31 I am the man who has seen trouble by the rod of his wrath. 2 By him I have been made to go in the dark where there is no light. 3 Truly against me his hand has been turned again and again all the day. 4 My flesh and my skin have been used up by him and my bones broken. 5 He has put up a wall against me, shutting me in with bitter sorrow. 6 He has kept me in dark places, like those who have been long dead. 7 He has put a wall round me, so that I am not able to go out; he has made great the weight of my chain. 8 Even when I send up a cry for help, he keeps my prayer shut out. 9 He has put up a wall of cut stones about my ways, he has made my roads twisted. 10 He is like a bear waiting for me, like a lion in secret places. 11 By him my ways have been turned on one side and I have been pulled in bits; he has made me waste. 12 With his bow bent, he has made me the mark for his arrows. 13 He has let loose his arrows into the inmost parts of my body. 14 I have become the sport of all the peoples; I am their song all the day. 15 He has made my life nothing but pain, he has given me the bitter root in full measure. 16 By him my teeth have been broken with crushed stones, and I am bent low in the dust. 17 My soul is sent far away from peace, I have no more memory of good. 18 And I said, My strength is cut off, and my hope from the Lord. 19 Keep in mind my trouble and my wandering, the bitter root and the poison. 20 My soul still keeps the memory of them; and is bent down in me.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Lamentations 3:1-20
Commentary on Lamentations 3:1-20
(Read Lamentations 3:1-20)
The prophet relates the more gloomy and discouraging part of his experience, and how he found support and relief. In the time of his trial the Lord had become terrible to him. It was an affliction that was misery itself; for sin makes the cup of affliction a bitter cup. The struggle between unbelief and faith is often very severe. But the weakest believer is wrong, if he thinks that his strength and hope are perished from the Lord.