Lamentations 3

Lamentations 3 is a deeply personal lament that expresses the suffering of an individual (possibly the prophet Jeremiah) who represents the nation of Israel during the devastation of Jerusalem. The chapter reflects the anguish, struggle with faith, and ultimate hope in God's mercy. It moves from a focus on personal suffering and despair to a reaffirmation of God's compassion and faithfulness, despite the trials Israel faces. The chapter offers a progression from sorrow to trust in God’s character, showing that even amid severe affliction, hope remains in God's steadfast love.

Lamentations 3:1-10 (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.

The speaker begins with an intense expression of personal suffering, describing his experience as one afflicted by God’s anger. Darkness, isolation, and bitterness surround him, symbolizing the sense of separation from God's favor. The repeated imagery of restraint and confinement — heavy chains, blocked paths, and ambush by fierce animals — conveys a feeling of being trapped without escape. This portrays Israel’s despair during Jerusalem's fall, where prayers seem unheard and God appears as an adversary rather than a source of help.

Lamentations 3:11-20 (NKJV)
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.

The imagery shifts to one of humiliation and agony. The speaker feels attacked by God, as if God were an enemy using arrows to wound him. Mocked by his own people, he is subjected to bitterness and grief symbolized by “wormwood,” a bitter plant. Despair overwhelms him as he feels separated from peace and hope. The passage reflects a deep sorrow and bitterness of spirit, with memories of suffering continually bringing his soul to sorrow.

Lamentations 3:21-30 (NKJV)
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.

Despite intense despair, the speaker finds hope in God’s unending mercy and faithfulness, which renew each day. He recalls that even in suffering, God's compassion remains. Trust in God becomes a “portion,” or spiritual sustenance, affirming that waiting for God’s help has value. The speaker encourages silent endurance and humility, seeing suffering as a means of growth and a pathway to hope. Accepting hardship quietly and even with humility is seen as a way to maintain faith and anticipate deliverance.

Lamentations 3:31-40 (NKJV)
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.
37 Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe and well-being proceed?
39 Why should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord.

The tone shifts toward God’s ultimate compassion and justice. While God allows suffering, it is never without purpose, nor does He delight in causing pain. The text urges reflection on personal actions, recognizing that afflictions often stem from human choices. There is a call to self-examination, repentance, and trust that God’s judgments are balanced with mercy, encouraging the people to turn back to God as a source of lasting hope and restoration.

Lamentations 3:41-54 (NKJV)
41 Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven.
42 We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned.
43 You have covered Yourself with anger and pursued us; You have slain and not pitied.
44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud, that prayer should not pass through.
45 You have made us an offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.
46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
47 Fear and a snare have come upon us, desolation and destruction.
48 My eyes overflow with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 My eyes flow and do not cease, without interruption,
50 Till the Lord from heaven looks down and sees.
51 My eyes bring suffering to my soul because of all the daughters of my city.
52 My enemies without cause hunted me down like a bird.
53 They silenced my life in the pit and threw stones at me.
54 The waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!”

The speaker confesses the nation’s sins and acknowledges God’s anger as a result of their rebellion. He describes a feeling of abandonment, where God seems unapproachable, symbolized by a cloud blocking prayer. The sorrow and destruction Israel faces are overwhelming, filling the speaker with tears for the suffering of his people. The passage depicts intense grief over Israel’s downfall and the unrelenting pursuit by enemies, adding to the sense of despair and isolation as they endure trials without relief.

Lamentations 3:55-66 (NKJV)
55 I called on Your name, O Lord, from the lowest pit.
56 You have heard my voice: “Do not hide Your ear from my sighing, from my cry for help.”
57 You drew near on the day I called on You, and said, “Do not fear!”
58 O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life.
59 O Lord, You have seen how I am wronged; Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance, all their schemes against me.
61 You have heard their reproach, O Lord, all their schemes against me,
62 The lips of my enemies and their whispering against me all the day.
63 Look at their sitting down and their rising up; I am their taunting song.
64 Repay them, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.
65 Give them a veiled heart; Your curse be upon them!
66 In Your anger, pursue and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord.

In the closing verses, the speaker shifts to a prayer for deliverance. Recalling God’s past responses to his pleas, he remembers moments when God brought comfort and assured him not to fear. Acknowledging God’s justice, he petitions for divine intervention against his oppressors, seeking vindication. The desire for God’s judgment upon his enemies underscores the speaker’s hope in God as both a redeemer and a just judge who will ultimately rectify wrongs. The chapter concludes with a balance of trust in God's deliverance and a plea for His righteous judgment against those who have inflicted suffering.