This third poem is different from others in its structure. In it we find one of the most well-known passages of Scripture, perhaps better-known as a hymn by Thomas Chisholm around one hundred years ago but still sung today. I have to admit that prior to doing this study (walk through), I think that chapter 3 was the only one I had read and remembered. We will have to wait until we get to the best-known bits.
“I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. He has led me and made me walk in darkness and not in light.
Surely He has turned His hand against me time and time again throughout the day. He has aged my flesh and my skin, and broken my bones. He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and woe. He has set me in dark places Like the dead of long ago.
He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; He has made my chain heavy. Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer.
He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.” (v1-9)
In the previous two chapters Jeremiah had spoken mainly as Jerusalem, now he writes as an individual, but he was speaking for others who come to realise that they were suffering affliction because of God’s wrath on their rebellion.
Jeremiah’s lament is personal, and when a nation suffers, individuals suffer. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all which is hard because it seemed that God had led him into and caused him to walk in darkness. When in that situation it is usual to feel that God is your enemy, and His hand is turned against us.
The lament goes on to describe how the affliction against a nation is also personal. A nation is made up of people, and it is usually the people who suffer individually. Jeremiah felt that God’s hand was against him, that God had besieged him surrounding him with bitterness and woe, and He had hedged him in. One writer said that this was a picture of cruel imprisonment, a popular type of torture by the Assyrians. There is the picture of a prisoner with a chain on his foot and dragging the ball attached to it, so heavy he can hardly move.
One of the worst experiences was that God shutout their prayers. It is one thing to be punished by God for our wrongs, but to close His ears to our prayers is even worse. We have no one else to cry out to.
“He has been to me a bear lying in wait, like a lion in ambush. He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate. He has bent His bow and set me up as a target for the arrow. He has caused the arrows of His quiver to pierce my loins.
I have become the ridicule of all my people—Their taunting song all the day. He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drink wormwood. He has also broken my teeth with gravel, and covered me with ashes.
You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity.
And I said, “My strength and my hope have perished from the LORD.” (v10-18)
Jeremiah lists the ways in which God seemed opposed to him, like a bear and a lion, lying in wait to ambush him. He felt as though God used him as a target for His arrows. He became the ridicule of his own people as they sang taunting songs to him. He was filled with bitterness, covered with ashes, and made to drink wormwood (highly aromatic herb but incredibly bitter and can be toxic if consumed in large quantities. In the Bible it appears symbolically to represent bitterness, sorrow, divine judgment, and the painful consequences of sin or idolatry). His teeth were broken with gravel. Jeremiah is in despair and feels like he has been targeted by God. He has no peace and his strength and hope have been taken away by God. One writer suggests that the gravel refers to the type of bread made from the sweepings of the granary floor that Jeremiah must have received.
“Remember my affliction and roaming, the wormwood and the gall. My soul still remembers and sinks within me.” (v19,20)
Jeremiah didn’t pretend it wasn’t there; he remembered his affliction and the sinking of his soul. On commentator says that, knowing it was from God, he humbled himself so that he could build on a true foundation.
Now we come to the part this is most often repeated. It is reminiscent of the book of Job with the suffering and then Job’s exclamation in 19:25,26.
Jeremiah has been ready to admit that the oppression has been from God and was deserved and then, without further thought, he said –
“This I recall to my mind; Therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. (v21,23)
Jeremiah’s tone changes from despair to hope. Having sunk so low, his mind is taken to something which can give him hope. One commentator refers to this as a magnificent expression of faith in the unfailing mercies of God and a look into the distant future with renewed hope.
Maybe he had forgotten the goodness of God amid all the suffering and problems. He then exclaimed, “This I recall to mind….” It was something he had known before and now, despite having forgotten or at least overlooked, he remembered that God had been good and faithful and unfailing in His mercy. If God hadn’t been they would have been totally consumed. They are definitely down but even more defiantly not out. There was still a remnant with a promise of restoration. With God there is always hope. From these verses, we know that, even in the darkest times, God is faithful and will not cast off His people forever. Every day, every morning, God shows His mercy and compassion.
The Old Testament scholar and theologian Dale Ralph Davis asserts that the greatest enemy of faith isforgetfulness. He argues that believers easily suffer from spiritual amnesia, allowing the distractions and hardships of life to cause them to forget God’s mighty works and past faithfulness.
Jeremiah got his comfort seeming to say that even though his case was bad, it might have been worse, he might have been consumed which he would have been but for the Lord’s compassion and mercy.
God’s compassions never fail. He is just and what he does is always right. He hates sin and rightly punishes it, but He is also full of compassion, and they never fail. They are new every morning. That does not mean that yesterday’s were not sufficient. They are always new and sufficient for each day. Every day can be different, but God’s mercies are new.
