The Book of Lamentations in the Old Testament was written between 586 and 575 BCE. It describes the events during 586 B.C.E. of the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon and the Jewish people taken into captivity. The main character is the Prophet Jeremiah. In this book, Jeremiah describes the people’s circumstances using his own experiences. The suffering they are enduring is painstakingly sorrowful. This Bible Commentary on Lamentations Chapter Three will focus on suffering, encouragement, God’s anger, and Jesus.
He then encourages the people during this time of trouble and distress. Jeremiah reminds them of what is expected of those under God’s wrath. Jeremiah then returns to complaining about God and His wrath. Finally, Jeremiah encourages Judah to place their hope in God after the fall of Jerusalem. To wait on God’s mercy and salvation.
God is angry with His people. Their sin has caused this anger and this destruction. Jeremiah demonstrates how God’s people should react. Yes, they can bring their complaints to God but they must respond to God righteously. We will be led by the Holy Spirit when we go through trials and tribulations. It will be our responsibility as Christians to respond accordingly.
Therefore, we may touch upon many of these feelings, like Jeremiah, when dealing with our current circumstances. We will cry out for God’s mercies. We will question why this is happening to us because it feels like a chain heavy with despair dragging us down. The Holy Spirit will help us to deal with this as we draw closer to God looking for help. Consequently, our help will be found above us. Let’s explore this in this Bible Commentary on Lamentations Chapter Three.
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:2 ESV
Chapter Three Verses 1-20
“I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy; though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked.
He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding; he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate; he bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow. He drove into my kidneys the arrows of his quiver; I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long. He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood.
He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.” Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.” Lamentations 3:1-20 ESV
Jeremiah’s Despair
Jeremiah represents the state of God’s people. The weeping prophet gives a personal account of God’s wrath. This is Jeremiah’s account of what all the people of Judah are feeling. As the prophet Jeremiah cries out for the salvation of the Lord, he clearly outlines his despair and sorrow. He longs for God’s compassion and redemption. He uses these passages to detail his experiences and those of Judah. Jeremiah describes the dark places and heavy chain of oppression caused by the unrelenting siege of the Babylonians.
It is a painful and scary time for Judah as the Babylonians surround them pinning them in with nowhere to flee. God uses the Babylonians like a bear, they lay in wait to capture the Jewish people. There is no peace for three months during the siege and captivity of the Jewish people. It feels like God has indeed left the Jewish people. Jeremiah places the blame solely on God for it is God’s wrath and judgement.
God is the reason for this attack. Hence, the hope in the Lord was gone after years of God sending his prophets begging His people to return to him. God sent many prophets including Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk to no avail. However, the Jewish people’s response was to ignore all the warnings and turn from God to worship idols.
Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins. Micah 6:13 ESV
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. Isaiah 44:22 ESV
“What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! Habakkuk 2:18 ESV
Chapter Three Verses 21-36
“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust— there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.
For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men. To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High, to subvert a man in his lawsuit, the Lord does not approve.” Lamentations 3:21-36 ESV
Jeremiah’s Words Of Encouragement
Even though it seemed there was no hope for Judah and all the prophets had failed in their mission to turn the people back to God, Jeremiah still held on to hope. He knew God would provide new mercies for his own people. The mercy of God would not let Him forsake His people forever. God’s love would see them through this painful circumstance.
In God’s Word, He made promises to the Jewish people to give them great hope. God made a covenant with Israel but Israel broke it when they began to worship idols. Therefore, God had to make a new covenant with his people. This covenant also included the whole world. The new covenant would save the world not just Israel.
