Lamentations 3:55-66

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 3:55-65

We may observe throughout this chapter a struggle in the prophet's breast between sense and faith, fear and hope; he complains and then comforts himself, yet drops his comforts and returns again to his complaints, as Ps. 42:1-11. But, as there, so here, faith gets the last word and comes off a conqueror; for in these verses he concludes with some comfort. And here are two things with which he comforts himself:? I. His experience of God's goodness even in his affliction. This may refer to the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:55

I called upon thy name, O Lord ,.... As in times past, so in the present distress; when all hope was gone, and all help failed, still there was a God to go to, and call upon: out of the low dungeon ; or "dungeon of lownesses" F18 מבור תחתיות "e cisterna infimitatum", Piscator. ; the lowest dungeon, the deepest distress, a man or people could be in; yet then and there it is not too late to call upon the Lord; and there may be hope of deliverance out of such an estate by him. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:56

Thou hast heard my voice ,.... Either in times past, when he cried unto him, and was delivered; and this was an encouragement to call upon him again in such extremity, who had shown himself to be a God hearing and answering prayer; hence it follows: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry ; turn not a deaf ear to me, who hast been wont to hear me heretofore; stop not thine ear at my cry now, at my prayer, which he calls his "breathing"; prayer is the breath of a soul regenerated by... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:57

Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee ,.... When persons draw nigh to God in a way of duty, and particularly in this of prayer, and calling on his name; he draws nigh to them in a way of grace and mercy, and manifests himself to them, and works salvation for them. The Targum is, "thou didst cause an angel to draw near to deliver me in the day that I prayed unto thee:' thou saidst, fear not ; any of thine enemies; or that thou shouldest not be delivered from them; see ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:58

O Lord, thou hast pleaded the cause of my soul ,.... Or, causes of "my soul", or "life" F21 ריבי נפשי "causas animaa meae", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. ; such as concerned his soul and life: not one only, but many of them; and this respects not Jeremiah only, and the Lord's pleading his cause against Zedekiah and his nobles; but the people of the Jews in former times, when in Egypt, and in the times of the judges: thou hast redeemed my life ; by delivering out of the pit... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:59

O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong ,.... Or, "my perverseness" F23 עותתי "perversitatem", Pagninus, Montanus; "quae exercetur, vel exercebatur in me", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. ; not that he or they had been guilty of; but the wrong that was done to him and them by their enemies; how perverse and ill natured they had been to them; how badly they had used them; what injuries they had done them; none of which escaped the omniscience of God, to which the appeal is made; and upon... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:60

Thou hast seen all their vengeance ,.... The spirit of revenge in them; their wrath and fury, and how they burn with a desire of doing mischief; as well as their revengeful actions, carriage, and behaviour: and all their imaginations against me ; their secret contrivances of mischief, their plots and schemes they devise to do hurt unto me. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:61

Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord ,.... Their reproachful words uttered against the prophet and his people, against God himself; their spiteful language, their taunts, and scoffs and jeers: and all their imaginations against me ; those he not only saw, as they appeared in their actions; but heard them, as they were expressed by their words; yea, they were manifest to him, while they only were in silent thought forming in the mind. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:62

The lips of those that rose up against me ,.... This is to be connected with the preceding words; and expresses the same thing in different language. The sense is, that the Lord heard the words which dropped from the lips of his enemies; their sarcasms, flouts, and jeers; their bitter reflections, severe invectives, and scornful language: and their device against me all the day ; or, "their meditation of ill against me"; or, "their speech", or discourse F24 הגיונם "meditationem... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 3:63

Behold their sitting down, and their rising up ,.... All their actions; the whole course of their lives; all which fell under the divine omniscience, Psalm 139:2 ; but that is not barely here meant; but that he would take particular notice hereof, and punish for the same. It may have respect both to their lying down at night, and rising in the morning; and to their sitting down at meals, and rising from them; at which times they were always meditating mischief against the people of God, or... read more

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