26 Good! when one doth stay and stand still For the salvation of Jehovah.
Be silent for Jehovah, and stay thyself for Him, Do not fret because of him Who is making prosperous his way, Because of a man doing wicked devices.
Ye may not cast away, then, your boldness, which hath great recompense of reward,
I hoped `for' Jehovah -- hoped hath my soul, And for His word I have waited.
I have longed for Thy salvation, O Jehovah, And Thy law `is' my delight.
For thus said the Lord Jehovah, The Holy One of Israel: `In returning and rest ye are saved, In keeping quiet and in confidence is your might, And ye have not been willing.
Wherefore having girded up the loins of your mind, being sober, hope perfectly upon the grace that is being brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ,
Yea, Egyptians `are' vanity, and in vain do help, Therefore I have cried concerning this: `Their strength `is' to sit still.'
And I -- nearness of God to me `is' good, I have placed in the Lord Jehovah my refuge, To recount all Thy works!
With a free will-offering I sacrifice to Thee, I thank Thy name, O Jehovah, for `it is' good,
Look unto Jehovah, and keep His way, And He doth exalt thee to possess the land, In the wicked being cut off -- thou seest!
Not for you to fight in this; station yourselves, stand, and see the salvation of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem -- be not afraid nor fear ye -- to-morrow go out before them, and Jehovah `is' with you.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Lamentations 3
Commentary on Lamentations 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
The scope of this chapter is the same with that of the two foregoing chapters, but the composition is somewhat different; that was in long verse, this is in short, another kind of metre; that was in single alphabets, this is in a treble one. Here is,
Some make all this to be spoken by the prophet himself when he was imprisoned and persecuted; but it seems rather to be spoken in the person of the church now in captivity and in a manner desolate, and in the desolations of which the prophet did in a particular manner interest himself. But the complaints here are somewhat more general than those in the foregoing chapter, being accommodated to the case as well of particular persons as of the public, and intended for the use of the closet rather than of the solemn assembly. Some think Jeremiah makes these complaints, not only as an intercessor for Israel, but as a type of Christ, who was thought by some to be Jeremiah the weeping prophet, because he was much in tears (Mt. 16:14) and to him many of the passages here may be applied.
Lam 3:1-20
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,
Lam 3:21-36
Here the clouds begin to disperse and the sky to clear up; the complaint was very melancholy in the former part of the chapter, and yet here the tune is altered and the mourners in Zion begin to look a little pleasant. But for hope, the heart would break. To save the heart from being quite broken, here is something called to mind, which gives ground for hope (v. 21), which refers to what comes after, not to what goes before. I make to return to my heart (so the margin words it); what we have had in our hearts, and have laid to our hearts, is sometimes as if it were quite lost and forgotten, till God by his grace make it return to our hearts, that it may be ready to us when we have occasion to use it. "I recall it to mind; therefore have I hope, and am kept from downright despair.' Let us see what these things are which he calls to mind.
Lam 3:37-41
That we may be entitled to the comforts administered to the afflicted in the foregoing verses, and may taste the sweetness of them, we have here the duties of an afflicted state prescribed to us, in the performance of which we may expect those comforts.
Lam 3:42-54
It is easier to chide ourselves for complaining than to chide ourselves out of it. The prophet had owned that a living man should not complain, as if he checked himself for his complaints in the former part of the chapter; and yet here the clouds return after the rain and the wound bleeds afresh; for great pains must be taken with a troubled spirit to bring it into temper.
Lam 3:55-66
We may observe throughout this chapter a struggle in the prophet's breast between sense and faith, fear and hope; he complains and then comforts himself, yet drops his comforts and returns again to his complaints, as Ps. 42. But, as there, so here, faith gets the last word and comes off a conqueror; for in these verses he concludes with some comfort. And here are two things with which he comforts himself:-