36: God's steadfast love endures — Lamentations 3:1-40

3I am one who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath;
² he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light;
³ against me alone he turns his hand, again and again, all day long.
⁴ He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones;
⁵ he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation;
⁶ he has made me sit in darkness like the dead of long ago.
⁷ He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me;
⁸ though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer;
⁹ he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked.
¹⁰ He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding;
¹¹ he led me off my way and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate;
¹² he bent his bow and set me as a mark for his arrow.
¹³ He shot into my vitals the arrows of his quiver;
¹⁴ I have become the laughingstock of all my people,
the object of their taunt-songs all day long.
¹⁵ He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood.
¹⁶ He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes;
¹⁷ my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is;
¹⁸ so I say, “Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the LORD.”
¹⁹ The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall!
²⁰ My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me.
²¹ But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
²² The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
²⁶ It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
²⁷ It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth,
²⁸ to sit alone in silence when the Lord has imposed it,
²⁹ to put one’s mouth to the dust (there may yet be hope),
³⁰ to give one’s cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults.
³¹ For the Lord will not reject forever.
³² Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
³³ for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.
³⁴ When all the prisoners of the land are crushed under foot,
³⁵ when human rights are perverted in the presence of the Most High,
³⁶ when one’s case is subverted—does the Lord not see it?
³⁷ Who can command and have it done, if the Lord has not ordained it?
³⁸ Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?
³⁹ Why should any who draw breath complain about the punishment of their sins?
⁴⁰ Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD. NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Who is speaking in this section? How does the speaker describe her/his situation? What images does the speaker use? Who does the speaker see as responsible for the situ- ation? Why do you suppose he identifies God?

2. What is the speaker’s physical state? What is his emotional state? How hopeful is the speaker about the situa- tion he is dealing with?

3. How does the speaker describe what God is doing to him? How are other people reacting to the speaker? How does this make the speaker feel? What images does he use to describe his emotions?

4. What does the speaker remember that changes his outlook? How does he describe God’s love? What images does he use? How does this affect the speaker’s attitude toward God? Toward his current suffering?

5. What does the speaker say about suffering and affliction? How should a person respond? What should a person remember about affliction? How does God respond to affliction?

Get Personal

How do you usually respond to difficulties in your life? How do you see God’s involvement in suffering? How has God helped you understand your life in relationship to him?

3:1. Seen affliction — even though this chapter begins with the same focus on sin and suffering as the first two chapters (as well as chapters 4 and 5), God’s enduring love is the center of the author’s message.
I am one — most conservative scholars believe Jeremiah is the author of Lamentations, and the sufferings in this chapter are very similar to the afflictions Jeremiah faced in his career.
3:3. Turns his hand — God’s “hand” as a symbol of his actions appears in other Old Testament passages, such as: The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and struck them with tumors, both in Ashdod and in its territory, [1 Sam 5:6]. 
3:4-6. Made my flesh . . . — Jeremiah’s afflictions led to severe health problems, which then affected his emotional state [check v. 15]. Some of the Psalms also describe the consequences of God’s punishment: There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin, [38:3].

3:7-9. Walled me about . . . — to Jeremiah the situation appears hopeless: God is against him. (Compare with Job’s perception of his problems: For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me, [6:4] and, Why have you made me your target? Why have I become a burden to you? [7:20].)
3:9. Crooked paths — often an image of sinful behavior, here it signifies Jeremiah’s separation from God.
3:15. Wormwood — a desert shrub with a strong odor and extremely bitter taste; in the Bible it is a symbol for a very bad experience [check Amos 5:7 or Rev 8:10-11].
3:21. But this I call to mind — in the midst of his litany of suffering Jeremiah remembers God’s loyalty and love for his people.
3:26. It is good . . . Jeremiah gives us a primer on affliction: it does not supplant our hope for God’s salvation [26-30]; it is temporary [31]; it is mod erated by God’s love [32]; it is not something God enjoys or prefers [33]; God is always aware of it and its effects [34-37]; it is due to sin [39]; it should lead to repentance [40].