Lamentations 3
3
The Suffering of Man
1 # 3:1 Chapter 3 is a triple acrostic, the third alphabet poem contained in Lamentations. The extreme structure of a triple acrostic creates a lot of narrative turbulence, shifting frantically from topic to topic. I am the man # 3:1 The numerical value of the Hebrew words “I am the man” (271) equals that for the name Jeremiah. acquainted with misery
by the rod of his anger. # 3:1 The language of ch. 3 is allegorical of a sheep and its shepherd and reminds readers of Ps. 23. One paints the picture of God as the Good Shepherd and the other as the antithesis. This chapter mentions the rod, guiding his sheep, finding pasture, good water, and leading one through the twisting paths of life.
2He has shepherded me
into dark places with no light. # 3:2 See Ps. 23 for contrast.
3He laid a heavy hand on me,
every day, over and over.
4He has made my skin and my flesh waste away;
he has broken my bones. # 3:4 Bones are a frequent biblical metaphor of one’s inner being. See Ps. 6:2 and footnote; Prov. 3:8 and footnote; Jer. 20:9; 23:9.
5He has besieged and encircled me with a wall
of hardship and bitterness.
6He has made me sit in darkness # 3:6 “Darkness” is used here as a poetic term for Sheol, the place of the dead. See Ps. 143:3.
like those long dead. # 3:6 Or “eternally dead.”
7He has walled me in with no way out
and weighed me down with heavy chains.
8Even when I cry for help,
he closes his ear to my prayer.
9He has made my paths a maze
and obstructed my ways. # 3:9 See Hos. 2:6.
10He has become to me like a bear ready to pounce
or a lion lying in wait. # 3:10 When God’s people consistently resist the ways of God and the work of his Holy Spirit, God himself will become their enemy and fight against them (see Isa. 63:10).
11He dragged me away, tore me to pieces,
and then left me stunned and helpless.
12He has drawn back his bowstring
and used me as a target for his arrows.
13He shot his arrows deep into my heart, # 3:13 Or “into my kidneys.” See Job 16:13.
sons from his quiver. # 3:13 At times, God’s arrows of truth that pierce our hearts are “sons from his [God’s] quiver.” His sharpened arrows are his sons and daughters.
14Everyone has made me an object of ridicule; # 3:14 See Deut. 28:37.
they mock me all day long with their songs.
15He has given me my fill of bitterness
and made me drunk with wormwood.
16He has ground my teeth with gravel
and crushed me down to the dust. # 3:16 Or “fed me with ashes.” The Hebrew verb often translated “cower [to crouch down from fear]” is changed by some scholars to mean “feed someone” and so “fed on ashes.” However, a more accurate translation would be “He laid me in the dust.” Both expressions in this verse may be taken to mean that the man was humiliated, degraded, and rejected.
17You have snatched peace from my soul; # 3:17 Or “My soul was rejected from peace.”
I have entirely forgotten your goodness. # 3:17 Or “I have forgotten what happiness is.”
18I thought to myself, “My endurance has evaporated;
Yahweh has stamped out my hope for the future.”
God’s Mercy Gives Hope
19I remember wandering around in misery, # 3:19 Or “Remember my affliction and homelessness.”
drinking the poison of bitterness. # 3:19 Or “wormwood and gall.”
20Whenever I ponder this,
my soul fades away within me.
21Yet there is one ray of hope
when I remember this:
22Yahweh’s tender mercies # 3:22 Or “womb-love.” God’s mercy and compassion keep us attached to his heart even as an embryo is attached to a mother’s womb. have no end,
and the kindness of his endless love is never exhausted. # 3:22 Or “We have not come to the end of Yahweh’s steadfast love.” Jesus loved his disciples (and us) even unto the end (see John 13:1).
23New, fresh mercies greet me with every sunrise. # 3:23 Each new day begins with mercy. You can connect with the mercy of God, a renewable resource, as you start your day. The Hebrew word for “morning” comes from a triliteral root word (bqr) that has a homonym that means “to seek [inquire].” Every morning we can seek for more of him and discover fresh mercy. Mercy’s fresh arrival each day is a testament to God’s faithfulness.
So wonderfully great is your faithfulness!
24I tell my soul, “Yahweh is my abundant portion. I need nothing more.
