Lamentations 3

Lamentations 3

Great Is Your Faithfulness

  I am the man who has seen affliction
    under the rod of his wrath;
  he has driven and brought me
    into darkness without any light;
  surely against me he turns his hand
    again and again the whole day long.
  He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
    he has broken my bones;
  he has besieged and enveloped me
    with bitterness and tribulation;
  he has made me dwell in darkness
    like the dead of long ago.
  He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
    he has made my chains heavy;
  though I call and cry for help,
    he shuts out my prayer;
  he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
    he has made my paths crooked.
  He is a bear lying in wait for me,
    a lion in hiding;
  he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces;
    he has made me desolate;
  he bent his bow and set me
    as a target for his arrow.
  He drove into my kidneys
    the arrows of his quiver;
  I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
    the object of their taunts all day long.
  He has filled me with bitterness;
    he has sated me with wormwood.
  He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
    and made me cower in ashes;
  my soul is bereft of peace;
    I have forgotten what happiness is;
  so I say, “My endurance has perished;
    so has my hope from the LORD.”
  Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
    the wormwood and the gall!
  My soul continually remembers it
    and is bowed down within me.
  But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:
  The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
  they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
  “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”
  The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him.
  It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the LORD.
  It is good for a man that he bear
    the yoke in his youth.
  Let him sit alone in silence
    when it is laid on him;
  let him put his mouth in the dust—
    there may yet be hope;
  let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
    and let him be filled with insults.
  For the Lord will not
    cast off forever,
  but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
    according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
  for he does not afflict from his heart
    or grieve the children of men.
  To crush underfoot
    all the prisoners of the earth,
  to deny a man justice
    in the presence of the Most High,
  to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
    the Lord does not approve.
  Who has spoken and it came to pass,
    unless the Lord has commanded it?
  Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
    that good and bad come?
  Why should a living man complain,
    a man, about the punishment of his sins?
  Let us test and examine our ways,
    and return to the LORD!
  Let us lift up our hearts and hands
    to God in heaven:
  “We have transgressed and rebelled,
    and you have not forgiven.
  “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
    killing without pity;
  you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
    so that no prayer can pass through.
  You have made us scum and garbage
    among the peoples.
  “All our enemies
    open their mouths against us;
  panic and pitfall have come upon us,
    devastation and destruction;
  my eyes flow with rivers of tears
    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
  “My eyes will flow without ceasing,
    without respite,
  until the LORD from heaven
    looks down and sees;
  my eyes cause me grief
    at the fate of all the daughters of my city.
  “I have been hunted like a bird
    by those who were my enemies without cause;
  they flung me alive into the pit
    and cast stones on me;
  water closed over my head;
    I said, ‘I am lost.’
  “I called on your name, O LORD,
    from the depths of the pit;
  you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
    your ear to my cry for help!’
  You came near when I called on you;
    you said, ‘Do not fear!’
  “You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
    you have redeemed my life.
  You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD;
    judge my cause.
  You have seen all their vengeance,
    all their plots against me.
  “You have heard their taunts, O LORD,
    all their plots against me.
  The lips and thoughts of my assailants
    are against me all the day long.
  Behold their sitting and their rising;
    I am the object of their taunts.
  “You will repay them, O LORD,
    according to the work of their hands.
  You will give them dullness of heart;
    your curse will be on them.
  You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
    from under your heavens, O LORD.”

(ESV)


Lamentations 3 Commentary

by Brad Boyles

The first 20 verses of Lamentations 3 recall the conditions that God has allowed to take place which has brought immense grief to Jeremiah’s heart. He is a great lion waiting to ambush. He has allowed mockery to take place personally with Jeremiah. He has even denied his prayers (Jer 11:14; Jer 14:11).

But in verse 21, the mood changes. What is it that changes the tone of his heart?

Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: 22 The LORD’s unfailing love and mercy still continue, 23 Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.

Lamentations 3:21-23 GNB

Hope returns when we reflect on the faithfulness of God. Today, this is truer than ever. No matter what we face in this life, we have the assurance of Christ’s work on the cross. Even when loved ones are taken by death, we can find peace knowing that God has been faithful to provide a way for them into His Kingdom.  His love and mercy are endless.

The LORD is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.

Lamentations 3:24 GNB

This reminds me of when Peter responds to Jesus, “where would we go… ?”

So he asked the twelve disciples, “And you—would you also like to leave?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.

John 6:67-68 GNB

Jeremiah continues the chapter with solid advice for anyone currently under persecution or sorrow.

The Lord is merciful and will not reject us forever. 32 He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong. 33 He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain.

Lamentations 3:31-33 GNB

His love is sure and strong. Do you believe that today? Do you really trust that though He allows pain, his love is bigger and stronger than we could ever imagine? There is no wrong, no hurt, and no calamity that occurs outside of His Mighty Hand. Are you moving forward trusting in this promise today?

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