Lamentations 3:26 Ulasan

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 (v. 1-20). II. Words of comfort to God's people when they are in trouble and distress (v. 21-36). III. Duty prescribed in this afflicted state (Lam 3:37-41). IV. The complaint renewed (Lam 3:42-54). 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 (Lam 3:55-66). 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 (Mat 16:14) and to him many of the passages here may be applied.

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, Lam 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, Lam 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, Lam 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, Lam 3:42; and then the prophet expresses his sympathy with his people under affliction, and declares what he himself met with from his enemies, Lam 3:48; and relates bow he called upon the Lord, and he heard and delivered him, Lam 3:55; and concludes with a request that he would judge his cause, and avenge him on enemies, Lam 3:59.

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", Rom 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) "et expectet et silens", Pagninus, Montanus; "qui et expectat et silet", Piscator. (a) "Bonus ergo et expectabit et silens erit", Schmidt.

Up then, I beseech you, let us fight for the Lord’s sheep. Their Lord is near. He will certainly appear and scatter the wolves and glorify the shepherds. “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.” Let us not murmur at the storm that has arisen, for the Lord of all knows what is good for us. Wherefore also when the apostle asked for release from his trials he would not grant his supplication but said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Let us then bravely bear the evils that befall us; it is in war that heroes are discerned, in conflicts that athletes are crowned, in the surge of the sea that the art of the helmsman is shown, in the fire that the gold is tried. And let us not, I beseech you, heed only ourselves; let us rather have forethought for the rest, and that much more for the sick than for the whole, for it is an apostolic precept that exclaims, “Comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak.” Let us then stretch out our hands to them that lie low, let us tend their wounds and set them at their post to fight the devil. Nothing will so vex him as to see them fighting and striking again. Our Lord is full of lovingkindness. He receives the repentance of sinners. Let us hear his words: “As I live, says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” So he prefaced his words with an oath, and he who forbids oaths to others swore himself to convince us how he desires our repentance and salvation. Of this teaching the divine books, both the old and the new, are full, and the precepts of the holy Fathers teach the same.But not as though you were ignorant have I written to you; rather have I reminded you of what you know, like those who standing safe on the shore help those who are tossed by the storm and show them a rock, or give warning of a hidden shallow or catch and haul in a rope that has been thrown. “And the God of peace shall bring Satan under your feet shortly” and shall gladden our ears with news that you have passed from storm to calm, at his word to the waves, “peace be still.” And you also should offer prayers for us, for you who have undergone peril for his sake can speak with greater boldness.

Second, the manner of this expectation is noticed. "It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Namely, patiently, and without a murmur. For Isaiah 30:15 asserts: "in quietness and in trust shall be your strength."

The prophet, by enumerating his own severe trials, vv. 1-20, and showing his trust in God, Lam 3:21, encourages his people to the like resignation and trust in the Divine and never-failing mercy, Lam 3:22-27. He vindicates the goodness of God in all his dispensations, and the unreasonableness of murmuring under them, Lam 3:28-39. He recommends self-examination and repentance; and then, from their experience of former deliverances from God, encourages them to look for pardon for their sins, and retribution to their enemies, vv. 40-66.

It is good that a man should both hope - Hope is essentially necessary to faith; he that hopes not, cannot believe; if there be no expectation, there can be no confidence. When a man hopes for salvation, he should not only waft for it, but use every means that may lead to it; for hope cannot live, if there be no exercise. If hope become impatient, faith will be impossible: for who can believe for his salvation when his mind is agitated? He must therefore quietly wait. He must expect, and yet be dumb, as the words imply; ever feeling his utter unworthiness; and, without murmuring, struggle into life.

(Lam. 3:1-66) seen affliction--his own in the dungeon of Malchiah (Jer 38:6); that of his countrymen also in the siege. Both were types of that of Christ.

quietly wait--literally, "be in silence." Compare Lam 3:28 and Psa 39:2, Psa 39:9, that is, to be patiently quiet under afflictions, resting in the will of God (Psa 37:7). So Aaron (Lev 10:2-3); and Job (Job 40:4-5).

