Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Lamentations 3:39

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 39. Wherefore doth a living man complain — He who has his life still lent to him has small cause of complaint. How great soever his affliction may be, he is still alive; therefore, he may seek and find mercy unto eternal life. Of this, death would deprive him; therefore let not a living man complain.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Grief, repentance and hope (3:1-66)

This poem is different in style from the previous two. The poet speaks as if he is the representative of all Judah, describing Judah’s sufferings as if they were his own. And those sufferings are God’s righteous judgment (3:1-3). He is like a starving man ready to die. Indeed, he feels as if he already dwells in the world of the dead (4-6). He is like a man chained and locked inside a stone prison from which there is no way out (7-9).
To the writer God seems like a wild animal that tears its prey to pieces, or like a hunter who has shot his prey with an arrow (10-12). Mocked and afflicted, the writer feels like one who has been punished by being forced to eat and drink things that are harmful to him (13-15). He is like a person whose face has been rubbed in the ground and whose joy for life has gone (16-18). He feels hurt and depressed, yet in all the darkness of his suffering he now sees a ray of hope (19-21).
God may punish, but the writer still trusts in him. He knows that God’s steadfast love does not change. It is constant and reliable (22-24). God disciplines and trains, but those who are patient will enjoy the fulness of his salvation (25-27). Humility and submission are important, even submission to the enemy that God sends as his agent of judgment (28-30).
The people of God can be assured that he does not reject them for ever and that he has no pleasure in punishing them. Nevertheless, punishment is necessary (31-33). But God does not approve of punishment that is unnecessarily cruel, ignores a person’s rights or perverts justice (34-36).
When people know that God is in control of all things, and confess that God’s judgment is just, they will bear his punishment patiently (37-39). The writer therefore urges the people of his shattered country to examine themselves, to recognize their sin, to acknowledge that the punishment they have received is just, and to turn to God and seek his forgiveness (40-42).
Speaking as if he is the whole nation of Judah, the writer acknowledges his sin. He confesses that it has been a barrier or cloud between him and God, preventing God from hearing his prayers for mercy. As a result he has been ruined and disgraced (43-45). He is filled with grief because of the cruelty and mockery he has suffered at the hands of his enemies (46-48). He weeps when he looks at the terrible suffering that has fallen upon the people of Jerusalem (49-51).
The writer feels like a bird that has been hunted or a person who has been thrown down a well to drown (52-54). But now that he is repentant, God hears his cries for help and assures him that he need not be afraid (55-57). He knows at last that God has saved him. At the same time he reminds God of the cruelty of those who have persecuted him (58-60), for they have heartlessly mocked and jeered the afflicted (61-63). He leaves the judgment of such people in God’s hands (64-66).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High, To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? Out of the mouth of the Most High cometh there not evil and good? Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?”

“To crush under foot… the prisoners” “This refers to the harsh cruelties of the Babylonians.”The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 34. The purpose of this being mentioned here is to indicate God’s disapproval of men’s atrocities. “We have here a short catalogue of the oppressions visited upon God’s people by their conquerors.”Anthony L. Ash, Jeremiah and Lamentations (Abilene, Texas: A.C.U. Press, 1987), p. 356. The word that applies to all of these things is, “The Lord approveth not” (Lamentations 3:36).

The fact of God’s strong disapproval of the cruel and sadistic actions of Israel conquerors carried with it also a pledge of the ultimate severe punishment and destruction of those oppressors.

“Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not” “It is true that God does not desire our misfortunes; but it is equally true that they do not happen without his permission (Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6).”The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 34.

“Wherefore doth a living man complain… for the punishment of his sins” “Nothing can happen without the permission of the Most High. Then why should a man complain when he is punished for his sins? Not suffering, but sins should be lamented. Let us not murmur against God for that which we have brought upon ourselves.”Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 699. In America today, it would be much closer to what is right for aids sufferers to be lamenting the homosexuality that lies as the root cause of so much of their suffering, instead of their complaining and screaming to high heaven for billions of dollars to be spent in an effort to cure them. Sin should be lamented, not the consequences of it.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Why then does a loving God, who disapproves of suffering when inflicted by man upon man, Himself send sorrow and misery? “Because of sins.”

