and shall not be, consumed. The words may be rendered, "the mercies" or "goodnesses of the Lord, for they are not consumed", or, "that the mercies of the Lord", &c. {w} Jarchi observes, that "tamnu" is as "tammu"; the "nun" being inserted, according to Aben Ezra, instead of doubling the letter "mem"; and the former makes the sense to be this, in connection with the La 3:21; "this I recall to mind the mercies of the Lord, that they are not consumed"; to which agrees the Targum,
"the goodnesses, of the Lord, for they cease not;''
and so the Septuagint, "the mercies of the Lord, for they have not left me"; and to the same sense the Syriac version is, "the mercies of the Lord, for they have no end", and Aben Ezra's note on the text is almost in the same words,
"for there is no end to the mercies of God;''
because his compassions fail not; or, "his tender mercies" {x}; of which he is full, and which are bestowed in a free and sovereign way, and are the spring of all good things, and a never failing one they are; and this is another reason why the Lord's people are not consumed, and never shall, because of the mercies of the Lord, since these shall never fail; for though they are, yet should they fail, they might be consumed; but these are from everlasting to everlasting, and are kept with Christ their covenant head; see Ps 103:17.
{w} wnmt al yk hwhy ydox "quod misericordiae Jehovae deficiunt", vel "defecerunt", so some in Vatablus; "studia Jehovae quod non defecerunt", Cocceius. {x} wmxr "miserationes ejus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Lamentations 3:23
Ver. 23. [They are] new every morning,.... That is, the tender mercies or compassions of God are, which prove that they fail not; there are instances of them every day, not only in a temporal, but in a spiritual sense; they are ever new, always fresh and vigorous, constant and perpetual; such are the love, grace, and mercy of God, though of old, yet daily renewed in the manifestations thereof; and which make a morning of spiritual light, joy, and comfort; and whenever it is morning with the saints, they have new discoveries of the love of God to them; and these indeed are a bright morning to them, a morning without clouds;
great [is] thy faithfulness; some render it "thy faith concerning thee" {y}; this is a great grace, it is the gift of God, the operation of his Spirit, and to exercise it is a great thing; to this purpose is Jarchi's note,
"great is thy promise, and a great thing it is to believe in thee, that it shall be performed, and that thou wilt observe or keep what thou hast promised to us;''
but the attribute of God's faithfulness is rather meant; which is another reason why the people of God are not consumed, since that never fails; God is faithful to himself, and cannot deny himself; he is faithful to his counsels and purposes, which shall be truly accomplished; and to his covenant and promises, which shall be fulfilled; and to his Son, the surety and Saviour of his people.
{y} Ktnwma "fides tua", V. L. Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "fides quae est de te", Pagninus.
Lamentations 3:24
Ver. 24. The Lord [is] my portion, saith my soul,.... The prophet, or the church, whom he represents, rises and increases in the exercise of faith; from considering the mercies, compassions, and faithfulness of God, concludes a sure and firm interest in him, as a portion and inheritance. The Lord is the portion of his people in life and in death, in time and to eternity; all he is, and has, is theirs; they are heirs of him, and shall enjoy him for ever, and therefore shall not be consumed; he is a portion large and full, inexpressibly rich and great, a soul satisfying one, and will last for ever. And happy are those, who from their hearts, and with their souls, under a testimony of the Spirit of God to their spirits, and through a gracious experience of him, can say he is their portion and exceeding great reward, as the church here did; and these may say with her, as follows:
therefore will I hope in him: for deliverance from all evils and enemies; for present supplies of grace; and for the enjoyment of future glory and happiness.
Lamentations 3:25
Ver. 25. The Lord [is] good to them that wait for him,.... For the enjoyment of him as their portion in this world, and in that to come; for his presence here and hereafter; which they are sometimes now deprived of, but should wait patiently for it; since he has his set time to arise and favour them with it; to such is he "good" communicatively, and in a special way and manner. They that wait for him shall not be ashamed, or disappointed of what they expect; they shall renew their spiritual strength, and grow stronger and stronger; they shall inherit the earth, the new heavens and the new earth; enjoy many blessings now, and have good things laid up for them hereafter, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Isa 49:23; perhaps some regard may be had to the coming of Christ in the flesh, which the saints then expected, and were waiting for in faith and hope; to whom the Lord was good and gracious in due time, by performing the mercy promised them, Isa 25:9;
to the soul [that] seeketh him; that seeketh him aright; that seeks him by prayer and supplication; that seeks him in his house and ordinances, where he is to be found; that seeks him early, in the first place, and above all things else; that seeks him earnestly, diligently, with his whole spirit, heart, and soul; that seeks his face, his favour, grace, and glory, and all in Christ, through whom all are to be enjoyed. God is good to such souls; he is a rewarder of them in a way of grace; with himself, as their shield and exceeding great reward; with his Son, and all things freely with him; with his Spirit and graces, and with eternal glory and happiness; such find what they seek for, Christ, his grace, and eternal fire; the Lord never forsakes them, nor the work of his hand in them, and they shall live spiritually and eternally; see
Heb 11:6.
