Lamentations 3:66

Render unto them a recompence, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. RENDER UNTO THEM A RECOMPENCE - (; , "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil; the Lord reward him according to his works"). Verse 65. GIVE THEM SORROW OF HEART - rather, blindness or hardness of heart; literally, 'a veil' [mªginat] covering their heart, so that they may rush on their own ruin (; 2 Corinthians 3:14). Verse 66. PERSECUTE ... THEM ... FROM UNDER THE HEAVENS OF THE LORD - destroy them, so that it may he seen everywhere under heaven that thou sittest above as Judge of the world....

He first asks God to _persecute them in wrath, _that is, to be implacable to them; for persecution is, when God not only chastises the wicked for a short time, but when he adds evils to evils, and accumulates them until they perish. He then adds, and prays God to _destroy them from under the heavens of Jehovah _This phrase is emphatical; and they extenuate the weightiness of the sentence, who thus render it, “that God himself would destroy the ungodly from the earth.” For the Prophet does not without a design mention the heavens of Jehovah, as though he had said, that though God is hidden from us while we sojourn in the world, he yet dwells in heaven, for heaven is often called the throne of God, — “The heaven is my throne.” (Isaiah 66:1.) “O God, who dwellest in the sanctuary.” (Psalms 22:4

55-66 Faith comes off conqueror, for in these verses the prophet concludes with some comfort. Prayer is the breath of the new man, drawing in the air of mercy in petitions, and returning it in praises; it proves and maintains the spiritual life. He silenced their fears, and quieted their spirits. Thou saidst, Fear not. This was the language of God's grace, by the witness of his Spirit with their spirits. And what are all our sorrows, compared with those of the Redeemer? He will deliver his people from every trouble, and revive his church from every persecution. He will save believers with everlasting salvation, while his enemies perish with everlasting destruction....

Verse Lamentations 3:66. _PERSECUTE AND DESTROY THEM_] Thou wilt pursue them with destruction. These are all _declaratory_, not _imprecatory_. _FROM UNDER THE HEAVENS OF THE LORD._] This verse seems to allude to the Chaldaic prediction, in Jeremiah 10:11. By their conduct they will bring on themselves the curse denounced against their enemies. The _Septuagint_ and _Vulgate_ seem to have read "From under heaven, O Jehovah:" and the _Syriac_ reads, "Thy heavens, O Jehovah!" None of these makes any material change in the meaning of the words. It has already been noticed in the _introduction_, that this chapter contains a _triple acrostic, three_ lines always beginning with the same letter; so th

A prayer for deliverance and for vengeance upon his enemies. Lamentations 3:55 OUT OF THE LOW DUNGEON - “The lowest pit” of Psalms 88:6. Some consider that Psalms 69 was composed by Jeremiah, and is the prayer referred to here (Jeremiah 38:6 note). Lamentations 3:56 THOU HAST HEARD - In sending Ebedmelech to deliver me. The next clause signifies “Hide not thine ear to my relief to my cry,” i. e. to my cry for relief....

EXPOSITION LAMENTATIONS 3:1 MONOLOGUE SPOKEN BY AN INDIVIDUAL BELIEVER WHOSE FATE IS BOUND UP WITH THAT OF THE NATION; OR PERHAPS BY THE NATION PERSONIFIED (see Introduction). LAMENTATIONS 3:1 SEEN. "To see" in Hebrew often means "to experience;" _e.g._...

PERSECUTE AND DESTROY THEM IN ANGER,.... As they have persecuted the people of God, do thou persecute them; and never leave pursuing them untie thou hast made a full end of them, as the effect of vindictive wrath and vengeance: FROM UNDER THE HEAVENS OF THE LORD; which are made by him, and in which he dwells; let them not have the benefit of them, nor so much as the sight of them; but let them perish from under them, Jeremiah 10:11....

We are about to read a chapter which is very full of sorrow; while you are listening to it, some of you may be saying, «We are not in that condition.» Well then, be thankful that you are not, and while you hear of the sorrows of others, bless God for the joys you yourself experience. At the same time, remember that there is a way of sorrow which leads at last to rest and peace. There is truth in the words of the poet Cowper, «The path of sorrow, and that path alone, Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown.» If you have never known the sorrows of the weeping prophet, or anything like them, I am not sure that you should congratulate yourselves, for there is a brokenness of heart that is worth more than the whole world, there is a crushed and bruised spirit in which the Lord delights, and which is a token for good to the one who possesses it. L

CHAPTER 3 THE PROPHET'S SUFFERING AND DISTRESS This chapter is intensely personal. None but Jeremiah could have written these wonderful expressions of sorrow, the sorrows of the people of God into which he entered so fully, in such a way that they become his own. He shared all their afflictions, bore them himself and then was hated by them. It was the Spirit of Christ who created these feelings in the heart of the prophet. In reading these words of deep distress and the words of faith and waiting for Him, we must look beyond Jeremiah and see a picture of our Lord, “the Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” His sorrow and His afflictions, the emotions of His holy soul, as well as the experiences and soul exercise of the believing remnant of Israel in days to come. The prophet speaks of himself as one who is smitten by the rod of God's wrath, the man that hath seen affliction. He had...

LAMENTATIONS 3. THE THIRD LAMENT. Here it is the singer that comes chiefly to the front; whereas in Lamentations 3:1 it had been Zion, and in Lamentations 3:2 it was Yahweh. EV hardly puts Lamentations 3:1 forcibly enough: it should read, It is I, even I the strong man, who know now, alas, what abasement means. The chant is artistically more clever than Lamentations 3:1 and Lamentations 3:2, but its heart is not so great. In form it has a cunning device all its own; for the first stanza has three initial Alephs, the second h