Lamentations 1:1-11
DESCRIPTION OF THE SHAMEFUL LOT WHICH HAS COME UPON JERUSALEM... [ Continue Reading ]
DESCRIPTION OF THE SHAMEFUL LOT WHICH HAS COME UPON JERUSALEM... [ Continue Reading ]
How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! It is a strong expression of horrified astonishment over the fact that the formerly populous city is now lonely and deserted, sitting alone in deep mourning. HOW IS SHE BECOME AS A WIDOW! She no longer enjoys the fellowship of Jehovah, her Husb... [ Continue Reading ]
She weepeth sore in the night, the slumber being driven away from her eyelids by the greatness of her sorrow, AND HER TEARS ARE ON HER CHEEKS, since they flow without stopping and have no chance to dry; AMONG ALL HER LOVERS, who formerly professed affection for her, SHE HATH NONE TO COMFORT HER; all... [ Continue Reading ]
Judah is gone into captivity, led away into exile, BECAUSE OF AFFLICTION, the misery upon the country on account of the occupation of the land by the Chaldeans, AND BECAUSE OF GREAT SERVITUDE, the servile work which was included in the tributary service exacted by the conquerors; SHE DWELLETH AMONG... [ Continue Reading ]
The ways of Zion do mourn, all the roads leading to the capital lying desolate, because there are no pilgrims found there, BECAUSE NONE COME TO THE SOLEMN FEASTS, the great festivals of the Jewish year; ALL HER GATES ARE DESOLATE, for there is no longer the happy traffic of former years; HER PRIESTS... [ Continue Reading ]
Her adversaries are the chief, that is, the head, the rulers of Judah, HER ENEMIES PROSPER, their good fortune intensifying the darkness of her own calamity; FOR THE LORD HATH AFFLICTED HER FOR THE MULTITUDE OF HER TRANSGRESSIONS, the punishment which she was suffering being fully deserved; HER CHIL... [ Continue Reading ]
And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed, the presence of Jehovah and His glory in her midst; HER PRINCES ARE BECOME LIKE HARTS THAT FIND NO PASTURE, so that they have no strength to flee and escape from the enemy, AND THEY ARE GONE WITHOUT STRENGTH BEFORE THE PURSUER. Cf 2 Kings 25:... [ Continue Reading ]
Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, the members of the Jewish Church recalling with eager remembrance the glorious evidences of God's blessing which had been theirs, WHEN HER PEOPLE FELL INTO THE HAND OF THE... [ Continue Reading ]
Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, chiefly by joining in the idolatry of Israel and the heathen nations, THEREFORE SHE IS REMOVED, as one separated from the congregation on account of legal impurity; ALL THAT HONORED HER DESPISE HER BECAUSE THEY HAVE SEEN HER NAKEDNESS, her sins and vices having now... [ Continue Reading ]
Her filthiness is in her skirts, as of a woman Levitically unclean; SHE REMEMBERETH NOT HER LAST END, she did not consider the result of her persistent iniquity, THEREFORE SHE CAME DOWN WONDERFULLY, the greatness of her fall being such as to cause men to marvel; SHE HAD NO COMFORTER, no one to take... [ Continue Reading ]
The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things, blasphemously robbing even the precious vessels and appointments of the Temple; FOR SHE HATH SEEN THAT THE HEATHEN ENTERED INTO HER SANCTUARY, WHOM THOU DIDST COMMAND THAT THEY SHOULD NOT ENTER INTO THY CONGREGATION, the heathen as... [ Continue Reading ]
All her people sigh, with the calamity of the severe famine as a further cause for groaning, THEY SEEK BREAD; THEY HAVE GIVEN THEIR PLEASANT THINGS FOR MEAT TO RELIEVE THE SOUL, no valuables being too precious, in this emergency, where the question is to save lives. Their groaning arises in a ferven... [ Continue Reading ]
Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Will none of those who are witnesses of her misery and shame take the proper notice of her calamity? BEHOLD AND SEE IF THERE BE ANY SORROW LIKE UNTO MY SORROW WHICH IS DONE UNTO ME, WHEREWITH THE LORD HATH AFFLICTED ME IN THE DAY OF HIS FIERCE ANGER. The gr... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LAMENT OF THE CITY AND THE ANSWER OF THE LORD... [ Continue Reading ]
From above hath He sent fire into my bones, which are here thought of as organs of the body that are first to feel a racking pain, AND IT PREVAILETH AGAINST THEM, so that the very vital powers are affected; HE HATH SPREAD A NET FOR MY FEET, to entangle her in His judgments; HE HATH TURNED ME BACK, m... [ Continue Reading ]
The yoke of my transgressions is bound by His hand, sin being not only a taskmaster, but a yoke pressing the sinner down, with God Himself, as it were, holding the reins firmly twisted round His hand, so that escape is impossible; THEY ARE WREATHED, the many cords of sin being woven together increas... [ Continue Reading ]
The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me, slaying them while they were engaged in the defense of the city; HE HATH CALLED AN ASSEMBLY AGAINST ME TO CRUSH MY YOUNG MEN, the very expression setting forth the strange contrast and the severity of the punishment; THE LORD HAT... [ Continue Reading ]
For these things I weep, giving free rein to her tears, MINE EYE, MINE EYE, RUNNETH DOWN WITH WATER, BECAUSE THE COMFORTER THAT SHOULD RELIEVE MY SOUL IS FAR FROM ME, the friends to whom she might have looked for words and deeds which would restore her soul having forsaken her; MY CHILDREN ARE DESOL... [ Continue Reading ]
Zion spreadeth forth her hands, in a gesture imploring help, AND THERE IS NONE TO COMFORT HER; THE LORD HATH COMMANDED CONCERNING JACOB THAT HIS ADVERSARIES SHOULD BE ROUND ABOUT HIM, his very neighbors being his enemies and seeking his destruction. JERUSALEM IS AS A MENSTRUOUS WOMAN AMONG THEM, shu... [ Continue Reading ]
The Lord is righteous, just in His treatment of the rebellious city; FOR I HAVE REBELLED AGAINST HIS COMMANDMENT. HEAR, I PRAY YOU, ALL PEOPLE, AND BEHOLD MY SORROW, since she feels the need of sympathy; MY VIRGINS AND MY YOUNG MEN ARE GONE INTO CAPTIVITY, this fact showing the very climax of her af... [ Continue Reading ]
I called for my lovers, the nations which had professed an interest of true affection, BUT THEY DECEIVED ME; MY PRIESTS AND MINE ELDERS GAVE UP THE GHOST IN THE CITY, both the spiritual and the temporal rulers expiring in the neighborhood of the Sanctuary of Jehovah, WHILE THEY SOUGHT THEIR MEAT TO... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress, she implored Him to observe how badly she fared. MY BOWELS ARE TROUBLED, being violently excited with excessive grief; MINE HEART IS TURNED WITHIN ME, FOR I HAVE GRIEVOUSLY REBELLED, the punishment being altogether deserved, in the full measure in which it struc... [ Continue Reading ]
They have heard that I sigh, the former friends and allies being fully aware of her groaning; THERE IS NONE TO COMFORT ME, for they all ignore her trouble. ALL MINE ENEMIES HAVE HEARD OF MY TROUBLE; THEY ARE GLAD THAT THOU HAST DONE IT, rejoicing over the Lord's punishment upon Zion. THOU WILT BRING... [ Continue Reading ]
Let all their wickedness come before Thee, for a just punishment, AND DO UNTO THEM AS THOU HAST DONE UNTO ME FOR ALL MY TRANSGRESSIONS, according to the same righteous judgment; FOR MY SIGHS ARE MANY, AND MY HEART IS FAINT. This is not a vindictive prayer, but a plea for justice, which repentant bel... [ Continue Reading ]