Bible Version: New International Version (NIV)
Application Notes: Life Application Study Bible (NIV)
LAMENTATIONS 3
1 I am the man who has seen affliction
by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness rather than light;
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
and has broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness and hardship.
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
he has weighed me down with chains.
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer.
9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion in hiding,
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me
and left me without help.
12 He drew his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.
13 He pierced my heart
with arrows from his quiver.
14 I became the laughingstock of all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs
and given me gall to drink.
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;
he has trampled me in the dust.
17 I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,
for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.
31 For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.
34 To crush underfoot
all prisoners in the land,
35 to deny people their rights
before the Most High,
36 to deprive them of justice—
would not the Lord see such things?
37 Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?
39 Why should the living complain
when punished for their sins?
40 Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven, and say:
42 “We have sinned and rebelled
and you have not forgiven.
43 “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;
you have slain without pity.
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.
45 You have made us scum and refuse
among the nations.
46 “All our enemies have opened their mouths
wide against us.
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,
ruin and destruction.”
48 Streams of tears flow from my eyes
because my people are destroyed.
49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
because of all the women of my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
hunted me like a bird.
53 They tried to end my life in a pit
and threw stones at me;
54 the waters closed over my head,
and I thought I was about to perish.
55 I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths of the pit.
56 You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief.”
57 You came near when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”
58 You, Lord, took up my case;
you redeemed my life.
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.
Uphold my cause!
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
all their plots against me.
61 Lord, you have heard their insults,
all their plots against me—
62 what my enemies whisper and mutter
against me all day long.
63 Look at them! Sitting or standing,
they mock me in their songs.
64 Pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
for what their hands have done.
65 Put a veil over their hearts,
and may your curse be on them!
66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under the heavens of the Lord.
Application Notes
3:1-66 In Jeremiah's darkest moment, his hope was strengthened with this assurance: God had been faithful and would continue to be faithful. Jeremiah saw both God's judgment and God's steadfast love. In times of prosperity, Jeremiah had warned the people of God's judgment. But in the time of judgment, Jeremiah could still cling to God's love.
3:1-66 In the original Hebrew text of this book, the first four chapters in Lamentations are acrostic poems. Each verse in each chapter begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Lamentations 3 has 66 verses rather than 22 because it is a triple acrostic: The first three verses begin with the equivalent of A, the next three with 8, and so on. This was a typical form of Hebrew poetry. Other examples of acrostics are Psalms 37, 119, and 145, and Proverbs 31:10-31.
3:21-22 Jeremiah saw one ray of hope in all the sin and sorrow surrounding him: “Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.” Each day when we wake up, God's mercy greets us. No other faith has a fresh outpouring of grace each day. God always willingly responds with help when we ask. You may have some sin in your life that you think God will not forgive. But he is the Lord of hope (3:21), love (3:22), faithfulness (3:23), and salvation (3:26). God's compassionate love and mercy are greater than any sin, and he promises forgiveness to those who repent.
3:23 Jeremiah knew from personal experience about God's faithfulness. God had promised that punishment would follow disobedience, and it did. But God had also promised future restoration and blessing, and Jeremiah knew that God would keep that promise also. Because God is faithful day by day, we can be confident that he will come through in his great promises for the future.
3:27-33 To “bear the yoke” means to willingly yield to God's discipline and learn what he wants to teach. This involves several important factors: (1) silent reflection on what God wants, (2) repentant humility, (3) selfcontrol in the face of adversity, and (4) confident patience, depending on the divine Teacher to bring about loving lessons in our lives. God has several long-term and short-term lessons for you right now. Are you doing your homework?
3:30 To “offer his cheek to one who would strike him” means to submit to suffering without defending oneself or fighting back. Jesus taught his followers to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39), and he exemplified this at the highest level just before his crucifixion (Matthew 27:27-31; Luke 22:64; John 18:22; 19:3). This teaching, however, should never be used to justify physical, verbal, or emotional abuse. Nor is it a requirement that anyone should submit to abusive treatment.
3:39-42 Parents discipline their children to produce good behavior. God disciplined Judah to produce a restored relationship with him, love for him in worship, and godly treatment of others. We should not resent or ignore corrective or instructive discipline but learn from it. Take time to examine your motives and actions while trusting God and being willing to change. Allow God's correction to bring about the kind of behavior in your life that pleases him.
3:52-57 At one point in his ministry, Jeremiah was thrown into an empty cistern, a pit or cave used to collect and store water. He was left to die in the mud at the bottom of the pit (Jeremiah 38:6-13), but God rescued him. Just as God rescued Jeremiah, he would rescue the nation that was sinking in sin if only they would turn to him. You may feel as though your enemies have thrown you into a pit (see Psalm 35:7) or that you are up to your neck in troubles as thick as mud. God sees your situation) Have you asked him for help? If so, it is on the way.
Taken from Life Application Study Bible - Third Edition - (NIV)