Lamentations 3:26
Ver. 26. [It is] good that [a man] should both hope and quietly wait,.... This follows from the former; for if God is good to such, it must be good for them to hope and wait for him; it is both their duty and their interest: and it may be observed, that hope is the ground of patient waiting, and is here promised to it; where there is no hope of a thing, there will be no waiting for it, much less quietly: hope is of things unseen, future, difficult, and yet possible, or there would be no hope; and where there is that, there will be waiting; for "if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it", Ro 8:25; here in the original text it is, "hope, and be silent" {z}; or, "a good man will both hope" or "wait, and be silent" {a}; that is, under the present dispensation, though an afflictive one; men should be still, as David exhorts, and be dumb, as he was; and hold their peace, as Aaron did, at such seasons: not that they should indulge a stoical apathy, or be insensible of their condition, and disregard the rod, and him that has appointed it, or be altogether silent and speechless; but should own the hand of God, and their deserts, cry to him for deliverance, be thankful it is no worse, and speak of the gracious dealings of God with them; yet should not murmur and complain, or charge God foolishly; but be resigned to his will, and wait the issue of Providence quietly, even wait
for the salvation of the Lord; for temporal deliverance from outward evils and present afflictions, and for spiritual and eternal salvation. The saints, under the Old Testament, waited for Christ, the author of salvation, appointed and promised by the Lord. He is come, and has obtained salvation, which is published in the Gospel. Sensible sinners are made acquainted with their need of it, and see the fulness and suitableness of it, and are earnestly desirous of knowing their interest in it; this is not immediately had; it is good to wait quietly for it, in an attendance on the word and ordinances; and this being come at, still the complete enjoyment is yet behind: saints are now heirs of it, are kept unto it; it is nearer them than when they believed; Christ will appear unto it, and it becomes them to wait patiently for it; which will be a salvation from the very being of sin; from the temptations of Satan; from all troubles inward and outward; from all troublesome persons and things; from all doubts, fears, darkness, and unbelief; and will consist in perfect happiness and glory, and is worth waiting for.
{z} Mmwdw lyxyw "et expectet et silens", Pagninus, Montanus; "qui et expectat et silet", Piscator. {a} "Bonus ergo et expectabit et silens erit", Schmidt.
Lamentations 3:27
Ver. 27. [It is] good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Either the yoke of the commandments, as the Targum; or of correction, as Aben Ezra; of afflictions, as fatherly chastisements; both senses may be retained. It is good to bear the yoke of the moral law, or the commandments of God, as they are in the hands of Christ, a rule of walk and conversation; a yoke obliging all mankind, and especially saints; it is the duty of all to submit their necks to this yoke; it is but their reasonable service to love the Lord their God, and their neighbour as themselves; as must be judged by all but sons of Belial, who are without this yoke, having cast it off; and especially it is "good" to bear the yoke of Christ, to embrace his doctrines, and profess them, and submit to his ordinances, since his yoke is easy, and leads to true rest, Mt 11:29; it is commendable so to do; since it is a following Christ, and those who through faith and patience have inherited the promises; and, besides, is both pleasant and profitable, being the means of increasing spiritual strength, light, and joy: and it is right to do this "in youth"; which is the choices, time of life, and most acceptable to Christ, and when a man is capable of doing him most service; and especially, if men do not take upon them this yoke in the day of their espousals, and while their first love lasts, it is much if they ever do it after, and therefore should not neglect it: and so it is good to bear the yoke of afflictions, though disagreeable to flesh and blood, to take up the cross, and bear it after Christ, willingly, and cheerfully, and patiently; this is "good", for hereby souls are brought to a sense of sin, to be humbled for it, and confess it; it is a means of purging from it, and preventing it; hereby the graces of the Spirit are tried, exercised, and become brighter; saints are instructed in many useful lessons in the word of God, in humility faith, and fear; herein they enjoy much of the presence of God, and all work for their good, spiritual and eternal. And as there is a close connection between a profession of faith in Christ, and submission to his ordinances, and suffering reproach and persecution for the same; it is good for a than to bear the one, as well as the other, "in his youth"; this will serve to keep him humble, and hide pride from him, which youth are addicted to; to wean him from the world, the lusts and pleasures of it, which are ensnaring to that age; to prevent many sins and evils such might be tempted to go into; and to inure them to hardships, and make them good soldiers of Christ.
Lamentations 3:28
Ver. 28. He sitteth alone,.... Retires from the world, and the men of it, who takes upon him the yoke of Christ; though he is not alone, but God, Father, Son, and Spirit, are with him; and he is with the saints, the excellent of the earth, and has communion with them; and so he is that under the afflicting hand of God bears it patiently, and does not run from place to place complaining of it, but sits still, and considers the cause, end, and use of it. Some render the words in connection with the preceding, it is good "that he sit alone" {b}; it is good for a man to be alone; in his closet, praying to God; in his house or chamber, reading the word of God; in the field, or elsewhere, meditating upon it, and upon the works of God, of nature, providence, and grace:
and keepeth silence, because he hath borne [it] on him: or, "took it on him"; either because he took it upon him willingly, and therefore should bear it patiently; or because he (God) hath put it upon him {c}, and therefore should be silent, and not murmur and repine, since he hath done it, Ps 39:9.
{b} ddb bvy "ut sedeat solus", Gataker. {c} wyle ljn "projecit super ipsum", Tigurine version; "sub. Dominus", Vatablus; "quod imposuerit ipsi Deus", Junius & Tremellius, Michaelis.
