The Prophen Details His Afflictions

Topic: Hurts
Passage: Lamentations 3:1–24

January 29, 2021

Commentary

Jeremiah pours out his heart in behalf of his erring, prostrate nation. Her crimes have brought her to the brink of extinction. She lies crushed and bleeding beneath a merciless invader. Her temple is in ruins; her walls are demolished; her people are either dead, dazed, scattered, or captive.

So as we turn to Lamentations 3, what are the Biblical afflictions God uses, manages, allows and most of all – hurts that HE can handle:

  1. The hurts of broken and physical health (v.4), “He has aged my flesh and my skin, and broken my bones.”
  2. The hurts of deep emotional strain (v. 5). “He has besieged me And surrounded me with bitterness and woe.”
  3. The hurts of periods of hard depression (v. 6). “He has set me in dark places Like the dead of long ago.”
  4. The hurts of desperation and burden of being trapped (v. 7) “He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; He has made my chain heavy.”
  5. The hurts of feeling out of touch, distant from God and left behind in life (v. 8). “Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer.”
  6. The hurts of frustration and confusion (v. 9) “He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked.”
  7. The hurts of anxiety and sadness (v. 17). You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity.
  8. The hurts of physical weakness and hopelessness (v. 18). And I said, “My strength and my hope Have perished from the Lord.”
  9. The hurts of bitter affliction and aimlessness (v. 19). “Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall.”

Application

Jeremiah saw one ray of hope in all the sin and sorrow that surrounded him. It is comforting to know that God’s steadfast love is greater than my sin and He promises forgiveness.

Lamentations 3:1– 24 (NET)

1 I am the man who has experienced affliction from the rod of theLord’s wrath.

2 He drove me into captivity and made me walk in darkness and not light.

3 He repeatedly attacks me; he turns his hand against me all day long. ב (Bet)

4 He has made my mortal skin waste away; he has broken my bones.

5 He has besieged and surrounded me with bitter hardship.

6 He has made me reside in deepest darkness like those who died long ago. ג (Gimel)

7 He has walled me in so that I cannot get out; he has weighted me down with heavy prison chains.

8 Also, when I cry out desperately for help, he has shut out my prayer.

9 He has blocked every road I take with a wall of hewn stones; he has made every path impassable. ד (Dalet)

10 To me he is like a bear lying in ambush, like a hidden lion stalking its prey.

11 He has obstructed my paths and torn me to pieces; he has made me desolate.

12 He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrow. ה (He)

13 He shot his arrows into my heart.

14 I have become the laughingstock of all people, their mocking song all day long.

15 He has given me my fill of bitter herbs and made me drunk with bitterness. ו (Vav)

16 He ground my teeth in gravel; he trampled me in the dust.

17 I am deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is.

18 So I said, “My endurance has expired; I have lost all hope of deliverance from the Lord.” ז (Zayin)

19 Remember my impoverished and homeless condition, which is a bitter poison.

20 I continually think about this, and I am depressed.

21 But this I call to mind; therefore I have hope: ח (Khet)

22 The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end.

23 They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant!

24 “My portion is the Lord,” I have said to myself, so I will put my hope in him. ט (Tet)