Lamentations 3:34

"To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth,

To turn aside the right of a man

before the face of the Most High,

To subvert a man in his cause,

the Lord approveth not.

Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass,

when the Lord commandeth it not?

Out of the mouth of the Most High

cometh there not evil and good?

Wherefore doth a living man complain,

a man for the punishment of his sins?"

"To crush under foot ... the prisoners" (Lamentations 3:34). "This refers to the harsh cruelties of the Babylonians."[30] The purpose of this being mentioned here is to indicate God's disapproval of men's atrocities. "We have here a short catalogue of the oppressions visited upon God's people by their conquerors."[31] The word that applies to all of these things is, "The Lord approveth not" (Lamentations 3:36).

The fact of God's strong disapproval of the cruel and sadistic actions of Israel conquerors carried with it also a pledge of the ultimate severe punishment and destruction of those oppressors.

"Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not" (Lamentations 3:37). "It is true that God does not desire our misfortunes; but it is equally true that they do not happen without his permission (Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6)."[32]

"Wherefore doth a living man complain ... for the punishment of his sins" (Lamentations 3:39)? "Nothing can happen without the permission of the Most High. Then why should a man complain when he is punished for his sins? Not suffering, but sins should be lamented. Let us not murmur against God for that which we have brought upon ourselves."[33] In America today, it would be much closer to what is right for aids sufferers to be lamenting the homosexuality that lies as the root cause of so much of their suffering, instead of their complaining and screaming to high heaven for billions of dollars to be spent in an effort to cure them. Sin should be lamented, not the consequences of it.