Lamentations 3:29
Ver. 29. He putteth his mouth in the dust,.... Of self-abhorrence; sensible of his own vileness and nothingness, his unworthiness, and the unprofitableness of all his duties; ascribing the whole of his salvation to the free grace of God, Job 42:6; humbling himself under the mighty hand of God; not daring to open his mouth in a complaining way against him; but prostrating himself before him to the earth, as the manner of the eastern people in prayer was, to which the allusion is; licking as it were the dust of the earth, under a sense of the distance and disproportion between God and him, who is but dust and ashes; so the Targum adds,
"and is prostrate before the Lord:''
if so be there may be hope; or, "peradventure there is hope" {d}; for, as some interpreters observe, these words do not express hesitation and doubt, but hope and expectation of help, to bear the yoke of God's commandments, and in due time to be delivered from affliction and distress.
{d} hwqt vy ylwa "forte est expectatio", Junius & Tremellius; "fortassis", Piscator, Cocceius; "forte est spes", Michaelis.
Lamentations 3:30
Ver. 30. He giveth [his] cheek to him that smiteth him,.... Either to God that afflicts him, and patiently bears it; see Isa 9:13; or rather to men. To be smitten on the cheek is always reckoned a very great affront; to turn the cheek to an injurious man is to give him an opportunity and leave to smite, and signifies the taking of it patiently, and agrees both with our Lord's advice and example, Mt 5:39;
he is filled full with reproach; has many reproaches, and the reproaches of many upon him; as such must expect, that take Christ's yoke upon them; see Ps 123:3; and yet revile not again, but esteem reproaches for Christ's sake great riches, and wear them as crowns, and bind them about their necks as chains of gold; esteeming it an honour and a happiness to suffer shame for his name.
Lamentations 3:31
Ver. 31. For the Lord will not cast off for ever. Which is not to be understood of all his creatures; for there are some he does cast off for ever, as the angels that sinned; reprobate men, profligate and abandoned sinners, that live and die impenitent; and unbelievers, carnal professors, and apostates; but not his own special and peculiar people, the people whom he has foreknown and loved with an everlasting love, his spiritual Israel; or, as the Targum supplies it, "his servants"; see Ps 94:14; he may seem for a while to reject them, but not in reality and for ever; as when he hides his face from them, lays his afflicting hand on them, or suffers then, to be afflicted by others, and defers his help, and does not immediately appear to their deliverance and salvation; but in reality he never rejects them from being his people, his servants, and his sons; they have always a place in his heart, and are ever under his eye and care; they continue in his covenant, and abide in his family; and though they may be cast down in their souls, and cast out by men, yet are not cast off by God, neither in youth nor old age, in time or eternity; his love is unchangeable; his purposes firm and unalterable; his counsel, covenant, oath, and promise, immutable; and they are his jewels, his portion, and inheritance; and this is a ground and reason of bearing patiently all afflictions, injuries, and reproaches; for though men cast off, God will not.
Lamentations 3:32
Ver. 32. But though he cause grief,.... As he sometimes does in his own people; by convincing them of sin, and producing in them godly sorrow, which worketh repentance unto life, not to be repented of; by correcting and chastising them for it, and by hiding his face from them; all which are grievous to them:
yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies; his mercies are many, both temporal and spiritual, and his compassion is answerable; which he shows to his people by an application of pardoning grace, through the blood of Christ, by sympathizing with them under their afflictions, and delivering from them; by granting them his gracious presence, and restoring to them the joys of his salvation; all which is not according to their merits, but his mercies.
Lamentations 3:33
Ver. 33. For he doth not afflict willingly,.... Or, "from his heart" {e}; he does afflict; for all afflictions are from God, but they do not come from the mere motion of his heart, or are the effects of his sovereign will and pleasure, as the good things he bestows upon his people do, without any respect to any cause or occasion in them; but sin is the cause and occasion of these, as Jarchi well observes: it is with reluctance the Lord afflicts his people; he is as it were forced to it, speaking after the manner of men; see Ho 11:8; he does not do it with delight and pleasure; he delights in mercy, but judgment is his strange act; nor does he do it with all his heart and soul, with all his might and strength; he does not stir up all his wrath: for then the spirit would fail before him, and the souls that he has made; and especially he does not do it out of ill will, but in love, and for their good:
nor grieve the children of men: that is, he does not from his heart, or willingly, grieve the children of men, by, afflicting them; which must be understood of those sons of men whom he has loved, and made his sons and heirs; those sons of men that wisdom's delights were with from everlasting, Pr 8:31.
{e} wblm "ex corde suo", Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin.
Lamentations 3:34
Ver. 34. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth. These words, with what follow in La 3:35; either depend upon the preceding, and are to be connected with them, "he doth not afflict", &c. La 3:33; though he lays his hand on men, he do not crush them under his feet, or break them in pieces, and utterly destroy them, even such, and all such, as are bound in affliction and iron; or, in a spiritual sense, such as are prisoners to sin, Satan, and the law, as all men by nature are; he does not crush these to pieces, though they deserve it, at least not "all" of them; for he proclaims in the Gospel liberty to the captives, and says, by the power of his grace, to the prisoners, go forth, and encourages the prisoners of hope to turn to their strong hold: and also, though he afflicts, he does no injustice to them, does not turn aside their right, or subvert their cause, Job 8:3; or rather these depend upon, and are to be connected with, the last clause of La 3:36; "the Lord approveth not": as he does not do these things himself, he do not approve of them in others; that they should use captives cruelly, trample upon them like mire in the streets, or as the dust of their feet; particularly regard may be had to the Jews in Babylon, used ill by those that detained them; for though it was by the will of God they were carried captive, yet the Chaldeans exceeded due bounds in their usage of them, and added affliction to their affliction, which the Lord approved not of, but resented, Zec 1:15.