The Suffering and the Consolation of the Gospel 1 I am the man that have seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. 2 Me hat He led, and brought [through] darkness, and not light. 3 Only against me He repeatedly turneth His hand all the day. 4 He has wasted away my flesh and my skin; He hath broken my bones. 5 He buildeth up round about me poison and toil. 6 He maketh me sit down in dark places, like those for ever dead. 7 He hath hedged me about, so that I cannot get out; He hath made heavy my chain. 8 Moreover, when I cry and shout, He obstructeth my prayer. 9 He hath walled round my ways with hewn stone, He hath subverted my paths. 10 He is to me [like] a bear lying in wait, a lion in secret places. 11 He removeth my ways, and teareth me in pieces; He maketh me desolate. 12 He bendeth His bow, and setteth me up as the mark for the arrow. 13 He causeth the sons of His quiver to go into my reins. 14 I am become a derision to all my people, their [subject of] satire all the day. 15 He filleth me with bitterness, maketh me drink wormwood. 16 And He grindeth my teeth on gravel, He covereth me with ashes. 17 And my soul hath become despised by prosperity; I have forgotten [what] good [is]. 18 And I said, My vital power is gone, and my hope from Jahveh. 19 Remember my misery and my persecution, wormwood and poison. 20 My soul remembereth [them] indeed, and sinketh down in me. 21 This I bring back to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22 [It is a sign of] the mercies of Jahveh that we are not consumed, for His compassions fail not; 23 [They are] new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. 24 Jahveh [is] my portion, saith my soul; therefore I hope in Him. 25 Jahveh is good unto those who wait for Him, to a soul [that] seeketh Him. 26 It is good that [one] should wait, and that is silence, for the salvation of Jahveh. 27 It is good for man that he should bear a yoke in his youth. 28 Let him sit solitary and be silent, for [God] hath laid [the burden] on him. 29 Let him put his mouth in the dust; perhaps there is [still] hope. 30 Let him give [his] cheek to him that smites him, let him be filled with reproach. 31 Because the Lord will not cast off for ever: 32 For, though He causeth grief, He also pities, according to the multitude of His mercies. 33 For He doth not afflict from His heart, and grieve the children of men. 34 To the crushing all the prisoners of the earth under one's feet, 35 To the setting aside of a man's rights before the face of the Most High. 36 To the overthrowing of a man in his cause: - doth not the Lord look [to such doings as these]? 37 Who hath spoken, and it was done, [which] the Lord commanded not? 38 Doth not evil and good come out of the mouth of Jahveh? 39 Why doth a man complain [because] he liveth? [Let every] man [rather lament] because of his sins. 40 Let us search and examine our ways, and let us return to Jahveh. 41 Let us lift up our heart to [our] hands towards God in the heavens. 42 We have transgressed and rebelled, Thou hast not pardoned. 43 Thou didst cover [Thyself] with anger, and didst persecute us; Thou hast slain, Thou hast not pitied. (Note: In the latter part of this verse, Keil has written mitten unter den Vlkern, which is also (correctly) given as the rendering of the second part of Lam 3:45. This obvious inadvertence has been rectified in the English translation. - Tr.) 44 Thou didst cover Thyself with a cloud, so that prayer could not pass through. 45 Thou didst make us [like] offscourings and refuse in the midst of the nations. 46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. 47 Terror and a snare are ours, destruction and ruin. 48 Mine eye runneth down [with] streams of water, because of the ruin of the daughter of my people. 49 Mine eye poureth itself forth, and ceaseth not, so that there are no stoppings, 50 Until Jahveh shall look down and behold from heaven. 51 Mine eye causeth pain to my soul, because of all the daughters of my city. (Note: Keil has here misread the Hebrew text, and translated "my people" (עמּי) instead of "my city" (עירי). - Tr.) 52 Mine enemies closely pursued me, like a bird, without cause. 53 They were for destroying my life in the pit, and cast a stone on me. 54 Waters overflowed over my head; I said, I am cut off. 55 I called on Thy name, O Jahveh, out of the lowest dungeon. 