The steadfast love (great love) of the Lord never ceases (v 21 ESV). God never stopped loving Israel even though He disciplined them. In Hebrew, the word love encompasses elements of mercy, grace, goodness, forgiveness, compassion and faithfulness. As I said at the end of chapter 2, we know from history that it was God’s great love that spared them from being completely wiped out by Babylon.
The people knew that God is a God of love, and maybe, they thought they could do as they liked and God would run after them in love. We too, can be guilty of this, but we must remember that God is a just God, and He will punish our sins. He does does not go back on His word.
God is the God of justice, mercy and grace. Justice is getting what we deserve, mercy is not getting what we deserve, grace is getting what we don’t deserve. Very much like those who I have worked with in court and latterly in prison. Justice is what they deserve, their counsel asks the court for mercy so that they get a lesser sentence, but grace doesn’t often appear in court. Grace is something we usually only get from God. None of us deserve salvation and forgiveness of our sins.
God’s unfailing compassion or mercy shows His tender love, mercy or pity. The Lord has pity on His suffering children, what’s more, His compassion, tender love, mercy or pity are new every morning.
Then comes the well-known phrase – Great is Your faithfulness. Perhaps made memorable by Thomas Chisholm in his famous hymn. My wife and I had it as one of hymns at our wedding nearly sixty years ago. Even in all the catastrophe, when everything seemed to be in ruins, there seemed to be no way out, Jeremiah remembered that God was faithful in His mercies and compassion, and He wouldn’t let them down, there would be restoration. Jeremiah even addressed God personally.
God is unchanging and this can be seen in His mercies toward Israel. He had made a covenant with Abraham which would be kept through his descendants. Every day which dawned demonstrated God’s grace. God’s mercies come to us in many different ways, they are new every morning, they never end, and they are always available to us.
There are other verses about the faithfulness of God, here are just a couple – “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). “He who promised, is faithful.” (Hebrews10:23).
Even though we often sin there is forgiveness through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are not consumed. This is the fullest expression of God’s love and mercy and faithfulness.
As I am writing this, my dear wife is seriously poorly, but as our great friend Ray Tate said to us, whatever our situation we are always winners. We either receive healing from Him, but if not, we have a home in heaven, which Paul says, is far better.
God is faithful and on Him we can rely. He is the same yesterday, today and for ever.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I 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 hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” (v24-26)
What a change in Jeremiah now that he has remembered who God is. Words of a satisfied soul. He needs no more; the Lord is his portion. Even if a portion is not the whole, he is satisfied with the portion he has. Because the Lord is his portion, he has hope, and his hope is in Him.
Another commentator David Guzik says, The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him: All the misery of God’s people had come because they would not truly seek God and wait for Him. They rejected and rebelled for generations, then looked to others for rescue. Seeking Him again would bring renewed expressions of His goodness. It is good that he should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD: Everything previous in Lamentations was deep in despair, and the misery was by no means over. Yet these flashes of light are welcome and necessary. Against all the despair, Jeremiah proclaimed to himself and all others the goodness of hope and patient seeking of God.
“It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and keep silent, because God has laid it on him;
Let him put his mouth in the dust— There may yet be hope.” (27-29)
Commentators seem to agree that this indicates that it is better for a young person to have and to learn from the seasons of adversity as this trains us for the future. The youth have more vigour to withstand it, although it could break them; the Bible, however, makes it clear that training given in youth will be useful for later years. “Early habits, when good, are invaluable. Early discipline is equally so. He who has not got under wholesome restraint in youth will never make a useful man, a good man, nor a happy man.”
We come to an interesting phrase – “Let him sit alone and keep silent”. One has said that under adversity it is better not to try and figure everything out right away. They are times for reflection and listening. In patient seeking of God gives reason for hope. “Silence implies both an acceptance of God’s will and a refusal to complain to men.”
“Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, and be full of reproach. For the Lord will not cast off forever.
Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion According to the multitude of His mercies.
For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. To crush under one’s feet all the prisoners of the earth, to turn aside the justice due a man Before the face of the Most High, or subvert a man in his cause — The Lord does not approve.” (v30-36)
I understand that Jeremiah says this in the context of enduring suffering with patience. Offering the cheek to the one who strikes him is an indication of surrender. I’m sure you will recall that Jesus gave his cheek to the striker (Matthew 26:67,68, Luke 22:64).
To be full of reproach in our day means to express disappointment, disapproval, or mild criticism for what someone has or has not done. So, while the striking of one’s cheek might be disapproved of it also shows disappointment that someone had to resort to that. Hopefully the person doing the striking would be ashamed.
The suffering would not last for ever and God promised to show compassion and display His mercy. It does not please God to punish, His discipline is not unfair, it is due to His justice. He disciplines us for our good, to save us and change us.
“Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe and well-being proceed? Why should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?” (v37-39)
Let us remember that God is in control, but we see here that God does not bring evil upon humanity, but He allows it, usually for our good, to bring good out of it. There are many examples of this in the bible, Joseph, David, Job etc., but we thank God that they recognised that He was with them and good came out of it. We can thank God and say, “You were their confidence and hope, and we can be fully assured that You will be ours.”