Lamentations 3:35
Ver. 35. To turn aside the right of a man,.... The Targum is, of a poor man; not to do him justice in a court of judicature; to cause judgment to incline to the wrong side; to give the cause against a man, to give a wrong sentence; this is disapproved of by the Lord, and forbidden by him:
before the face of the most High; either before the most high God, he being present and among the gods, the judges, when they pass sentence; and yet, to pass a wrong one in his presence, without any regard to him, or fear of him, must be provoking to him: or, "before a superior" {f}, as some render it; before a judge that sits upon the bench; endeavouring by unjust charges, wrong pleas, and false witnesses, to deprive a man of his right; see Ec 5:8.
{f} Nwyle ynp dgn "coram facie superioris", Junius & Tremellius.
Lamentations 3:36
Ver. 36. To subvert a man in his cause,.... A poor man, as the Targum, which aggravates it; as by courses and methods taken in an open court, so by secret underhand ways, to get the cause from him, and injure him in his property:
the Lord approveth not; or, "seeth not" {g}; which some understand as spoken by wicked men, who do the above things, and flatter themselves that God sees not, and takes no notice of them, Eze 9:9; and others read it interrogatively, "doth not the Lord see?" {h} he does; he sees all the actions of men, nothing is hid from him; but he sees not with approbation; he do not look upon such things with delight and pleasure, but with abhorrence, Hab 1:13. The Targum is,
"is it possible that it should not be revealed before the Lord?''
{g} har al "non vidit, vel videt", Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin. {h} "Non videret?" Piscator.
Lamentations 3:37
Ver. 37. Who [is] he [that] saith, and it cometh to pass?.... Or, "who [that] says [this shall be], and it cometh to pass?" or, "who [is] he [that] saith [this shall] come to pass?" {i} this, or that, or the other thing, he wills and desires, and his heart is set upon:
[when] the Lord commandeth [it] not? has not willed and decreed it, but determined the contrary; for nothing escapes his knowledge and foreknowledge; or can resist his will; or control his power; or frustrate his councils, and counterwork his designs; whatever schemes men form to get riches, obtain honour, do mischief to others, prolong life to themselves, and perpetuate their names to posterity, being contrary to the purpose of God, never succeed; whenever they do succeed in any of the above instances, it is because God has commanded, or he has determined, it should be so; as in the instances of Joseph's brethren, in their usage of him; and of the Jews, in the crucifixion of Christ, Pr 16:9. The Targum is,
"who is the man that saith, and evil is done in the world; but because they have done what was not commanded from the mouth of the Lord?''
{i} So some in Gataker.
Lamentations 3:38
Ver. 38. Out of the mouth of the most High proceed not evil and good?] Certainly they do; they come to pass, both one and the other, as God has pronounced, and his will determined; even "evils", as it is in the plural number; not the evil of sin, or of fault; this comes not out of the mouth of God, but is forbidden and condemned by him; much less is he the author of it, or tempter to it; indeed it is not without his knowledge, nor in some sense without his will; not with his will of approbation, but by his permissive will, which he suffers to be, and overrules for good; but evils here design the judgments of God, or punishment inflicted on sinners, and chastisement on his own people; the evil of affliction, or adverse dispensations of providence,
Isa 45:7; they are all by his appointment; he has said or determined what shall be the kind and nature of them; the measure, how far they shall go; and the duration, how long they shall last; and the end and use of them; see Job 2:10; and so all good comes from God, who is goodness itself; all created good, as every creature of God is good; every good thing in providence; all temporal good things; as to have a being; to be preserved in it; to have a habitation to dwell in; to have food and raiment, health and long life; these are all by the appointment of God, and according to the determination of his will: all spiritual good things are purposed, promised, and prepared by him in council and covenant; the great good of all, salvation by Christ; this is what God has appointed his son far, and his people to, and fixed the time of it, and all things relating to it; the effectual calling of the redeemed ones is according to his purpose and grace; the persons, thing itself, time, place, and means; also eternal glory and happiness, which is the kingdom prepared, the crown laid up, and inheritance reserved in heaven, according to the purpose of God; all good things, in time and eternity, are as God has pronounced them.
Lamentations 3:39
Ver. 39. Wherefore doth a living man complain?.... Or murmur, or fret and vex, or bemoan himself; all which the word {k} may signify; as the prophet had done in his own person; or as representing the church, La 3:1; and here checks himself for it; and especially since the mercies and compassions of God never fail, and are daily renewed; and the Lord himself is the portion of his people, La 3:23; and seeing he is good to them that seek him, and it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of God, and to bear the yoke patiently, La 3:25; and because of the unwillingness of God to afflict men, and his sympathy and compassion towards them under affliction, La 3:32; and especially since all is from the sovereignty of God, who does according to his will; and from whom all good and evil come, La 3:37; he is not to be complained of, or against, for anything he does; or to be murmured at; nor should men vex and fret themselves at their own adversity, or at the prosperity of others; or bemoan themselves, as if no case was like theirs, or so bad. It does not become "a man", a reasonable creature, a man grown up, to behave in this manner; as such should quit themselves like men, and conduct as such; a "man" that God is so mindful of, and cares for, and visits every moment, and follows with his goodness continually; a "man", sinful man, that has rendered himself unworthy of the least favour; and yet such is the lovingkindness, favour, and good will of God to man, that he has provided his own Son to be his Saviour; and therefore man, of all God's creatures, has no reason to complain of him; and is a "living" man too, in a natural sense; is upheld in life by the Lord, and has the common mercies of life; is in health, or however in the land of the living; out of hell, where he deserves to be; and therefore should praise, and not complain, Isa 38:19; especially if he is a living man in a spiritual sense; has a principle of spiritual life implanted in him; Christ lives in him, and his life is hid with him in God, and has a right and title to eternal life:
a man for [the punishment] of his sins? the word "punishment" is not in the text; but, admitting the supplement, if a man is a wicked man (and so the Targum interprets it), and is punished for his sins, no injustice is done him; he has no reason to complain; and especially of his punishment in this world, which is greatly less than his sins deserve, Ezr 9:13; and if he is a good man, and is chastised for his sins, he ought not to complain "for the chastisement" of them; since it is the chastisement of a father, is in love, and for his good: but the words may be rendered literally, "a man for", or "of his sins" {l}; and be considered as a distinct clause, and as an answer to the former, so Jarchi; if a man will complain, let him complain of his sins; of the corruptions of his heart; of the body of sin and death he carries about with him of his daily iniquities; let him mourn over them, and bemoan himself for them; and if he does this in an evangelic manner, he is happy; for he shall be comforted.
