22 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. 25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. 26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. 27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. 29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. 30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach. 31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever: 32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. 33 For he doth not afflict willingly [1] nor grieve the children of men. 34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, 35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, [2] 36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. [3]
37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? 38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good? 39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, [4] a man for the punishment of his sins? 40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. 41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned. 43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied. 44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through. 45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. 46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. 47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction. 48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. 49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission, 50 Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven. 51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart [5] because of all the daughters of my city. 52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause. 53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. 54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
55 I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon. 56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. 57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not. 58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life. 59 O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause. 60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me. 61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, and all their imaginations against me; 62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day. 63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick. 64 Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. 65 Give them sorrow [6] of heart, thy curse unto them. 66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord.
22 Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." 25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. 27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. 28 Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. 29 Let him bury his face in the dust- there may yet be hope. 30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace. 31 For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. 32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. 33 For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone. 34 To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land, 35 to deny people their rights before the Most High, 36 to deprive them of justice- would not the Lord see such things?
37 Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? 38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? 39 Why should the living complain when punished for their sins? 40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. 41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say:
42 "We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven. 43 "You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you have slain without pity. 44 You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through. 45 You have made us scum and refuse among the nations. 46 "All our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us. 47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction." 48 Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed. 49 My eyes will flow unceasingly, without relief, 50 until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees. 51 What I see brings grief to my soul because of all the women of my city. 52 Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me like a bird. 53 They tried to end my life in a pit and threw stones at me; 54 the waters closed over my head, and I thought I was about to perish.
55 I called on your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit. 56 You heard my plea: "Do not close your ears to my cry for relief." 57 You came near when I called you, and you said, "Do not fear." 58 You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life. 59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me. Uphold my cause! 60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance, all their plots against me. 61 Lord, you have heard their insults, all their plots against me- 62 what my enemies whisper and mutter against me all day long. 63 Look at them! Sitting or standing, they mock me in their songs. 64 Pay them back what they deserve, Lord, for what their hands have done. 65 Put a veil over their hearts, and may your curse be on them! 66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord.
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
37 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? 38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? 39 Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? 40 Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! 41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:
42 "We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. 43 "You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity; 44 you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. 45 You have made us scum and garbage among the peoples. 46 "All our enemies open their mouths against us; 47 panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction; 48 my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. 49 "My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite, 50 until the Lord from heaven looks down and sees; 51 my eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the daughters of my city. 52 "I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause; 53 they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me; 54 water closed over my head; I said, 'I am lost.'
55 "I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit; 56 you heard my plea, 'Do not close your ear to my cry for help!' 57 You came near when I called on you; you said, 'Do not fear!' 58 "You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life. 59 You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord; judge my cause. 60 You have seen all their vengeance, all their plots against me. 61 "You have heard their taunts, O Lord, all their plots against me. 62 The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all the day long. 63 Behold their sitting and their rising; I am the object of their taunts. 64 "You will repay them,
22 God's loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up. 23 They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! 24 I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left. 25 God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. 26 It's a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God. 27 It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out through the hard times. 28 When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. 29 Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. 30 Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face. The "worst" is never the worst. 31 Why? Because the Master won't ever walk out and fail to return. 32 If he works severely, he also works tenderly. His stockpiles of loyal love are immense. 33 He takes no pleasure in making life hard, in throwing roadblocks in the way: 34 Stomping down hard on luckless prisoners, 35 Refusing justice to victims in the court of High God, 36 Tampering with evidence - the Master does not approve of such things. God Speaks Both Good Things and Hard Things into Being
37 Who do you think "spoke and it happened"? It's the Master who gives such orders. 38 Doesn't the High God speak everything, good things and hard things alike, into being? 39 And why would anyone gifted with life complain when punished for sin? 40 Let's take a good look at the way we're living and reorder our lives under God. 41 Let's lift our hearts and hands at one and the same time, praying to God in heaven:
42 "We've been contrary and willful, and you haven't forgiven. 43 "You lost your temper with us, holding nothing back. You chased us and cut us down without mercy. 44 You wrapped yourself in thick blankets of clouds so no prayers could get through. 45 You treated us like dirty dishwater, threw us out in the backyard of the nations. 46 "Our enemies shout abuse, their mouths full of derision, spitting invective. 47 We've been to hell and back. We've nowhere to turn, nowhere to go. 48 Rivers of tears pour from my eyes at the smashup of my dear people. 49 "The tears stream from my eyes, an artesian well of tears, 50 Until you, God, look down from on high, look and see my tears. 51 When I see what's happened to the young women in the city, the pain breaks my heart. 52 "Enemies with no reason to be enemies hunted me down like a bird. 53 They threw me into a pit, then pelted me with stones. 54 Then the rains came and filled the pit. The water rose over my head. I said, 'It's all over.'