Lamentations 3:37

Literally, “Who is this that spake and it was done, though אדני 'ădonāy commanded it not?”

Lamentations 3:39

So long as God spares a man’s life, why does he complain? The chastisement is really for his good; only let him use it aright, and he will be thankful for it in the end.

A man for the punishment of his sins - Translate: Let “each man sigh for,” i. e. because of, “his sins.” Instead of complaining because God sends him sorrow, let him rather mourn over the sins which have made punishment necessary. The sense of the King James Version is, Why does a man ... complain “for his sins?” i. e. for the necessary results of them in chastisement.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Some explain the verb יתאונן, itaunen, by giving it the sense of lying, “Why should man lie?” others, “Why should man murmur?” But I see not what sense there can be in rendering it lying or murmuring. Others translate thus, “Why should man harden himself?” but it is a mere conjecture. Now, this verb sometimes means to weary one’s self, in Hithpael. So in the eleventh chapter of Numbers, “The people murmured,” as some render the words; but I think differently; nor is there a doubt but that Moses meant that the people were wearied, so that they in a manner pined away; and this meaning is the most suitable here. For the Prophet had before rebuked those who imagined that God, having relinquished the care of the world, led an inactive and easy life in heaven; but now, in order to rouse the minds of all, he points out the remedy for this madness, even that men should not willingly weary themselves in their sins, but acknowledge that their wickedness is shewn to them whenever any adversity comes upon them. And surely men would not be so infatuated as to exclude God from the government of the world, were they to know themselves and seriously to call to mind their own deeds and words; for God would soon exhibit to them sure and notorious examples of his judgment. Whence then comes it, that we are so dull and stupid in considering the works of God? nay, that we think that God is like a spectre or an idol? even because we rot in our sins and contract a voluntary dullness; for we champ the bit, according to the old proverb.

We now, then, perceive why the Prophet joins this sentence, Why does a living man weary himself? ⁽¹⁹³⁾ and a man in his sins? for as long as men thus remain in their own dregs, they will never acknowledge God as the judge of the world, and thus they always go astray through their own perverse imaginations. If, then, we wish to dissipate all the mists which prevent us from seeing God’s providence, (that is, by the eyes of faith,) let every one be his own witness and the judge of his own life, and carefully examine himself; it will then immediately occur to us, that God is not without reason angry with us, and that we are afflicted with so many adversities, because our sins will come forth before us. We here see the cause of that madness which makes men to exclude God’s providence from human affairs, even because they look not on themselves, but torment themselves without any benefit and become wearied in their sins, and do not raise up their eyes to God. The rest, connected with our subject, I must defer till to-morrow.

(193) “Murmur” is the Sept. and the Vulg. The word only occurs here and in Numbers 11:1; and “complain” is the most suitable rendering in both places, —

39.Why complain should man,
Any man alive, for his sin?

That is, on account of suffering for his sin. Thus God is justified in ordaining or commanding evil as well as good, that is, the evil of punishment. — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 3

In this third lamentation he begins from the depth of depression and despair. He begins with hopelessness, and hopelessness is always the experience behind depression. Depression is the loss of hope, no way out, nothing I can do. Hopelessness leads to depression.

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He has led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light ( Lamentations 3:1-2 ).

It seems like God has turned against the prophet. "I have seen the wrath of God. God's brought me into darkness, not into light."

Surely against me is he turned; he's turned his hand against me all the day. My flesh and my skin hath he made old: he hath broken my bones. He's built against me, and circled me with gall and travail. He has set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. He hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he has made my chain heavy. Also when I cry and shout, he shuts out my prayer ( Lamentations 3:3-8 ).

God isn't listening to my prayer. God seems to have closed every door of escape. There is no way out. I'm in the hole and there is no place to go. I'm in this darkness, and God isn't listening to my prayers.

[It's like] he has enclosed me with hewn stone ( Lamentations 3:9 );

That is, he's built a wall around me.

and he's made my paths crooked. He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. He has turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he has made me desolate. He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark ( Lamentations 3:9-12 ).

I'm a target for God's arrows.

He has caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day. He has filled me with bitterness, he has made me drunken with wormwood. He has also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he has covered me with ashes. You have removed my soul far off from peace: I forgot prosperity. And I said, my strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me ( Lamentations 3:9-20 ).