{k} Nnwaty goggusei Sept. "quiritaretur", Junius & Tremellius; "taedio se confecit", Calvin; "fremet", Strigelius; "murmurabit", Cocceius. {l} wajx le rbg "unusquisque propter sua peccata [quiritatur]", Piscator; "vel contra sua peccata fremat", Strigelius.
Lamentations 3:40
Ver. 40. Let us search and try our ways,.... stead of murmuring and complaining, let us search for something that may support and comfort, teach and instruct, under afflictive providences; let us search into the love of God, which, though it cannot be fully searched out, it will be found to be from everlasting to everlasting; and that all afflictions spring from it; and that it continues notwithstanding them: let us search into the covenant of grace, in which provision is made for afflictions in case of disobedience, and for supports under them: let us search the Scriptures, which are written for our comfort; and it is much if we do not find some in the instances, examples, and experiences of other saints therein recorded: let us search after a greater degree of the knowledge of Christ, and of his grace; so shall we be more conformable to his sufferings and death, and patient under our troubles: let us search into our own hearts, and examine ourselves, whether we have true repentance for sin, true faith in Christ; and whether he is in us, or not; and we have a part in him, which will make us easy in every state: let us search into the present dispensation, in order to find out the cause of it, which is sin; and the end of it, which God has in it for our good: let us search "our ways", and "try them", by the word of God, the standard of faith and practice; and see what agreement there is between them: let us try our thoughts, words, and actions, by the law of God, which is holy, spiritual, just, and good; and we shall see how abundantly short they come of it: and let us try "our ways", and compare them with the ways of God, which he has prescribed in his word; and we shall find that the one are holy, the other unholy; the one plain, the other crooked; the one dark, the other light; the one pleasant, and peace is in them, the other not; the one lead to life, the other to death; see Isa 55:7;
and turn again to the Lord; by repentance, as the Targum adds; let us turn out of our sinful ways, upon a search and examination of them; and turn to the Lord, his ways and worship, from whom we have departed, and against whom we have sinned; acknowledging our iniquities, who receives graciously, is ready to forgive, and does abundantly pardon.
Lamentations 3:41
Ver. 41. Let us lift up our heart with [our] hands,.... Lifting up of the hands is a prayer gesture, and is put for prayer itself; see
Ps 141:2; but the heart must go along with it, or it is of no avail; the soul must be lifted up to God; there must be an ascending of that unto him, in earnest desires after him; in affection and love to him; in faith and dependence on him; and in hope and expectation of good things from him, Ps 25:1; this is the way in which men return to God, even by prayer and supplication. The Targum is,
"let us lift up our hearts, and cast away rapine and prey out of our hands;''
and Jarchi and Abendana mention a Midrash, that paraphrases it,
"let us lift up our hearts in truth to God, as a man washes his hands in purity, and casts away all filthiness from them;''
see Heb 10:22;
unto God in the heavens; who has made them, and dwells in them; and therefore prayer must be directed to him, as being there; so our Lord taught his disciples to pray, Mt 6:9; and which is a very great encouragement to faith in prayer; when it is considered that God is the Maker and possessor of heaven and earth; and that our help is in and expected from him who made all these; and besides the saints have a High Priest, an Advocate with the Father there, to plead their cause for them; and many great and good things are there laid up for them.
Lamentations 3:42
Ver. 42. We have transgressed, and have rebelled,.... Here begins the prayer, the sense of which is directed to, though the words are not dictated; and it begins with confession of sin, as prayer should, especially when in such circumstances as the people of the Jews now were; and with confession of it, as a transgression of the law of God; and as rebellion against him, as every sin is, a breach of his law, a contempt of his authority, and a trampling under foot his legislative power, and an act of hostility against him; and so downright rebellion; every sin being an overt act of that kind; and which is aggravated by the favours before acknowledged to have been received:
thou hast not pardoned; as they apprehended; they had not the discovery and application of pardoning grace and mercy; otherwise pardon of sin with God is past, and includes all sin present and future, as well as past; but temporal afflictions being upon them, they concluded their sins were not pardoned; pardon of sin in Scripture often signifying the removal of such afflictions.
