A Christian's Guide to Studying and Applying the Old Testament
Text: Lamentations 3:1-36 (NKJV)
1 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
2 He has led me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
3 Surely He has turned His hand against me
Time and time again throughout the day.
4 He has aged my flesh and my skin,
And broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me
And surrounded me with bitterness and woe.
6 He has set me in dark places
Like the dead of long ago.
7 He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;
He has made my chain heavy.
8 Even when I cry and shout,
He shuts out my prayer.
9 He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10 He has been to me a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in ambush.
11 He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12 He has bent His bow
And set me up as a target for the arrow.
13 He has caused the arrows of His quiver
To pierce my loins.
14 I have become the ridicule of all my people—
Their taunting song all the day.
15 He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink wormwood.
16 He has also broken my teeth with gravel,
And covered me with ashes.
17 You have moved my soul far from peace;
I have forgotten prosperity.
18 And I said, “My strength and my hope
Have perished from the LORD.”
19 Remember my affliction and roaming,
The wormwood and the gall.
20 My soul still remembers
And sinks within me.
21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
22 Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”
25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the LORD.
27 It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him;
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust—
There may yet be hope.
30 Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.
31 For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32 Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
33 For He does not afflict willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.
34 To crush under one’s feet
All the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the justice due a man
Before the face of the Most High,
36 Or subvert a man in his cause—
The Lord does not approve.
Devotional Thoughts and Commentary:
The first thing that we need to understand in this chapter about hope that exists amidst all of this doom and gloom is that it really has little to nothing to do with the people of Jerusalem but has everything to do with God. Remember that this punishment is administered by a good, righteous God on a rebellious, sinful people.
The lament continues early in the chapter. Verses 1-18 remind us of how bad things were; however, verse 7 really hits at the depth of it. I don't know about you, but the worst feeling for me is that of hopelessness. When I was in the Army, there was no escape. You don't like your job, so you quit. Oh, you might feel a little captive to supporting your lifestyle, but you can just quit. Not so for me when I was in the Army. Call it a little too much job security, if you will. You find yourself trapped. There is no out. That is the feeling of the prophet and the inhabitants of Jerusalem here. Notice though that it is God who trapped them in this dire situation. Now, you might be thinking- "Ok, all the punishment- I get. But now He is just being cruel, toying with these people like a cat with a mouse." I think, however, that in the context of what has happened this is not the case; in fact, I believe that this verse is essential to us understanding the concept of hope here.
Ah ha! I now have you totally confused. Let's break it down though. The people of Judah found themselves in this situation because they trusted in their "lovers" (chapter 1) and their gods to protect them, rather than the one true God. Israel then tried to free herself from the situation, struggling against the Babylonians like the 105-lb. band kid forced to wrestled the 165-lb. wrestler in PE. They were pinned with no human hope of successful escape. Really, what was the problem through all of this? Israel failed to remember that God was their hope and shield. Who needs the support of the Egyptian military (ironic a bit if know much about the Old Testament) when you have the Almighty God who simply speaks the destruction of your enemies and they are gone? At every interval in Israel's history prior to this, they should have seen the hand of God guiding and protecting them. Still, they ignored that and did not trust in Him. By firmly trapping the people of Judah in an intractable situation, God was able to show Himself mighty to His people and remind them of their reliance on Him. The pattern of the Hebrew people is that they turn from God, experience judgment at the hands of their neighbors, turn back to God, and He takes them back in to restore them to their former glory. What a forgiving God He is! This most troubling situation (trapped with no way out) was really a sign of God's coming intervention for His people.
Now, let's look at verses 20-21. Referencing back to verse 18, Jeremiah recalls that His hope is in the Lord and so his soul bows deferentially to God. This is the product that God was looking for in His people. "Therefore" in verse 21 appropriately renders this strongly inferential statement, teaching us that because God alone can help, I have hope.
Verses 22 and 23 are the pivot point of the book and are the most well known from it. In the midst of this turmoil and despair, we see that God is compassionate and faithful. This may seem contradictory, but it is not. God is a fair judge, so He will execute such upon sinners; however, He is a loving and merciful God, so He wants to forgive and save.
Verse 26 is a spot in which the Christian must be careful. Far too often, this verse is pirated from its actual meaning to support a separate, New Testament idea. The salvation referenced here is not one of eternal salvation, rather is is rescue from trial. In the midst of these trials, the prophet encouraged the people of Judah to seek God patiently (verse 25) and to hope and wait quietly (verse 26) for God to rescue them. Our avenue to eternal salvation is not simply sitting around waiting quietly (nor is it working hard for it); rather, it is solely through faith by the grace of Jesus Christ. This selection understood in its immediate context is based on God's faithfulness. Basically, He is faithful, so they needed to turn to Him and wait (rather than trusting in our own strength or that of "friends" as got them into this mess).
Verse 32 is a powerful verse from a theological perspective, because we see the balance of God's attributes. In people, we have many characteristics that make us up, but we are very imbalanced. As I referenced earlier, God is a fair judge who therefore must pronounce harsh judgment, but He is loving and compassionate. Here we see the balanced mix of the two seemingly exclusionary characteristics.
The last thing that I want to point out is that God does not execute this judgment like humans often do. Verse 33 literally renders "from the heart." In other words, He takes no joy in it. From a New Testament reference (2 Peter 3:9), we know that He wishes everyone to know Him and have eternal life, wishing no one to experience spiritual death.
Applications:
Trust in God, because He is compassionate and faithful. He is the object of our hope. As New Testament Christians, we understand that this hope is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ who gives us the firm hope of eternal life.
Trust in God patiently through trials and afflictions. Seek Him through prayer and Bible study, and then trust that He will work things out best for His kingdom. Remember that He loves and cares for you.
Praise God for His compassion, faithfulness, patience, and mercy. He could certainly cause everyone to cease their existence in a nanosecond and do so justly, but He does not. Thank you Lord!
Other Studies from Lamentations
this is a good post to bookmark for those days when things are really going badly. it's easy to agree that God is in control when things are going well. i personally need reminders when i can't seem to catch a break.
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