Boy, that is about as low as you can get. That's the bottom, that's the pits. He's down, just the bottom. And out of the depths of his despair and depression, suddenly there is a dramatic change. That dramatic change is explained; the reason for it is explained in verse Lamentations 3:21 . In the midst of his hopelessness, in the midst of his despair, when it seems that all is forsaken, there is no way out, that God isn't even listening, and God isn't ready to help me, in the midst of this place of total despair, he said,

This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope ( Lamentations 3:21 ).

He changed his whole mindset. The Bible speaks about our renewing our minds. The Bible speaks about our bringing every thought into captivity unto the obedience of Jesus Christ. And we can think ourselves into a miserable mood. We can think ourselves into despair and hopelessness. You can think yourself into the grave. Or, by setting your mind upon the Lord, renewing your mind in Him, you can come into a whole new state of consciousness. No longer one of total despair and hopelessness, but one now of victory and hope.

And that's what Jeremiah did. He changed the thought patterns from, "Oh, woe is me. Oh, this is the end. Oh, there is no hope. Oh, I've had it. Oh, there's no one to help. Oh, I'm boxed in," to thinking about the Lord. As we think about ourselves, we often become depressed, because none of us are all of what we would like to be.

We, each of us, have a divergence between our ego and our super ego, the real me and the ideal me. Oh, but you see yourself in an ideal way. "This is what I really am," providing everything is all right. It's only because of these other factors that you see me like this, this nastiness isn't the real me. I'm very sweet, and generous, and kind, and benevolent, and loving, and marvelous, and a very lovable person. The person that you see is what has happened to me, because of, you know, what you've done. But that's not the real me, you see. So, there is this idealization, the ideal me, the super ego, and then there's the real me.

Now if there is a vast difference between your super ego and your ego, then you're going to have real problems of mental instability. The more well adjusted a person is, is in measure to the distance between his ego and super ego. If your ego is close to your super ego, then you're a well adjusted person. If there is a wide divergence between your ego and super ego, then you're very maladjusted in your life. Now the psychologist says, "Bring your super ego down. You've got too high of ideals. You've got too high of standards. No one can live to those. You've got to lower your ideals." The Lord says, "Bring your ego up, through the power of the Spirit, through My help. Become the person that I want you to be. Receive My strength, receive My ability, and I will make you that person that is pleasing and glorifying unto God. That person who is loving, who is kind, who is compassionate, who is filled with joy."

So, he came to a change of mental attitude. No longer thinking about himself, but now thinking about the Lord. It made such a great difference. Oh, if we could only get our minds off of ourselves and onto the Lord. In the times of discouragement, in the times of defeat, in the times of depression, if we could only get our minds off of ourselves and onto the Lord. That's the secret of the way out. Rather than wallowing in this self pity. Just get our minds and hearts... "Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee" ( Isaiah 26:3 ). Keep your minds stayed on the Lord and God will keep you in perfect peace. Get your mind on yourself and you're going to have all kinds of turmoil and depression.

[So when I recall to my mind,] this I recall to my mind ( Lamentations 3:21 ),

What does he recall to his mind? First of all,

It's the LORD'S mercies that we're not consumed ( Lamentations 3:22 ),

Things are bad, but they could be worse. It's God's mercies that we're still here. The fact that I wake up in the morning is proof that God is merciful. You see, God is under no obligation to keep me around. It's only by His mercies that I've not been consumed. Secondly,

because his compassions fail not ( Lamentations 3:22 ).

In First Corinthians 13, as Paul is describing agape, he said, "Love never fails." God's love never fails. God has never stopped loving you. God does not love you when you are good and hate you when you are bad. God's love for you is unchanging. It doesn't fail. God's love is continually being poured out upon your life. God's love is not contingent upon what you are, but upon what He is. "His compassions they fail not."