55 "I called out your name, O God, called from the bottom of the pit. 56 You listened when I called out, 'Don't shut your ears! Get me out of here! Save me!' 57 You came close when I called out. You said, 'It's going to be all right.' 58 "You took my side, Master; you brought me back alive! 59 God, you saw the wrongs heaped on me. Give me my day in court! 60 Yes, you saw their mean-minded schemes, their plots to destroy me. 61 "You heard, God, their vicious gossip, their behind-my-back plots to ruin me. 62 They never quit, these enemies of mine, dreaming up mischief, hatching out malice, day after day after day. 63 Sitting down or standing up - just look at them! - they mock me with vulgar doggerel. 64 "Make them pay for what they've done, God. Give them their just deserts. 65 Break their miserable hearts! Damn their eyes! 66 Get good and angry. Hunt them down. Make a total demolition here under your heaven!"
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.
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; 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!"
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.
22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. 24 I say to myself, "The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!" 25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. 26 So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord . 27 And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline: 28 Let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord 's demands. 29 Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last. 30 Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies. 31 For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. 32 Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. 33 For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow. 34 If people crush underfoot all the prisoners of the land, 35 if they deprive others of their rights in defiance of the Most High, 36 if they twist justice in the courts- doesn't the Lord see all these things?
37 Who can command things to happen without the Lord's permission? 38 Does not the Most High send both calamity and good? 39 Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins? 40 Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord . 41 Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say,
42 "We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us. 43 "You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down, and slaughtered us without mercy. 44 You have hidden yourself in a cloud so our prayers cannot reach you. 45 You have discarded us as refuse and garbage among the nations. 46 "All our enemies have spoken out against us. 47 We are filled with fear, for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined." 48 Tears stream from my eyes because of the destruction of my people! 49 My tears flow endlessly; they will not stop 50 until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees. 51 My heart is breaking over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem. 52 My enemies, whom I have never harmed, hunted me down like a bird. 53 They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me. 54 The water rose over my head, and I cried out, "This is the end!"
55 But I called on your name, Lord, from deep within the pit. 56 You heard me when I cried, "Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!" 57 Yes, you came when I called; you told me, "Do not fear." 58 Lord, you are my lawyer! Plead my case! For you have redeemed my life. 59 You have seen the wrong they have done to me, Lord . Be my judge, and prove me right. 60 You have seen the vengeful plots my enemies have laid against me. 61 Lord, you have heard the vile names they call me. You know all about the plans they have made. 62 My enemies whisper and mutter as they plot against me all day long. 63 Look at them! Whether they sit or stand, I am the object of their mocking songs. 64 Pay them back, Lord, for all the evil they have done. 65 Give them hard and stubborn hearts, and then let your curse fall on them! 66 Chase them down in your anger, destroying them beneath the Lord 's heavens.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Lamentations 3:22-66
Commentary on Lamentations 3:21-36
(Read Lamentations 3:21-36)
Having stated his distress and temptation, the prophet shows how he was raised above it. Bad as things are, it is owing to the mercy of God that they are not worse. We should observe what makes for us, as well as what is against us. God's compassions fail not; of this we have fresh instances every morning. Portions on earth are perishing things, but God is a portion for ever. It is our duty, and will be our comfort and satisfaction, to hope and quietly to wait for the salvation of the Lord. Afflictions do and will work very much for good: many have found it good to bear this yoke in their youth; it has made many humble and serious, and has weaned them from the world, who otherwise would have been proud and unruly. If tribulation work patience, that patience will work experience, and that experience a hope that makes not ashamed. Due thoughts of the evil of sin, and of our own sinfulness, will convince us that it is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed. If we cannot say with unwavering voice, The Lord is my portion; may we not say, I desire to have Him for my portion and salvation, and in his word do I hope? Happy shall we be, if we learn to receive affliction as laid upon us by the hand of God.
Commentary on Lamentations 3:37-41
(Read Lamentations 3:37-41)
While there is life there is hope; and instead of complaining that things are bad, we should encourage ourselves with the hope they will be better. We are sinful men, and what we complain of, is far less than our sins deserve. We should complain to God, and not of him. We are apt, in times of calamity, to reflect on other people's ways, and blame them; but our duty is to search and try our own ways, that we may turn from evil to God. Our hearts must go with our prayers. If inward impressions do not answer to outward expressions, we mock God, and deceive ourselves.
Commentary on Lamentations 3:42-54
(Read Lamentations 3:42-54)
The more the prophet looked on the desolations, the more he was grieved. Here is one word of comfort. While they continued weeping, they continued waiting; and neither did nor would expect relief and succour from any but the Lord.
Commentary on Lamentations 3:55-66
(Read Lamentations 3:55-66)
Faith comes off conqueror, for in these verses the prophet concludes with some comfort. Prayer is the breath of the new man, drawing in the air of mercy in petitions, and returning it in praises; it proves and maintains the spiritual life. He silenced their fears, and quieted their spirits. Thou saidst, Fear not. This was the language of God's grace, by the witness of his Spirit with their spirits. And what are all our sorrows, compared with those of the Redeemer? He will deliver his people from every trouble, and revive his church from every persecution. He will save believers with everlasting salvation, while his enemies perish with everlasting destruction.