Jeremiah tells the Jewish to wait on the Lord, to accept this punishment because God has not forgotten them. He tells them to be patient in their affliction. The Jewish people are to wait quietly for salvation. They are to accept all the pain and humiliation of their transgressions. God has been faithful. Great is thy faithfulness to all mankind. He has not completely consumed them but has spared many for the plans that He has for them. God’s plans include one day to restore His people and for their salvation. This is the love that God has for us.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 ESV
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Psalm 36:5 ESV
Chapter Three Verses 37-41
“Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:” Lamentations 3:37-41 ESV
Jeremiah’s Explains Our Duty Infliction
Even though Jeremiah did not like all that he and the Jewish people were experiencing He knew God was justified in his actions. However, it would require accepting and acknowledging that God’s judgment was necessary. Therefore, after years of God’s begging, Jeremiah hoped the people would cease complaining and return to God.
Going through trials and tribulations is never fun. It is filled with hurt, hard times, and lessons. From the strongest to the weakest believer all should examine their hearts and motives to determine what part of their circumstances could have been different. Were there better decisions to be made? Therefore, you should assess the situation and determine if a better outcome could have been if the glory of God you were seeking. Could you have spent more time on your knees seeking God’s wisdom?
At this point, we should seek God for forgiveness, repent, and thank God for all the help He will provide. Hence, God is always with us, walking with us, and waiting for us to turn to Him. Jeremiah knew that amongst those in the besieged city, God was still with them. He would be with them in captivity as well. It was now up to the people of Judah to do the work to be reconciled with God even in captivity.
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! Psalm 139:23 ESV
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. James 1:5 ESV
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV
Chapter Three Verses 42-54
““We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity; you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. You have made us scum and garbage among the peoples. “All our enemies open their mouths against us; panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction; my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. “My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite, until the Lord from heaven looks down and sees; my eyes cause me grief at the fate of all the daughters of my city.
“I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause; they flung me alive into the pit and cast stones on me; water closed over my head; I said, ‘I am lost.’” Lamentations 3:42-54 ESV
Jeremiah’s Renews His Complaint To God
Jeremiah returns to his cup of affliction because of all he is still experiencing and seeing with his eyes. Even though he knows that God is still with them he knows that they are still within the wrath of God. But, God has forgiven them but there are consequences for sin. The wages of sin is death. Unfortunately, this was God’s judgment since the people of Jerusalem refused to repent of their sins. Their dire situation was of their own doing. However, the goodness of God allows a remnant to live on. The hand of God stayed a complete annihilation. He wanted to teach a lesson.
Our anxiety about our circumstances will make us alternate between worrying and then praying to God for relief. This is not uncommon for people to do. That is because the condition of their pain is ever with them. Until our issues are resolved we will worry, fret, and mule it over and over in our heads. Jeremiah is no different. At the beginning of this chapter, Jeremiah starts out complaining to God about the conditions of His judgment. Then Jeremiah proceeds to profess God’s love and faithfulness. He knows he has no place to God but to God. Even though the Jewish people have been unfaithful God is still faithful to His people.
The Lord has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago; he has thrown down without pity; he has made the enemy rejoice over you and exalted the might of your foes. Lamentations 2:17 ESV
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 ESV
A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. Isaiah 10:21 ESV
Chapter Three Verses 55-66
““I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit; you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’ You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’ “You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life. You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord; judge my cause. You have seen all their vengeance, all their plots against me.
“You have heard their taunts, O Lord, all their plots against me. The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all the day long. Behold their sitting and their rising; I am the object of their taunts. “You will repay them, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. You will give them dullness of heart; your curse will be on them. You will pursue them in anger and destroy them from under your heavens, O Lord.”” Lamentations 3:55-66 ESV
Jeremiah’s Request For Revenge
Jeremiah remembers God is a faithful God. However, he appears to be surprised that God would rescue him during this trial. He seems grateful that God’s word champions him and redeems him even after he has sinned against God. Jeremiah begs God to pick up this cause and rescue him from his enemy. Jeremiah wants God to repay his enemies for the wrongs they have done to him. He also wants God to avenge him for their verbal taunts. He demands God to destroy them. Jeremiah believes in the steadfast love of God and that He would fight this battle.