Love is not love that alters when it alteration finds. "Oh, I love you. You're my dream come true. I'd swim the Pacific to be by your side. I'd fly to the moon to be close to you. Yikes. You have bad breath. I change my mind." That's not true love. Love is not love that alters when it alteration finds. We have in our minds, again, an idealization, the perfect man, the perfect woman. And we meet someone and fall in love, not with them but with our idealization. And when it comes that they don't meet up to the standards of our idealization, then we're no longer in love. That's ridiculous. You never were in love to begin with. Love is not love that alters when it alteration finds. Therefore, true love is hard to find among men. And that's using it in a generic sense, talking of the Homo Sapien. True love can only really be found with God.

You see, He isn't deceived by an idealization. You haven't fooled Him with your smooth, suave manners: the opening of the doors, and the genteel, gallant ways. Hasn't deceived Him at all. He knows what a rat you are from the beginning. But He loves you; that's the amazing thing. "His compassions they fail not." And God knowing me as well as He knows me, still loving me is one of the great miracles. God's compassions fail not. He never stops loving you. You need to remember that.

Now Jeremiah was thinking that God had forsaken him completely. "God's hedged me in. He's not listening to my prayers." But when he really adjusts his thinking, he knows that God's love is unfailing. God continues, never stops His loving me.

They are new every morning ( Lamentations 3:23 ):

The mercy and the love of God, fresh every day.

oh great is thy faithfulness ( Lamentations 3:23 ).

God is so faithful. As Jeremiah was looking at this devastated city, that desolation was a testimony of God's faithfulness. God had said to those people, "If you continue in your wickedness, if you continue in your idolatry, I am going to bring the Babylonian army against you, and they're going to destroy you, and they're going to break down the walls of this city. And those that aren't killed by the famine will be killed by the sword. And those that aren't killed by the sword will be killed by the pestilence. But I'm going to destroy you out of this holy mountain."

And now God has kept His word and Jeremiah is looking at the faithfulness of God to His word. "Great is Thy faithfulness." God, You said You would do it, and You did it.

Now the faithfulness of God can be a glorious thought and blessing, or it can be a horrendous thought. It all depends on what side you are. If you're a child of God, then God's faithfulness to His promises of that which He is going to do for His children, a believer in Jesus Christ, all that God has promised us. Oh, and we can rest and hope for God is faithful. He will do what He said. If you're not a child of God, then the faithfulness of God is an awesome prospect, because you can be sure that God will do exactly what He said He is going to do to all of the sinners, those that reject Him. "Great is Thy faithfulness." God is faithful in keeping His word.

The LORD is my portion ( Lamentations 3:24 ),

Now he's thinking upon the faithfulness of God, the love of God, the mercies of God, and now, "The Lord is my portion." Everything else has been taken away. My house is destroyed. All of my possessions are gone. I've been stripped, but I have the Lord. And if I have the Lord, that's all I really need.

The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him ( Lamentations 3:24 ).

Those who do not have the Lord as their portion have very little hope. But my hope is in Him.

The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, the soul that seeks him ( Lamentations 3:25 ).

If you'll wait upon God, if you'll seek God, God is good, so good to those that wait upon Him and seek Him.

It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD ( Lamentations 3:26 ).

What else can I do?

It is good for a man that he bears the yoke of his youth. He sits alone and keeps silence, because he has borne it upon him. He puts his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach ( Lamentations 3:27-30 ).

A prophecy of Jesus Christ in the midst of this, even as Christ always is there in the time of suffering to bear the burdens and the reproach that we bear for Him.

The Lord will not cast off for ever ( Lamentations 3:31 ):

This judgment isn't going to last forever. This forsaking of the people by God isn't going to last forever.

But though he has caused grief, yet he's going to have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies ( Lamentations 3:32 ).

God will change in His actions towards us.

For he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men ( Lamentations 3:33 ).

In other words, it doesn't really please God to have to deal in such stringent ways with his children. I've often said, you can make it easy on yourself or make it hard on yourself. And any time you fight God, you're making it hard on yourself. That's the lesson that Jonah learned. He fought God and ended up in the belly of a whale in a miserable condition. Three days and three nights in that hot mammal. Ninety eight degrees with high humidity. He talks about the waves rolling over his head and the seaweed twined around him. Probably stinky at that. And when he came out of that horribly miserable experience, he shared the lesson that he learned.

