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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 3:21-36

Here the clouds begin to disperse and the sky to clear up; the complaint was very melancholy in the former part of the chapter, and yet here the tune is altered and the mourners in Zion begin to look a little pleasant. But for hope, the heart would break. To save the heart from being quite broken, here is something called to mind, which gives ground for hope (Lam. 3:21), which refers to what comes after, not to what goes before. I make to return to my heart (so the margin words it); what we... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:27

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Either the yoke of the commandments, as the Targum; or of correction, as Aben Ezra; of afflictions, as fatherly chastisements; both senses may be retained. It is good to bear the yoke of the moral law, or the commandments of God, as they are in the hands of Christ, a rule of walk and conversation; a yoke obliging all mankind, and especially saints; it is the duty of all to submit their necks to this yoke; it is but their reasonable... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:28

He sitteth alone ,.... Retires from the world, and the men of it, who takes upon him the yoke of Christ; though he is not alone, but God, Father, Son, and Spirit, are with him; and he is with the saints, the excellent of the earth, and has communion with them; and so he is that under the afflicting hand of God bears it patiently, and does not run from place to place complaining of it, but sits still, and considers the cause, end, and use of it. Some render the words in connection with the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:29

He putteth his mouth in the dust ,.... Of self-abhorrence; sensible of his own vileness and nothingness, his unworthiness, and the unprofitableness of all his duties; ascribing the whole of his salvation to the free grace of God, Job 42:6 ; humbling himself under the mighty hand of God; not daring to open his mouth in a complaining way against him; but prostrating himself before him to the earth, as the manner of the eastern people in prayer was, to which the allusion is; licking as it... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:30

He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him ,.... Either to God that afflicts him, and patiently bears it; see Isaiah 9:13 ; or rather to men. To be smitten on the cheek is always reckoned a very great affront; to turn the cheek to an injurious man is to give him an opportunity and leave to smite, and signifies the taking of it patiently, and agrees both with our Lord's advice and example, Matthew 5:39 ; he is filled full with reproach ; has many reproaches, and the reproaches of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:31

For the Lord will not cast off for ever. Which is not to be understood of all his creatures; for there are some he does cast off for ever, as the angels that sinned; reprobate men, profligate and abandoned sinners, that live and die impenitent; and unbelievers, carnal professors, and apostates; but not his own special and peculiar people, the people whom he has foreknown and loved with an everlasting love, his spiritual Israel; or, as the Targum supplies it, "his servants"; see Psalm 94:14 ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:32

But though he cause grief ,.... As he sometimes does in his own people; by convincing them of sin, and producing in them godly sorrow, which worketh repentance unto life, not to be repented of; by correcting and chastising them for it, and by hiding his face from them; all which are grievous to them: yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies ; his mercies are many, both temporal and spiritual, and his compassion is answerable; which he shows to his people by... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:33

For he doth not afflict willingly ,.... Or, "from his heart" F5 מלבו "ex corde suo", Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin. ; he does afflict; for all afflictions are from God, but they do not come from the mere motion of his heart, or are the effects of his sovereign will and pleasure, as the good things he bestows upon his people do, without any respect to any cause or occasion in them; but sin is the cause and occasion of these, as Jarchi well observes: it is with reluctance the Lord... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 3:27

That he bear the yoke in his youth - Early habits, when good, are invaluable. Early discipline is equally so. He who has not got under wholesome restraint in youth will never make a useful man, a good man, nor a happy man. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 3:28

He sitteth alone - He has learned that necessary lesson of independence, that shows him how he is to serve himself; to give no trouble to others; and keep his troubles, as far as possible, in his own bosom. read more

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