So, I will put all my hope in him.”
Yahweh Is Good
25Yahweh is always good to all who trust in him, # 3:25 Or “wait [patiently] for him.” Verses 25, 26, and 27 each begin with the Hebrew word for “good” (tob). See Pss. 34:8; 86:5.
to the soul who searches for him.
26It is always good to hope,
quietly waiting for Yahweh’s deliverance.
27It is always good to learn patience and humility # 3:27 Or “bear the yoke.” The yoke can be seen as a metaphor for humility, service, and responsibility.
from a young age.
28If your burden is heavy and hard to bear,
endure it quietly. # 3:28 Or “When it [suffering] is laid upon him, let him sit alone in silence.” See 2 Tim. 2:3.
29Bow low in humble submission, # 3:29 Or “Put one’s mouth in the dust.” This Hebrew expression occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament.
for there may still be hope.
30Offer a cheek to the one who would strike you, # 3:30 See Job 16:10; Isa. 50:6; Matt. 5:39.
and learn to endure insults. # 3:30 Or “let him be filled with disgrace.”
31For the Lord will not
reject you forever.
32If he causes grief, he will show compassion
from the cascading overflow of his endless love.
33The Lord takes no delight
in afflicting anyone with suffering.
34To trample underfoot
all the earth’s prisoners,
35to violate human rights
in the presence of the Most High,
36to cheat someone of justice—
these things the Lord does not approve.
37Who can make anything happen
unless the Lord is willing? # 3:37 See Ps. 33:9; Dan. 4:35.
38Is it not from the decree of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come? # 3:38 See Job 2:10; Isa. 45:7; Jer. 32:42.
39Why, then, should anyone complain
over the punishment of their sins?
Confession and Lament
40Let us examine our path, ponder our ways,
and return to Yahweh’s heart. # 3:40 Repentance is a returning to God and reorienting our lives so that he can fill us again with his love and righteousness. Repentance raises the soul next to God, where his love and righteousness can fill us again.
41Let us pray, offering up our hearts in our hands
to our God above.
42“We have sinned and rebelled,
and you have not yet pardoned us.
43“You have blanketed us with your anger # 3:43 Or “You have wrapped yourself with anger.” The Hebrew is ambiguous. and then pursued us,
slaughtering without pity.
44You shrouded yourself in a cloud
too thick for prayer to pierce.
45You have reduced us to rubbish;
we are the lowest scum among the nations. # 3:45 See 1 Cor. 4:13.
46“Our enemies are a choir
of scoffers and scolders.
47Panic and pitfall have been our portion;
calamity and collapse have come upon us.”
48My eyes stream with torrents of tears
as I weep over the ruin of my beloved people.
49My eyes will weep without stopping,
with no relief in sight
50until Yahweh looks down from heaven
and sees how much we suffer.
51My heart is so grieved # 3:51 Or “My eye torments my soul.”
over Jerusalem, the daughter of my people.
52My enemies, who hate me for no reason,
have trapped me like a bird.
53They buried me alive in a pit
and covered it with stones.
54Water rose over my head;
I thought, “I’m going to die!”
Confidence in Yahweh’s Justice
55I called on your name, Yahweh,
from the bottom of the pit. # 3:55 Joseph, Jeremiah, and Daniel were all thrown into pits. See Gen. 37:23–24; Jer. 38:6; Dan. 6:16. See also Ps. 130:1; Jonah 2:2.
56You have heard me cry out to you:
“Do not close your ears to my sighs and to my cries.”
57You drew near when I called to you. # 3:57 See Ps. 145:18.
You told me, “Do not be afraid!”
58Lord, like a lawyer you contended for my cause;
you liberated my life, my Redeemer.
59Yahweh, you have seen the wrong done to me;
judge in my favor.
60You have seen their malice
and all their hateful plots against me.
61You have heard their mockery, Yahweh,
all their horrible schemes against me.
62They murmur and whisper against me
all day long.
63See, from morning to night, # 3:63 Or “sitting or rising.”
I am the butt of their jokes.
64Yahweh, repay them!
Give them what their deeds deserve.
65Give them dullness of heart # 3:65 Or “a heart of insanity.”
as you place your curse upon them.
66Pursue them with anger and destroy them
from under your heavens!
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Lamentations 3: TPT
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