They that observe lying vanities, forsake their own mercies. If you think you can run from God or hide from God, you're only making it hard on yourself. You're heading for trouble. You're heading for misery. He thought he could hide from God. He thought he could run from God, that he could escape the call of God. It's a lie. There is no way. You're just going to be miserable, friend. Try to fight God; you're heading for misery. He doesn't afflict willingly. He doesn't want to lay the rod on you. He gets no delight in the chastising of His children, but because He loves us. He is faithful and will chastise.

To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High, To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approves not. Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commanded it not? Out of the mouth of the Most High proceeds not evil and good? ( Lamentations 3:34-38 )

God doesn't talk out of both sides of His mouth. James speaks about the double minded man, unstable in all of his ways. Jesus speaks of how the same fountain cannot bring forth bitter and sweet waters. God doesn't speak both good and evil.

Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? ( Lamentations 3:39 )

Rather than complain of the chastisement.

Let us search and try our ways, and turn again unto the LORD. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto the God in the heavens. For we have transgressed and have rebelled: and you have not pardoned. You have covered with anger, and persecuted us: and you have slain, and you have not pitied ( Lamentations 3:40-43 ).

And now he goes back into the dirge. You see, he came out for a while into the light.

You have covered yourself with a cloud, that our prayers should not pass through ( Lamentations 3:44 ).

It seems like, you know, people say, "Well, it seems like, you know, the ceilings were of brass." But Jeremiah sees the, you know, like the prayers are just being closed off by a cloud between God and me.

Thou has made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people. All of our enemies have opened their mouths against us. Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction. My eye runs down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people. My eye trickles down, and ceases not, without any intermission, Till the LORD looks down, and beholds from heaven. My eye affecteth my heart, because of all of the daughters of my city. My enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause. They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. Waters flowed over my head; then I said, I'm cut off. And I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon. And you have heard my voice: hide not your ear at my breathing, at my cry. For you drew near in the day that I called upon thee: and you said, Fear not. O Lord, thou has pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life. O Lord, thou has seen my wrong: judge thou my cause. For thou has seen all their vengeance and their imaginations against me. You heard their reproach, O LORD, and all of the imaginations against me; The lips of those that rose up against me, and the device against me all the day. Behold their sitting down, their rising up; I am their music. Render unto them a recompense, O LORD, according to the work of their hands. Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. Persecute and destroy them in the anger from under the heavens of the LORD ( Lamentations 3:45-66 ).

Here again is sort of a David type of a prayer against his enemies. Jeremiah doesn't ask God to bless his enemies, but to really do them in. It is in the New Testament that Jesus taught us to bless those that curse you. Bless and curse not. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

B. Jeremiah’s hope 3:19-40

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Jeremiah wondered how anyone could complain against God, since all mortals are sinners and therefore deserve divine punishment. He counseled self-examination and returning to the Lord.

"Jeremiah wrote seven principles about the nature of Israel’s affliction: (1) Affliction should be endured with hope in God’s salvation, that is, ultimate restoration (Lamentations 3:25-30). (2) Affliction is only temporary and is tempered by God’s compassion and love (Lamentations 3:31-32). (3) God does not delight in affliction (Lamentations 3:33). (4) If affliction comes because of injustice, God sees it and does not approve of it (Lamentations 3:34-36). (5) Affliction is always in relationship to God’s sovereignty (Lamentations 3:37-38; cf. Job 2:10). (6) Affliction ultimately came because of Judah’s sins (Lamentations 3:39). (7) Affliction should accomplish the greater good of turning God’s people back to Him (Lamentations 3:40)." [Note: Dyer, "Lamentations," p. 1218.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Wherefore doth a living man complain?.... Or murmur, or fret and vex, or bemoan himself; all which the word k may signify; as the prophet had done in his own person; or as representing the church, Lamentations 3:1; and here checks himself for it; and especially since the mercies and compassions of God never fail, and are daily renewed; and the Lord himself is the portion of his people, Lamentations 3:23; and seeing he is good to them that seek him, and it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of God, and to bear the yoke patiently, Lamentations 3:25; and because of the unwillingness of God to afflict men, and his sympathy and compassion towards them under affliction, Lamentations 3:32; and especially since all is from the sovereignty of God, who does according to his will; and from whom all good and evil come, Lamentations 3:37; he is not to be complained of, or against, for anything he does; or to be murmured at; nor should men vex and fret themselves at their own adversity, or at the prosperity of others; or bemoan themselves, as if no case was like theirs, or so bad. It does not become "a man", a reasonable creature, a man grown up, to behave in this manner; as such should quit themselves like men, and conduct as such; a "man" that God is so mindful of, and cares for, and visits every moment, and follows with his goodness continually; a "man", sinful man, that has rendered himself unworthy of the least favour; and yet such is the lovingkindness, favour, and good will of God to man, that he has provided his own Son to be his Saviour; and therefore man, of all God's creatures, has no reason to complain of him; and is a "living" man too, in a natural sense; is upheld in life by the Lord, and has the common mercies of life; is in health, or however in the land of the living; out of hell, where he deserves to be; and therefore should praise, and not complain, Isaiah 38:19; especially if he is a living man in a spiritual sense; has a principle of spiritual life implanted in him; Christ lives in him, and his life is hid with him in God, and has a right and title to eternal life:

