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Commentary on Lamentations 3 verses 1–20
The title of the 102nd Psalm might very fitly be prefixed to this chapter - The prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and pours out his complaint before the Lord; for it is very feelingly and fluently that the complaint is here poured out. Let us observe the particulars of it. The prophet complains, 1. That God is angry. This gives both birth and bitterness to the affliction (Lam 3:1): I am the man, the remarkable man, that has seen affliction, and has felt it sensibly, by the rod of his wrath. Note, God is sometimes angry with his own people; yet it is to be complained of, not as a sword to cut off, by only as a rod to correct; it is to them the rod of his wrath, a chastening which, though grievous for the present, will in the issue be advantageous. By this rod we must expect to see affliction, and, if we be made to see more than ordinary affliction by that rod, we must not quarrel, for we are sure that the anger is just and affliction mild and mixed with mercy. 2. That he is at a loss and altogether in the dark. Darkness is put for great trouble and perplexity, the want both of comfort and of direction; this was the case of the complainant (Lam 3:2): "He has led me by his providence, and an unaccountable chain of events, into darkness and not into light, the darkness I feared and not into the light I hoped for." And (Lam 3:6), He has set me in dark places, dark as the grave, like those that are dead of old, that are quite forgotten, nobody knows who or what they were. Note, The Israel of God, though children of light, sometimes walk in darkness. 3. That God appears against him as an enemy, as a professed enemy. God had been for him, but no "Surely against me is he turned (Lam 3:3), as far as I can discern; for his hand is turned against me all the day. I am chastened every morning," Psa 73:14. And, when God's hand is continually turned against us, we are tempted to think that his heart is turned against us too. God had said once (Hos 5:14), I will be as a lion to the house of Judah, and now he has made his word good (Lam 3:10): "He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, surprising me with his judgments, and as a lion in secret places; so that which way soever I went I was in continual fear of being set upon and could never think myself safe." Do men shoot at those thy are enemies to? He has bent his bow, the bow that was ordained against the church's prosecutors, that is bent against her sons, Lam 3:12. He has set me as a mark for his arrow, which he aims at, and will be sure to hit, and then the arrows of his quiver enter into my reins, give me a mortal wound, an inward wound, Lam 3:13. Note, God has many arrows in his quiver, and they fly swiftly and pierce deeply. 4. That he is as one sorely afflicted both in body and mind. The Jewish state may now be fitly compared to a man wrinkled with age, for which there is no remedy (Lam 3:4): "My flesh and my skin has he made old; they are wasted and withered, and I look like one that is ready to drop into the grave; nay, he has broken my bones, and so disabled me to help myself, Lam 3:15. He has filled me with bitterness, a bitter sense of his calamities." God has access to the spirit, and can so embitter that as thereby to embitter all the enjoyments; as, when the stomach is foul, whatever is eaten sours in it: "He has made me drunk with wormwood, so intoxicated me with the sense of my afflictions that I know not what to say or do. He has mingled gravel with my bread, so that my teeth are broken with it (Lam 3:16) and what I eat is neither pleasant nor nourishing. He has covered me with ashes, as mourners used to be, or (as some read it) he has fed me with ashes. I have eaten ashes like bread," Psa 102:9. 5. That he is not able to discern any way of escape or deliverance (Lam 3:5): "He has built against me, as forts and batteries are built against a besieged city. Where there was a way open it is now quite made up: He has compassed me on ever side with gall and travel; I vex, and fret, and tire myself, to find a way of escape, but can find none, Lam 3:7. He has hedged me about, that I cannot get out." When Jerusalem was besieged it was said to be compassed in on every side, Luk 19:43. "I am chained; and as some notorious malefactors are double-fettered, and loaded with irons, so he has made my chain heavy. He has also (Lam 3:9) enclosed my ways with hewn stone, not only hedged up my way with thorns (Hos 2:6), but stopped it up with a stone wall, which cannot be broken through, so that my paths are made crooked; I traverse to and fro, to the right hand, to the left, to try to get forward, but am still turned back." It is just with God to make those who walk in the crooked paths of sin, crossing God's laws, walk in the crooked paths of affliction, crossing their designs and breaking their measures. So (Lam 3:11), "He has turned aside my ways; he has blasted all my counsels, ruined my projects, so that I am necessitated to yield to my own ruin. He has pulled me in pieces; he has torn and is gone away (Hos 5:14), and has made me desolate, has deprived me of all society and all comfort in my own soul." 6. That God turns a deaf ear to his prayers (Lam 3:8): "When I cry and shout, as one in earnest, as one that would make him hear, yet he shuts out my prayer and will not suffer it to have access to him." God's ear is wont to be open to the prayers of his people, and his door of mercy to those that knock at it; but now both are shut, even to one that cries and shouts. Thus sometimes God seems to be angry even against the prayers of his people (Psa 80:4), and their case is deplorable indeed when they are denied not only the benefit of an answer, but the comfort of acceptance. 