56 Thou hast heard my voice; hide not Thine ear at my sighing, at my cry. 57 Thou art near in the day [when] I call on Thee; Thou sayest, Fear not. 58 Thou hast defended, O Lord, my soul; Thou hast redeemed my life. 59 Thou hast seen, O Jahveh, mine oppression; judge my cause. 60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance, all their projects against me. 61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Jahveh, all their projects against me; 62 The lips of those who rise up against me, and their meditation against me all the day. 63 Behold their sitting down and their rising up: I am their satire. 64 Thou shalt return a recompense to them, O Jahveh, according to the work of their hands. 65 Thou shalf give to them blindness of heart, - Thy curse to them. 66 Thou shalt pursue [them] in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of Jahveh. Lamentations 3:1-66 The two preceding poems ended with sorrowful complaint. This third poem begins with the complaint of a man over grievous personal suffering. Regarding the contents of this poem, and its relation to the two which precede, Ewald makes the following excellent remarks: "In consequence of experiences most peculiarly his own, the individual may indeed at first make complaint, in such a way that, as here, still deeper despair for the third time begins (vv. 1-18); but, by the deepest meditation for himself on the eternal relation of God to men, he may also very readily come to the due acknowledgment of his own sins and the necessity for repentance, and thereby also to believing prayer. Who is this individual that complains, and thinks, and entreats in this fashion, whose I passes unobserved, but quite appropriately, into we? O man, it is the very image of thyself! Every one must now speak and think as he does. Thus it is just by this address, which commences in the most doleful tones, that sorrow for the first time, and imperceptibly, has passed into true prayer." This remark contains both the deepest truth and the key to the proper understanding of the contents of this poem, and its position in the middle of the Lamentations. Both of these points have been mistaken by expositors, who (e.g., C. B. Michaelis, Pareau, Maurer, Kalkschmidt, and Bleek in his Introduction) are of opinion that the writer here makes his personal sufferings the subject of complaint. This cannot be made out, either from Lam 3:14 or from the description given in Lam 3:53.: the reverse rather is shown by the fact that, in Lam 3:22 and Lam 3:40-47, we is used instead of I; from which it is evident that the prophet, in the remainder of the poem, is not speaking of himself, or bewailing his own personal sufferings. The confession found in Lam 3:42, "We have transgressed and rebelled, Thou hast not pardoned," etc., necessarily presupposes not only that the dealing of God towards the sinful and apostate nation, as described in Lam 3:42., stands in the closest connection with the sufferings of which the prophet complains in vv. 1-18, but also that the chastisement, by means of God's wrath, which was experienced by the man who utters his complaint in vv. 1-18, is identical with the anger which, according to Lam 3:43, discharged itself on the people; hence the suffering of the individual, which is described in vv. 1-18, is to be regarded as the reflex of but a special instance of the suffering endured by the whole community. Perhaps this was the view of Aben Ezra, when he says that, in this lamentation, it is individual Israelites who speak; and most expositors acknowledge that the prophet pours forth his lamentations and his prayers in the name of the godly. The poem begins by setting forth the grievous soul-sufferings of the godly in their cheerless and hopeless misery (vv. 1-18); then it ascends, through meditation upon the compassion and almighty providence of God, to hope (vv. 19-39), and thus attains to the recognition of God's justice in sending the punishment, which, however, is so intensified through the malice of enemies, that the Lord cannot pass by the attempt to crush His people (Lam 3:40-54). This reliance on the justice of God impels to prayer, in which there is manifested confidence that God will send help, and take vengeance on the enemy (Lam 3:55-66).