a man for [the punishment] of his sins? the word "punishment" is not in the text; but, admitting the supplement, if a man is a wicked man (and so the Targum interprets it), and is punished for his sins, no injustice is done him; he has no reason to complain; and especially of his punishment in this world, which is greatly less than his sins deserve, Ezra 9:13; and if he is a good man, and is chastised for his sins, he ought not to complain "for the chastisement" of them; since it is the chastisement of a father, is in love, and for his good: but the words may be rendered literally, "a man for", or "of his sins" l; and be considered as a distinct clause, and as an answer to the former, so Jarchi; if a man will complain, let him complain of his sins; of the corruptions of his heart; of the body of sin and death he carries about with him of his daily iniquities; let him mourn over them, and bemoan himself for them; and if he does this in an evangelic manner, he is happy; for he shall be comforted.

k יתאונן γογγυσει Sept. "quiritaretur", Junius Tremellius "taedio se confecit", Calvin; "fremet", Strigelius; "murmurabit", Cocceius. l גבר על חטאו "unusquisque propter sua peccata [quiritatur]", Piscator; "vel contra sua peccata fremat", Strigelius.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?   38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?   39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?   40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.   41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.

      That we may be entitled to the comforts administered to the afflicted in the Lamentations 3:21-36, 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.

      I. We must see and acknowledge the hand of God in all the calamities that befal us at any time, whether personal or public, Lamentations 3:37; Lamentations 3:38. This is here laid down as a great truth, which will help to quiet our spirits under our afflictions and to sanctify them to us. 1. That, whatever men's actions are, it is God that overrules them: Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass (that designs a thing and bring his designs to effect), if the Lord commandeth it not? Men can do nothing but according to the counsel of God, nor have any power or success but what is given them from above. A man's heart devises his way; he projects and purposes; he says that he will do so and so (James 4:13); but the Lord directs his steps far otherwise than he designed them, and what he contrived and expected does not come to pass, unless it be what God's hand and his counsel had determined before to be done, Proverbs 16:9; Jeremiah 10:23. The Chaldeans said that they would destroy Jerusalem, and it came to pass, not because they said it, but because God commanded it and commissioned them to do it. Note, Men are but tools which the great God makes use of, and manages as he pleases, in the government of this lower world; and they cannot accomplish any of their designs without him. 2. That, whatever men's lot is, it is God that orders it: Out of the mouth of the Most High do not evil and good proceed? Yes, certainly they do; and it is more emphatically expressed in the original: Do not this evil, and this good, proceed out of the mouth of the Most High? Is it not what he has ordained and appointed for us? Yes, certainly it is; and for the reconciling of us to our own afflictions, whatever they be, this general truth must thus be particularly applied. This comfort I receive from the hand of God, and shall I not receive that evil also? so Job argues, Job 2:10; Job 2:10. Are we healthful or sickly, rich or poor? Do we succeed in our designs, or are we crossed in them? It is all what God orders; every man's judgment proceeds from him. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; he forms the light and creates the darkness, as he did at first. Note, All the events of divine Providence are the products of a divine counsel; whatever is done God has the directing of it, and the works of his hands agree with the words of his mouth; he speaks, and it is done, so easily, so effectually are all his purposes fulfilled.