7. That his neighbours make a laughing matter of his troubles (Lam 3:14): I was a derision to all my people, to all the wicked among them, who made themselves an one another merry with the public judgments, and particularly the prophet Jeremiah's griefs. I am their song, their neginath, or hand-instrument of music, their tabret (Job 17:6), that they play upon, as Nero on his harp when Rome was on fire. 8. That he was ready to despair of relief and deliverance: "Thou hast not only taken peace from me, but hast removed my soul far off from peace (v. 17), so that it is not only not within reach, but no within view. I forget prosperity; it is so long since I had it, and so unlikely that I should ever recover it, that I have lost the idea of it. I have been so inured to sorrow and servitude that I know not what joy and liberty mean. I have even given up all for gone, concluding, My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord (Lam 3:18); I can no longer stay myself upon God as my support, for I do not find that he gives me encouragement to do so; nor can I look for his appearing in my behalf, so as to put an end to my troubles, for the case seems remediless, and even my God inexorable." Without doubt it was his infirmity to say this (Psa 77:10), for with God there is everlasting strength, and he is his people's never-failing hope, whatever they may think. 9. That grief returned upon every remembrance of his troubles, and his reflections were as melancholy as his prospects, Lam 3:19, Lam 3:20. Did he endeavour as Job did (Job 9:27), to forget his complaint? Alas! it was to no purpose; he remembers, upon all occasions, the affliction and the misery, the wormwood and the gall. Thus emphatically does he speak of his affliction, for thus did he think of it, thus heavily did it lie when he reviewed it! It was an affliction that was misery itself. My affliction and my transgression (so some read it), my trouble and my sin that brought it upon me; this was the wormwood and the gall in the affliction and the misery. It is sin that makes the cup of affliction a bitter cup. My soul has them still in remembrance. The captives in Babylon had all the miseries of the siege in their mind continually and the flames and ruins of Jerusalem still before their eyes, and wept when they remembered Zion; nay, they could never forget Jerusalem, Psa 137:1, Psa 137:5. My soul, having them in remembrance, is humbled in me, not only oppressed with a sense of the trouble, but in bitterness for sin. Note, It becomes us to have humble hearts under humbling providences, and to renew our penitent humiliations for sin upon every remembrance of our afflictions and miseries. Thus we may get good by former corrections and prevent further.
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SUMMARY
Lamentations 3:7 is a profound and intensely personal lament, articulating the prophet's overwhelming sense of being utterly confined and crushed by divine judgment. The verse vividly portrays an inescapable predicament, where an impenetrable barrier has been erected around the speaker, preventing any form of escape, and an unbearable burden, symbolized by a heavy chain, has been laid upon him. This imagery powerfully encapsulates the collective anguish of Judah following the catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem, expressing a feeling of being hopelessly trapped and oppressed by God's severe and righteous hand.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Lamentations 3:7 is rich in Metaphor, where abstract concepts of suffering and divine judgment are concretely depicted through vivid physical imagery. The "hedge" serves as a powerful metaphor for an inescapable barrier of affliction and divine confinement, while the "heavy chain" symbolizes the crushing weight of sorrow, guilt, or the severe consequences of sin. There is also an element of Hyperbole in the absolute nature of "cannot get out" and the emphatic description of the "heavy" chain, exaggerating the speaker's helplessness to convey the profound depth of his despair and the overwhelming nature of his predicament. Furthermore, the verse employs Anthropomorphism by attributing human actions (hedging, making a chain heavy) directly to God, illustrating the prophet's perception of God's direct and active role in his suffering and the nation's judgment. The entire verse functions as a powerful Lament, a deeply emotional and poetic expression of profound grief, complaint, and anguish directed towards God, which is characteristic of the book's overarching genre.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Lamentations 3:7 profoundly articulates the harrowing experience of divine judgment and its crushing weight, a theological reality woven throughout the Old Testament. It speaks to the severe consequences of sin, where God's righteous anger justly brings about affliction, leading to a profound sense of being trapped and burdened by one's own transgressions and their repercussions. While the immediate context is the national judgment of Judah for its persistent idolatry and disobedience to the covenant, the feelings expressed are deeply universal, resonating with anyone who has felt overwhelmed by life's circumstances, the weight of their own failures, or even what they perceive as divine discipline. However, this verse, though bleak in its immediate expression, is part of a larger, redemptive narrative within Lamentations that ultimately pivots to an enduring hope, reminding us that even in the deepest valleys of despair, God's steadfast love and mercies are new every morning, providing a path to eventual restoration, comfort, and renewed relationship.