Lamentations 5:21

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 5:17-22

Here, I. The people of God express the deep concern they had for the ruins of the temple, more than for any other of their calamities; the interests of God's house lay nearer their hearts than those of their own (Lam. 5:17, 18): For this our heart is faint, and sinks under the load of its own heaviness; for these things our eyes are dim, and our sight is gone, as is usual in a deliquium, or fainting fit. ?It is because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the holy mountain, and the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 5:21

Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned ,.... This prayer expresses the sense they had of their backslidings from God, and distance from him; of their inability to turn themselves to the Lord, or convert themselves; and of their need of divine grace, and of the efficacy of that to effect it; see Jeremiah 31:18 ; for this is to be understood not only of returning them to their own land, and to the external worship of God in it; but of turning them to the Lord by true and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 5:21

Renew our days as of old - Restore us to our former state. Let us regain our country, our temple, and all the Divine offices of our religion; but, more especially, thy favor. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 5:21

Verse 21 The Prophet shews, in this verse, that the remedy is in God’s hand whenever he is pleased to succor his people. He, then, exalts here the power of God, as though he had said, that God is not without power, but that he can, whenever he pleases, help his people. This is not, indeed, a sufficient ground for confidence, yet it is the beginning of hope; for whence is it that despair weakens us, so that we cannot call on God? because we think that it is all over with us; and whence is this?... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 5:19-22

FINAL APPEAL TO GOD FOR THE REVERSAL OF THE JUDGMENT . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 5:19-22

The only resource acknowledged to be in God. It will be felt that this prayer is a fitting conclusion to the book. What could be more proper than that these people, having looked all around with an ever-deepening sense of loss and humiliation, should now look above? Upon earth, in strength or skill of man, there is nothing to be looked for; if anything is to be got, it is by looking to heaven. I. AMID ALL THESE CHANGES THE CONTINUANCE OF JEHOVAH IS PERCEIVED .... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 5:21

Turn thou us, etc. Not "bring us back to thee," i.e. to the sacred land (as Thenius), for it is not a speech of the exiles, but of the Jews left behind, at least for the present, in Judea. "Turn thou us" means "Bring us into a state of reconciliation with thee" The next petition, Renew our days as of old, means, "Restore the old happy mode of life, each man with his own vine and his own fig tree, undisturbed by the fear of invasion, and rejoicing in the sense of the favour of Jehovah."... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 5:21

Renewal. When they do not lead to improvement lamentations are profitless, though they may be unavoidable. It is vain to mourn the past if our grief does not help us to make the future better. Sorrow for sin is good only when it leads to an active repentance. It is therefore necessary that a true consideration of the miserable condition into which evil living has brought us should rouse an earnest desire for a new and better life. I. RENEWAL MUST BE THE WORK OF GOD . The... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 5:21

Turn us again! The Scriptures are the volume of hope; they lend no countenance to despondency; they rebuke despair. Deep as was the degradation of the Jews, far as they had wandered from God's ways, inexcusably as they had defied his authority, there was for them a place of repentance. And Jeremiah closes this Book of Lamentations with language of confident supplication and well grounded hope of better times. I. THE NEED OF TURNING . The whole of the book thus closed witnesses... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Lamentations 5:19-22

Lamentations 5:19-22. Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever Though, for our sins, thou hast suffered these calamities to befall us, and our throne, through thy righteous providence, is thrown down; yet thou art still the same God that thou ever wast: thy power is not diminished, nor thy goodness abated. Thou still governest the world, and orderest all the events of it, and shalt rule it, and superintend its affairs, for ever and ever. Thou art, therefore, always able to help us, and art thou not... read more

Group of Brands