Lamentations 3:43
Ver. 43. Thou hast covered with anger,.... Either himself; not as a tender father, that cannot bear to see the affliction of a child; this does not suit with anger; but rather as one greatly displeased, in whose face anger appears, being covered with it; or who covers his face with it, that he may not be seen, withdrawing his gracious presence; or hast put anger as a wall between thee and us, as Jarchi: so that there was no coming nigh to him: or else it means covering his people with it; so the Targum,
"thou hast covered "us" with anger;''
denoting the largeness and abundance of afflictions upon them; they were as it were covered with them, as tokens of the divine displeasure; one wave and billow after another passing over them. Sanctius thinks the allusion is to the covering of the faces of condemned malefactors, as a token of their being guilty:
and persecuted us; the Targum adds, in captivity; that is, pursued and followed us with fresh instances of anger and resentment; to have men to be persecutors is bad, but to have God to be a persecutor is dreadful:
thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied; had suffered them to be stain by the sword of the enemy, and had shown no compassion to them;
See Gill on "La 2:21"; here, and in some following verses, the prophet, or the people he represents, are got to complaining again; though before he had checked himself for it; so hard it is under afflictions to put in practice what should be done by ourselves and others.
Lamentations 3:44
Ver. 44. Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud,.... With wrath and anger, as a cloud; he wrapped up himself in thick darkness, so as not to be seen or come at: sin, when it appears not pardoned, is as a cloud between God and his people; and this causes him to show his anger and displeasure; which is the cloud about him, Or the hiding of his face. The Targum is,
"thou hast covered the heavens with the clouds of thy glory:''
that [our] prayer should not pass through; in such circumstances God seems to his people to be inexorable; and not a God hearing and answering prayer, as he is; as if there was no access unto him, or audience to be had of him, or acceptance of persons and prayers with him; whereas the throne of grace is always open and accessible: and there is a new and living way for believers always to approach unto God in; he is on a mercy seat, ready to receive and hear their prayers.
Lamentations 3:45
Ver. 45. Thou hast made us [as] the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. Had given them up into the hands of the Gentiles, the Chaldeans, to be treated as the dirt of the streets, as the sweepings of a house; or the dross of metal; or anything that is vile, mean, and contemptible. The apostle seems to have some reference to this passage; and his words may be an illustration of it, 1Co 4:13.
Lamentations 3:46
Ver. 46. All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. Like lions and other beasts of prey, to devour us; or in way of scorn and derision; pouring out their reproaches upon us, and scoffs at us, for our religion, and the worship of God, and on account of present miseries and distresses; see La 2:16. The Targum adds,
"to decree against us evil decrees.''
Lamentations 3:47
Ver. 47. Fear and a snare is come upon us,.... Or, "fear and a pit" {m}; the fear of failing into the pit of ruin and destruction, on the brink of which they saw themselves; or fear seized us, and caused us to flee; and a snare or pit was prepared for us to fall into; so that there was no escaping hence:
desolation and destruction; desolation or devastation of their land; and destruction of their city and temple; and of multitudes of them by the sword, famine, and pestilence; and the rest carried into captivity, excepting a few left desolate in the land.
{m} txpw dxp "pavor et fovea", Calvin, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Michaelis.
Lamentations 3:48
Ver. 48. Mine eye runneth down with rivers of waters,.... Denoting the greatness of his grief and trouble at the afflictions of his people, and the vast profusion of tears on that account. Here the prophet speaks in his own person, expressing the anguish of his soul he felt, and the floods of tears he shed:
for the destruction of the daughter of my people; for those that were slain of them, or carried captive; see Jer 9:1. The Targum is,
"for the destruction of the congregation of my people.''
Lamentations 3:49
Ver. 49. Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not,.... From weeping, as the Targum: the prophet was continually weeping; the distresses of his people were always uppermost in his mind; and which so affected him, that it drew tears from his eyes, which constantly trickled down his cheeks:
without any intermission; or, "without intermissions" {n}; there were no stops or pauses in his grief, and in the expressions of it: or it may be rendered, "because [there were] no intermissions" {o}; that is, of the miseries of his people; so Jarchi,
"because there were no changes and passing away;''
that is of evils; and to the same purpose the Targum,
"because there is none that intermits my distress, and speaks comforts to me.''
{n} twgph Nyam "a non intermissionibus", Montanus, Calvin; "sine intervallis", Cocceius. {o} "Eo quod nullae sunt intermissiones", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Tigurine version.
Lamentations 3:50
Ver. 50. Till the Lord look do: on, and behold from heaven. Disperses and dissipates the cloud that was about him; shines forth and manifests himself, and looks favourably upon his people, and delivers them out of their troubles: this the prophet was in hope of, and was waiting for; but, till it came to pass, could have no rest and comfort. The Targum is,
"till he look and behold my injury;''
as if he had regard to his own personal injury done him; but the former sense is best.
Lamentations 3:51
Ver. 51. Mine eye affecteth mine heart,.... Seeing the desolation of his country; the ruins of the city and temple of Jerusalem; and the multitudes of those that were slain, and carried captive; and the distresses the rest were in; this affected his heart, and filled it with grief; as his heart also affected his eyes, and caused them to run down in rivers of water, as before expressed; or, as the Targum,
"the weeping of mine eyes is the occasion of hurt to my soul or life;''
his excessive weeping endangered his life:
because of all the daughters of my city; not Anathoth, his native place, but Jerusalem; so the Targum,
"of Jerusalem my city.''
The meaning is, that his heart was affected at seeing the ruin of the inhabitants of Jerusalem; or of the towns and cities round about it, which that was the metropolis of. Some, as Jarchi, render it, "more than all the daughters of my city" {p}; his heart was more affected with those calamities than those of the most tender sex, even than any or all of them.