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Lamentations 3:7 offers a profound invitation to honest and unvarnished lament, acknowledging that even deeply spiritual individuals and communities can experience moments of utter despair and feel completely trapped by life's overwhelming circumstances, the painful consequences of their actions, or even what they perceive as divine discipline. This verse validates the raw human experience of feeling "hedged in" by chronic illness, relational brokenness, crippling financial hardship, the weight of past choices, or profound grief. It speaks to the crushing burden that such situations can impose, leading to a sense of powerlessness and hopelessness. The passage encourages us to bring our full, unvarnished pain and complaint before God, recognizing His sovereignty even in our suffering. While the immediate context is one of judgment, the broader message of Lamentations, especially the pivotal declaration of hope in Lamentations 3:22-23, reminds us that God's faithfulness endures even when we feel completely broken and without recourse. Our lament is not the final destination, but rather a necessary and authentic path through which we can ultimately encounter His steadfast love, compassion, and restorative power, even in the darkest and most confined seasons of our lives.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does this verse imply God is cruel or unjust in His actions?
Answer: While Lamentations 3:7 portrays God as the direct agent of the suffering ("He hath hedged me about... he hath made my chain heavy"), it is crucial to interpret this within the broader biblical narrative of divine justice and covenant. The suffering described in Lamentations is consistently presented as a direct, righteous consequence of Judah's persistent sin, idolatry, and rebellion against God, as meticulously detailed throughout prophetic books like Jeremiah. God's actions are not arbitrary cruelty or capricious punishment, but rather an expression of His holy character and righteous judgment, intended to bring His people to repentance and restore them to a right relationship with Himself. The "heavy chain" therefore represents the just and severe consequences of their unfaithfulness, not an unjust or tyrannical imposition.
How can I reconcile this verse, which depicts such severe judgment, with God's nature of love and mercy?
Answer: Lamentations 3:7, though depicting profound suffering and severe judgment, is intentionally placed within a larger chapter that famously pivots to a powerful declaration of God's enduring love, faithfulness, and compassion in Lamentations 3:22-23. This demonstrates that even in the midst of divine discipline and the experience of profound suffering, God's character remains merciful and compassionate. His judgment is never His final word or ultimate desire for His people. The experience of feeling "hedged in" and burdened, while undeniably painful, is often a means by which God draws His people back to Himself, leading to repentance, humility, and a deeper appreciation of His steadfast love and unfailing mercies. The tension between God's holiness (which necessitates judgment for sin) and His boundless love (which offers grace and restoration) is a recurring and profound theme throughout Scripture, illustrating the multifaceted nature of God's character and His unwavering desire for reconciliation.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Lamentations 3:7, with its raw depiction of inescapable suffering and the crushing weight of a "heavy chain," finds its ultimate resolution, profound meaning, and liberating hope in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. While the prophet laments the just judgment for national sin and the consequences of human rebellion, Christ, the innocent Lamb of God, willingly entered into the ultimate "hedge" of human suffering and bore the "heavy chain" of the world's sin on the cross. He was truly "hedged about" by the forces of evil, the accusations of humanity, and the immense weight of divine wrath, experiencing profound abandonment and confinement so that we, who were once spiritually imprisoned, might "get out" of our spiritual bondage. His agonizing cry on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46), profoundly echoes the depths of the prophet's despair, yet it was a cry of substitutionary atonement, bearing the judgment meant for us. Through His perfect sacrifice, Christ decisively broke the chains of sin, death, and condemnation (Colossians 2:14-15), offering true freedom and release from the crushing burden of guilt and the power of sin (Romans 8:1-2). Thus, what was an inescapable prison for the prophet becomes, through Christ's redemptive work, the very means of our liberation, fulfilling the promise that in Him, we find rest for our weary souls and a light that shines even in the deepest darkness (Matthew 11:28-30).