1:6 . It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. In the process of remembering Gods attributes, Jeremiah was drawn back into living fellowship and intimate communion with his faithful God. (Ryken). A sad complaint of God's displeasure and the fruits of it, ver 1-20. 3. General Epistles He has not only failed in his dutyhis own suffering has left him without peace, happiness, energy, or hope (verses 17-18). It has already been noticed in the introduction, that this chapter contains a triple acrostic, three lines always beginning with the same letter; so that the Hebrew alphabet is thrice repeated in this chapter, twenty-two multiplied by three being equal to sixty-six. And my hope That first, that last support of the miserable-it is gone! 4. Let the curse be executed, v. 66. Of all the men who lived through that terrible period, no one had a better right to say this than Jeremiah. He never afflicts us but when we give him cause to do it. It is added (v. 51), "My eye affects my heart. And again, a man! 56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry. Note, When we draw nigh to God in a way of duty we may by faith see him drawing nigh to us in a way of mercy. To give emphasis, Jeremiah asked the same question in different words. I have drunk the cup of misery till I am intoxicated with it. A serious consideration of ourselves and a reflection upon our past lives. Blayney translates, "Thou wilt give with a hearty concordance thy curse unto them." Lamentations: Bible at a Glance Here we find a different feeling; he humbles himself under the mighty hand of God, and then his hope revives, Lamentations 3:21. To be thrown into a mass or bed of perfect dust, where the eyes are blinded by it, the ears stopped, and the mouth and lungs filled at the very first attempt to respire after having been thrown into it-what a horrible idea of suffocation and drowning! The sum is, If tribulation work patience, that patience will work experience, and that experience a hope that makes not ashamed. The prophet tells us: 3. 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. a. This was the state of poor Jerusalem. 1. His discipline is not happy nor is it unfair (to turn aside the justice due a man). "Judah" is the population not merely of Jerusalem, but of the whole kingdom . Of this, death would deprive him; therefore let not a living man complain. (Clarke), ii. i. d. You have seen all their vengeance: Jeremiah brought his case to God, telling him of all the ways that his enemies had attacked him. But the weakest believer is wrong, if he thinks that his strength and hope are perished from the Lord. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point Formerly he inflicted punishments with reluctance, while there was any hope of amendment: but, in the instance before us, the case was so hopeless, that God acts according to the simple principle of vindictive justice. I called on Your name, O LORD, (Lamentations 3:64-66) Giving vengeance to God. This was the language of God's prophets preaching to them not to fear (Isa 41 10, 13, 14), of his providence preventing those things which they were afraid of, and of his grace quieting their minds, and making them easy, by the witness of his Spirit with their spirits that they were his people still, though in distress, and therefore ought not to fear. 17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. V. Encouragement taken to hope in God, and continue waiting for his salvation, with an appeal to his justice against the persecutors of the church, ver 55-66.