{p} yrye twnb lkm "supra cunctas filias civitatis meae"; so some in Vatablus; and Jarchi.
Lamentations 3:52
Ver. 52. Mine enemies chased me sore like a bird,.... That is weak and helpless, fearful and timorous; that flees from place to place when pursued; so it was with the prophet, or rather with the people of the Jews he represents; for here and in the following verses he speaks not only of himself, but of them; who, when they fled out of the city, were chased and pursued by the Chaldeans like a bird, till they were taken; see Jer 52:7;
without cause; which may be connected with the word "enemies", so the Targum; who were so without cause; they had done them no injury, to make them their enemies; and without reason pursued and chased them in the manner they did.
Lamentations 3:53
Ver. 53. They have cut off my life in the dungeon,.... Jarchi interprets it,
"they bound me in the prison.''
Jeremiah was both in a prison and in a dungeon, where he was deprived of the society of men, as if he had been dead; and he was in danger of losing his life; but whether any respect is had to it here is not certain: it seems rather to respect the people of the Jews in captivity, who were deprived of their rights and liberties, and of the comforts of life; and were like dead men in their graves, to whom they are compared,
Eze 37:11; but since Jeremiah was not dead, nor did he die in the dungeon, Jarchi's sense seems best, and agrees with what follows; and is confirmed by the version of others, who render it, "they shut up my life in the dungeon" {q}; or himself there:
and cast a stone upon me; to see if he was dead, or to prevent him from rising. The allusion is to the putting of stones at the mouths of dens and dungeons, caves and graves, to keep in those there put: or they stoned me, as the Targum; that is, they endeavoured to do it: or the Jews in captivity were like persons stoned to death, or like dead men covered with a heap of stones; for that Jeremiah was stoned to death there is no reason to believe.
{q} yyx rwbb wtmu "concluserunt in fovea vitam meam", Noldius, Concord. Ebr. Part. p. 141, "manciparunt fovea vitam meam", Cocceius.
Lamentations 3:54
Ver. 54. Waters flowed over mine head,.... As in a pit or dungeon, where there is not only mire and clay, but much water, into which persons being put, sink, and are covered therewith; see Ps 69:1; this is to be understood metaphorically of the waters of afflictions, which overflowed and overwhelmed the people of the Jews. Jarchi interprets it of the nations of the world, as much people are often compared to waters; and here the Chaldeans may be particularly intended, whose army overflowed the land of Judea; and, like a mighty torrent, carried away the people, and wealth of it, and brought them into troubles, which were like deep waters:
[then] I said, I am cut off; while the waters are only up to a man's loins, he does not apprehend himself in danger; but there is hope of his wading through, and getting out; but when they rise above his head, his hopes are gone; he reckons it all over with him, and that he is just perishing, and his life in the utmost danger; there being scarce any probability or possibility of saving him; so it was with these people.
Lamentations 3:55
Ver. 55. I called upon thy name, O Lord,.... As in times past, so in the present distress; when all hope was gone, and all help failed, still there was a God to go to, and call upon:
out of the low dungeon; or "dungeon of lownesses" {r}; the lowest dungeon, the deepest distress, a man or people could be in; yet then and there it is not too late to call upon the Lord; and there may be hope of deliverance out of such an estate by him.
{r} twytxt rwbm "e cisterna infimitatum", Piscator.
Lamentations 3:56
Ver. 56. Thou hast heard my voice,.... Either in times past, when he cried unto him, and was delivered; and this was an encouragement to call upon him again in such extremity, who had shown himself to be a God hearing and answering prayer; hence it follows:
hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry; turn not a deaf ear to me, who hast been wont to hear me heretofore; stop not thine ear at my cry now, at my prayer, which he calls his "breathing"; prayer is the breath of a soul regenerated by the Spirit, and is a sign and evidence of life, when it is spiritual; in it a soul pants after God, and communion with him, and salvation by him. Some render it, "at my gasping" {s}; or "panting", for breath; just ready to expire, unless immediate help is given: or else the whole of this refers to the present time, when the Lord heard and answered, not only the first clause, but this also; which may be rendered, not by way of petition, but affirmation, "thou didst not hide thine ear at my breathing, at my cry" {t}; and this agrees both with what goes before, and with what is expressed in La 3:57.
{s} ytxwrl "ad anhelitum meum", Cocceius; "ad respirationem meam", Pagnius, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {t} Mlet la "non avertisti", Grotius.
Lamentations 3:57
Ver. 57. Thou drewest near in the day [that] I called upon thee,.... When persons draw nigh to God in a way of duty, and particularly in this of prayer, and calling on his name; he draws nigh to them in a way of grace and mercy, and manifests himself to them, and works salvation for them. The Targum is,
"thou didst cause an angel to draw near to deliver me in the day that I prayed unto thee:''
thou saidst, fear not; any of thine enemies; or that thou shouldest not be delivered from them; see Isa 41:10.
Lamentations 3:58
Ver. 58. O Lord, thou hast pleaded the cause of my soul,.... Or, causes of "my soul", or "life" {u}; such as concerned his soul and life: not one only, but many of them; and this respects not Jeremiah only, and the Lord's pleading his cause against Zedekiah and his nobles; but the people of the Jews in former times, when in Egypt, and in the times of the judges:
thou hast redeemed my life; by delivering out of the pit and dungeon, where it was in danger; and not only him, but the whole body of the people of old out of Egypt, and out of the hands of their enemies, the Philistines and others.