Even when God uses others to discipline us, we are God’s children and sometimes require discipline to correct our actions. However, God will avenge His people against those He called to do the disciplining. For example, God would send someone to destroy the Babylonians for their treatment of the Jewish people. God planned to bring a remnant of believers back to Israel. The plan was not to destroy but to humble His people. It was for them to learn to love and trust in Him and not idols.
Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! Psalm 35:1 ESV
Sharpen the arrows! Take up the shields! The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, for that is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for his temple. Jeremiah 51:11 ESV
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV
Jesus Is The Plan
Lord Jesus is the only plan for God’s people. God knew that the Jewish people would not be able to help deliver the world. They could not prevent themselves from worshipping idols like the surrounding nations. They were to be the light of the world instead they became like the world. However, the messiah would come from the house of David and He will be King. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Jesus would be born to save all mankind. Our Lord Jesus Christ would preach the good news for three years. However, He would be rejected by men and die for our sins. This was God’s plan. He knew we needed a Savior, an ultimate sacrifice. Jesus would be the final sacrifice for all ages. He would save mankind. There is no other name by which we can be saved. Therefore, we should place all our trust in Jesus.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. Jeremiah 23:5 ESV
that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” Luke 24:7 ESV
On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Revelation 19:16 ESV
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 ESV
This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. Hebrews 7:22 ESV
Recap of the Bible Commentary On Lamentations Chapter Three
These verses in the Book of Lamentation paint a very dire picture but God’s plan for redemption is found in Jesus Christ. The time of Jeremiah and the Jewish people’s trial came after many years of disobedience to God. It was years of God sending prophet after prophet to deliver long-lasting pleas for repentance.
God was always willing to forgive His people, they only had to turn from their sins. Israel broke the covenant between man and God which led to their destruction. God’s faithfulness was demonstrated time and time again when he offered to forget their transgressions. However, sinful men did not want the good things God had to offer. They did not desire the Lord’s mercies until it was too late.
Jeremiah knew that God was for him. Therefore, as a servant of God, he believes in God’s faithfulness, mercy, grace, and steadfast love. He knows he can depend on God to deliver him from his enemy. Like Jeremiah we can bring our complaints to God, we can worship Him with praise for faithfully believing He will provide a way. Our spiritual life should be like Jeremiah’s. No matter how bad a day may be we should believe in a new day of mercies from God. We must place all our hope in Christ Jesus because this new covenant brings eternal life.
Therefore, our main goal should be to have a heart for God. To want to draw near to him. To believe in what the Bible teaches us. Trust in the Lord with all our hearts. Even though life may be filled with trials and tribulations lean on God for comfort, love, wisdom, and guidance.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 ESV
Steps to Take
Love the Lord. Believe that He is with you and will see you through. Time and time God has helped me get through some rough times. And even if God does not answer my prayers exactly as I want I know He has a better plan for me. I know that I am not walking alone. I believe in His promise of eternal life and that I will one day live in paradise with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament Jesus said we would face trials and tribulations but he has overcome the world.
The first step to be saved is to confess our sins, repent, and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We must believe that He is who He says He is. As a result of my faith, I spend time daily in my Bible, I attend a Bible-based church regularly that gives back to the community and beyond. I strive to do good for my neighbors by helping others and trying to live in peace with others.
My own experiences have shown me that despite my transgressions, I am forgiven. God continues to bless me every day of my life. I have life, a roof over my head, and food on my table. God continues to comfort me no matter what trials I may be experiencing. I can find joy in knowing I serve a gracious and merciful God.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 ESV
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. John 6:47 ESV
Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Psalm 37:3 ESV
The Steps
1. Read the Bible.
2. Meditate on God’s Word.
3. Understand sin and why it separates you from God.
4. Pray.
5. Ask God for wisdom.
6. Confess your sins.
7. Repent – Turn from sin.
8. Ask God for forgiveness.
9. Believe Jesus is our Savior.
10. Begin serving the Lord.
11. Share your testimony with others
12. Give of your time, talents, and treasure.
13. Love your neighbor.
14. Be holy Like God.
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Psalm 86:15 ESV