One writer says, “We may complain against God and His sovereignty, but that is profitless and ungrateful. The living man should be grateful he still has life and recognize there is some justice in the punishment of his sins.”
“Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD; Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven. We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned. You have covered Yourself with anger and pursued us; You have slain and not pitied. You have covered Yourself with a cloud, that prayer should not pass through.
You have made us an offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples. All our enemies Have opened their mouths against us. Fear and a snare have come upon us, desolation and destruction.” (v40-47)
Here we have a plea from the prophet to turn back to LORD. To do this we need to examine our ways. We must do this in humility. It is not a casual approach, but our sins need to be searched out and confessed. This in itself is not sufficient; all self-searching in itself does little good, but when it is done in sincerity and there is a turning back to the LORD, in complete commitment, then a change takes place. We must turn away from sin and to the LORD. Paul writing to the Thessalonians (1:1:9) said that they had turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. It describes a decisive, total life reorientation where a person abandons false or lesser things to dedicate their life to the one, true God.
Because they had not truly repented of their sin of rebellion, the prophet said that God was not hearing their prayer, and they were left in ruin and desolation. Thus, it was vital that they came to God confessing their sins. Their enemies were considering them a laughingstock and were holding them in derision.
“My eyes overflow with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. My eyes flow and do not cease, without interruption, till the LORD from heaven Looks down and sees. My eyes bring suffering to my soul
because of all the daughters of my city.” (v48-51)
As we saw in chapter 2:18 Jeremiah talks about tears flowing like rivers. He prayed in the previous chapter that Jerusalem would weep, here he fulfils that and his tears overflow like rivers of water for the destruction of his people. These are genuine tears which do not cease until God sees.
“My enemies without cause hunted me down like a bird. They silenced my life in the pit and threw stones at me.
The waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!” I called on Your name, O LORD, from the lowest pit. You have heard my voice: “Do not hide Your ear from my sighing, from my cry for help.” (v52-56)
The prophet continued to speak to the LORD about his enemies that they hunted him down and he felt overwhelmed like a bird in a trap, like he was drowning in a pit, waters flowing over his head. He prayed to the LORD for help; there was nowhere else he could turn to. “I called on Your name from the lowest pit.” They were in deep misery.
Even from the lowest pit Jeremiah knew that he could call on the LORD and that his cry would be heard. We might be very eloquent in our praying, but Jeremiah simply says that he is sighing, almost whispering his cry for help.
The hymn writer James Montgomery captured this in his words –
Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire
Uttered or unexpressed
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast
Prayer is the burden of a sigh
The falling of a tear
The upward glancing of an eye
When none but God is near
Other phrases like – Prayer is the simplest form of speech; the Christian’s vital breath; Lord teach us how to pray.
“A mother listens for the breathing of her babe in the dark. It will tell her so much. The soft, measured breath, or the labouring, gasping breath. God never hides His ear from our breathing; or from those in-articulate cries, which express, as words could not do, the deep anguish and yearning of the heart. If you cannot speak, cry, sob, or groan, then be still. God can interpret all.” (F.B.Meyer)
The prophet continues with some assurance – “You drew near on the day I called on You, And said, “Do not fear!”
O LORD, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life.
O LORD, You have seen how I am wronged; Judge my case.
You have seen all their vengeance, All their schemes against me.
You have heard their reproach, O LORD, All their schemes against me, The lips of my enemies And their whispering against me all the day. Look at their sitting down and their rising up; I am their taunting song.” (v57-63)
He was confident that God heard his prayer, drew near and answered. What greater words could we have, when God says, “Do not fear”. What is more, he knew that God pleaded his case for him. How his attitude has changed during this chapter. He felt that God was against him earlier, but now he is sure that He is for him.
Jeremiah acknowledges that their deliverance comes from God and not from man. Six times in these few verses he says that it is ‘You LORD’. His confidence was in God the Righteous Judge as he tells God, as if God needed to be told, of the wickedness and vengeance of those against him, even their taunting song.
He leaves the vengeance to God, where it rightly belongs –
“Repay them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. Give them a veiled heart; Your curse be upon them!
In Your anger, Pursue and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD.” (v64-66)
In covenant, God had said that Israel would be cursed if they disobeyed and rejected Him (Deuteronomy 27,28). This happened in Jeremiah’s day, and now Jeremiah prayed that God would repay their enemies. Israel had faced the anger of God, now Jeremiah prayed that God would vent His anger on their enemies. God had said that whoever cursed Israel would be cursed by Him, but this was God’s cursing of Israel for their rebellion.
Jeremiah’s lament (prayer) reminds me very much of the prayer of Daniel particularly in chapter 9:4-19.
And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day; to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly!” Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
Society is in a mess all around us. How we need to come before The Lord in repentance and faith.