{u} yvpn ybyr "causas animaa meae", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Lamentations 3:59
Ver. 59. O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong,.... Or, "my perverseness" {w}; not that he or they had been guilty of; but the wrong that was done to him and them by their enemies; how perverse and ill natured they had been to them; how badly they had used them; what injuries they had done them; none of which escaped the omniscience of God, to which the appeal is made; and upon this follows a petition:
judge thou my cause; the present one; as thou hast pleaded and judged many already, do me justice, right my wrongs, an, save me from mine enemies; and let it appear to all the world my cause is just, and they are in the wrong.
{w} yttwe "perversitatem", Pagninus, Montanus; "quae exercetur, vel exercebatur in me", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Lamentations 3:60
Ver. 60. Thou hast seen all their vengeance,.... The spirit of revenge in them; their wrath and fury, and how they burn with a desire of doing mischief; as well as their revengeful actions, carriage, and behaviour:
[and] all their imaginations against me; their secret contrivances of mischief, their plots and schemes they devise to do hurt unto me.
Lamentations 3:61
Ver. 61. Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord,.... Their reproachful words uttered against the prophet and his people, against God himself; their spiteful language, their taunts, and scoffs and jeers:
[and] all their imaginations against me; those he not only saw, as they appeared in their actions; but heard them, as they were expressed by their words; yea, they were manifest to him, while they only were in silent thought forming in the mind.
Lamentations 3:62
Ver. 62. The lips of those that rose up against me,.... This is to be connected with the preceding words; and expresses the same thing in different language. The sense is, that the Lord heard the words which dropped from the lips of his enemies; their sarcasms, flouts, and jeers; their bitter reflections, severe invectives, and scornful language:
and their device against me all the day; or, "their meditation of ill against me"; or, "their speech", or discourse {x}; which all turned upon the same topic. Schultens {y} derives the word from the Arabic word which signifies to mock and scoff, or pursue anyone with ironical and satirical expressions; and so may intend here contumelious and reproachful language.
{x} Mnwygh "meditationem istorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "loquelam eorum", Michaelis. {y} Animadv. Philol. p. 436. "maledixit verborum contumelia insectatus fuit, peculiariter carmine seu satyra, et subsannavit, vituperavit", Golius, col. 2515.
Lamentations 3:63
Ver. 63. Behold their sitting down, and their rising up,.... All their actions; the whole course of their lives; all which fell under the divine omniscience, Ps 139:2; but that is not barely here meant; but that he would take particular notice hereof, and punish for the same. It may have respect both to their lying down at night, and rising in the morning; and to their sitting down at meals, and rising from them; at which times they were always meditating mischief against the people of God, or speaking opprobriously of them; when they made sport of them, as follows:
I [am] their music; or "music maker" {z}; as Samson was to the Philistines; the matter of their mirth; the subject of their song; and the object of their derision.
{z} Mtnygnm "musicus", Gataker.
Lamentations 3:64
Ver. 64. Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render this, and the following verses, not as petitions, but as prophecies of what should be; but they seem rather to be expressed by way of request; and here, that God would deal with them according to the law of retaliation, and requite them according to what they had done; that he would do to them as they had done to the Lord's people, and others; and this is ordered to be done particularly to the Chaldeans, or Babylonians,
Jer 50:15.
Lamentations 3:65
Ver. 65. Give them sorrow of heart,.... That which will cause sorrow of heart; such judgments and punishments as will be grievous to them. Some have observed a likeness between the word here used and that translated "music", La 3:63; and think some respect may be had to it; that whereas the people of God had been matter of mirth and music to them, God would give them music, but of another sort; a song, but a doleful one. The Septuagint version renders it, "a covering of the heart"; the word {a} having the signification of a shield, which covers; and may signify blindness, hardness, and stupidity of heart, that they might not see the evils coming upon them, and how to escape them. A modern learned interpreter, Christianus Benedictus Michaelis, would have it compared with the Arabic word , "ganan", which signifies "to be mad", and from whence is "muganah", "madness"; and so the sense be, give them distraction of mind:
lay curse unto them: and what greater curse is there than to be given up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart, or to madness and distraction? it may include all the curses of the law denounced against transgressors.
{a} bl tngm uperaspismon kardiav, "tegumentum cordis", Montanus, Vatablus; "obtegumentum cordis", Stockius, p. 199. so Ben Melech; "scutum cordis", V. L. "clypeum cordis", Munster.
Lamentations 3:66
Ver. 66. Persecute and destroy them in anger,.... As they have persecuted the people of God, do thou persecute them; and never leave pursuing them untie thou hast made a full end of them, as the effect of vindictive wrath and vengeance:
from under the heavens of the Lord; which are made by him, and in which he dwells; let them not have the benefit of them, nor so much as the sight of them; but let them perish from under them, Jer 10:11.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
The prophet relates the more gloomy and
discouraging part of his experience, and how he found support and
relief. In the time of his trial the Lord had become terrible to him. It
was an affliction that was misery itself; for sin makes the cup of
affliction a bitter cup. The struggle between unbelief and faith is
often very severe. But the weakest believer is wrong, if he thinks
that his strength and hope are perished from the Lord. WHBC 801.2
The prophet relates the more gloomy and
discouraging part of his experience, and how he found support and
relief. In the time of his trial the Lord had become terrible to him.
But the weakest believer is wrong, if he thinks
that his strength and hope are perished from the Lord. WHBC 801.2
Sources: Matthew Henry; Gill's Exposition; Matthew Henry Concise
Commentary
Commentary