Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Lamentations 3:19-39
The Prophet Prays His Way Through To Confidence In YHWH (Lamentations 3:19).
When our souls have reached their lowest point there is only one thing to do, and that is to cast ourselves on God. That is what the prophet now does. He remembers past times of affliction and misery and how God has kept him through them, and this gives him the confidence that he can hope in God again.
(Zayin) Remember my affliction and my misery,
The wormwood and the gall.
(Zayin) My soul has them still in remembrance,
And is bowed down within me.
(Zayin) This I recall to my mind,
Therefore have I hope.
The prophet calls to mind his past experiences of affliction and misery, and of extreme bitterness, ‘of the wormwood and the gall'. He still remembers them and is bowed down by them. But he recalls to mind that he had experienced them and survived them, and this enables him to express hope. Alternately ‘bowed down' might indicate a humble submission to YHWH, the idea being that he remembers in the past how affliction had caused him to bow down to YHWH.
(Cheth) It is due to YHWH's covenant loves that we are not consumed,
Because his compassions fail not.
(Cheth) They are new every morning,
Great is your faithfulness.
(Cheth) YHWH is my portion, says my soul,
Therefore will I hope in him.
He recognises that the very reason that he has survived his experiences, and that part of the nation has survived, is because of YHWH's ‘covenant loves' (His mercies), the plural expressing intensity. That is why he has hope. He recognises that he has survived because of it. It is because ‘His compassions fail not and are new every morning'. For in spite of the circumstances YHWH is still faithful to those who look to Him. Indeed his compassions are new every morning because great is His faithfulness. Nothing has happened that He had not said would happen. That is why the prophet can say that YHWH is still his portion, the One in Whom he has confidence and to whom he gives his loyalty, and it is because of that that he can have hope in Him.
‘YHWH is my portion, says my soul.' This idea is based on Numbers 18:20. See also Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26; Psalms 119:57; Psalms 142:5. It is declaring that YHWH is all that the prophet wants, and that He is his all-sufficiency.
(Teth) Good is YHWH to those who wait for him,
To the soul who seeks him.
(Teth) Good is it that a man should hope,
And quietly wait for the salvation of YHWH.
(Teth) Good is it for a man that he bear the yoke,
During his youth.
For while God's judgment has come upon Jerusalem, YHWH is still good to those who wait for Him, who are trusting in His faithfulness, and seeking Him with all their hearts. So it is a good thing that a man should hope and quietly wait (‘wait in silence') for YHWH to deliver, not complaining and not trying to hurry God up. Just as it is good for him to bear the yoke of suffering during his youth, so that he will thereby be strengthened and fitted for what might lie ahead. Patient endurance and confidence in God should be man's response to YHWH's goodness.
(Yod) Let him sit alone and keep silence,
Because he has laid it on him.
(Yod) Let him put his mouth in the dust,
If so be there may be hope.
(Yod) Let him give his cheek to him who smites him,
Let him be filled full with reproach.
The yoke that the young man should be ready to bear is now described:
· It enables him to sit alone and in silence because it is YHWH's will for him. He does not complain or get involved in doubtful activities.
· It makes him ready for complete submission to the will of YHWH because he knows that in that will is his hope. Prostrating oneself in the dust was a token of complete submission.
· It makes him ready to accept insults and reproach because he knows that he is bearing them as a consequence of his faithfulness to God.
(Kaph) For he will not be cast off for ever,
By the Lord.
(Kaph) For though he cause grief,
Yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses (covenant loves).
(Kaph) For he does not afflict willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.
And such a man can have the above attitudes because he knows that he will not be cast off for ever by the Lord (see Psalms 77:7). For though the Lord might make him endure grief, He will have compassion on him in accordance with the multitude of His lovingkindnesses and mercies, His covenant love. For He never afflicts men willingly, nor does He gladly grieve the children of men.
Such a recollection does, of course, very much have a bearing on what had happened to Jerusalem. It made clear that what had happened was YHWH's chastisement, and that beyond it there was hope.
(Lamed) To crush under foot,
All the prisoners of the earth,
(Lamed) To turn aside the right of a man,
Before the face of the Most High,
(Lamed) To subvert a man in his cause,
The Lord approves not.
For there are three things of which the Lord does not approve:
o He does not approve of the crushing underfoot of the prisoners of the earth. They have a right for their needs to be considered and to compassion.
o He does not approve of the turning aside of the rights of a man before the face of the Most High (Elyon). All should be allowed full access to Him, and be given justice when their cases are tried before Him. And He does not approve of injustice and false dealings with regard to those who bring their cases to the lower judiciary. For above all God is a God of justice.
(Mem) Who is he who speaks, and it comes about,
When the Lord does not command it?
(Mem) Out of the mouth of the Most High,
Does there not come evil and good?
(Mem) Why does a living man complain,
A man for the punishment of his sins?
Thus no man should complain at his lot, because he should realise that in the end it has come from God. Whenever someone speaks and brings something about we can be sure that God is overall, and therefore that He has allowed it. We should see that it is His purpose. For in the way of things both evil and good do ‘come from out of the mouth of the Lord'. In other words, He gives permission for them and allows them to happen, even in some cases stepping in and exerting His own will. This does not, of course, mean that God is approving of moral evil, but only that He allows things to happen, some of which are good and beneficial, and some of which are harmful. And He does this for our good. It is because He is chastening us for our sinfulness. Thus rather than complaining a man who still has life granted to him should accept it and rejoice in it, and respond accordingly (compare James 1:2 ff.).