      II. We must not quarrel with God for any affliction that he lays upon us at any time (Lamentations 3:39; Lamentations 3:39): Wherefore does a living man complain? The prophet here seems to check himself for the complaint he had made in the former part of the chapter, wherein he seemed to reflect upon God as unkind and severe. "Do I well to be angry? Why do I fret thus?" Those who in their haste have chidden with God must, in the reflection, chide themselves for it. From the doctrine of God's sovereign and universal providence, which he had asserted in the Lamentations 3:21-36, he draws this inference, Wherefore does a living man complain? What God does we must not open our mouths against, Psalms 39:9. Those that blame their lot reproach him that allotted it to them. The sufferers in the captivity must submit to the will of God in all their sufferings. Note, Though we may pour out our complaints before God, we must never exhibit any complaints against God. What! Shall a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? The reasons here urged are very cogent. 1. We are men; let us herein show ourselves men. Shall a man complain? And again, a man! We are men, and not brutes, reasonable creatures, who should act with reason, who should look upward and look forward, and both ways may fetch considerations enough to silence our complaints. We are men, and not children that cry for every thing that hurts them. We are men, and not gods, subjects, not lords; we are not our own masters, not our own carvers; we are bound and must obey, must submit. We are men, and not angels, and therefore cannot expect to be free from troubles as they are; we are not inhabitants of that world where there is no sorrow, but this where there is nothing but sorrow. We are men, and not devils, are not in that deplorable, helpless, hopeless, state that they are in, but have something to comfort ourselves with which they have not. 2. We are living men. Through the good hand of our God upon us we are alive yet, though dying daily; and shall a living man complain? No; he has more reason to be thankful for life than to complain of any of the burdens and calamities of life. Our lives are frail and forfeited, and yet we are alive; now the living, the living, they should praise, and not complain (Isaiah 38:19); while there is life there is hope, and therefore, instead of complaining that things are bad, we should encourage ourselves with the hope that they will be better. 3. We are sinful men, and that which we complain of is the just punishment of our sins; nay, it is far less than our iniquities have deserved. WE have little reason to complain of our trouble, for it is our own doing; we may thank ourselves. Our own wickedness corrects us, Proverbs 19:3. We have no reason to quarrel with God, for he is righteous in it; he is the governor of the world, and it is necessary that he should maintain the honour of his government by chastising the disobedient. Are we suffering for our sins? Then let us not complain; for we have other work to do; instead of repining, we must be repenting; and, as an evidence that God is reconciled to us, we must be endeavouring to reconcile ourselves to his holy will. Are we punished for our sins? It is our wisdom then to submit, and to kiss the rod; for, if we still walk contrary to God, he will punish us yet seven times more; for when he judges he will overcome. But, if we accommodate ourselves to him, though we be chastened of the Lord we shall not be condemned with the world.

      III. We must set ourselves to answer God's intention in afflicting us, which is to bring sin to our remembrance, and to bring us home to himself, Lamentations 3:40; Lamentations 3:40. These are the two things which our afflictions should put us upon. 1. A serious consideration of ourselves and a reflection upon our past lives. Let us search and try our ways, search what they have been, and then try whether they have been right and good or no; search as for a malefactor in disguise, that flees and hides himself, and then try whether guilty or not guilty. Let conscience be employed both to search and to try, and let it have leave to deal faithfully, to accomplish a diligent search and to make an impartial trial. Let us try our ways, that by them we may try ourselves, for we are to judge of our state not by our faint wishes, but by our steps, not by one particular step, but by our ways, the ends we aim at, the rules we go by, and the agreeableness of the temper of our minds and the tenour of our lives to those ends and those rules. When we are in affliction it is seasonable to consider our ways (Haggai 1:5), that what is amiss may be repented of and amended for the future, and so we may answer the intention of the affliction. We are apt, in times of public calamity, to reflect upon other people's ways, and lay blame upon them; whereas our business is to search and try our own ways. We have work enough to do at home; we must each of us say, "What have I done? What have I contributed to the public flames?" that we may each of us mend one, and then we should all be mended. 2. A sincere conversion to God: "Let us turn again to the Lord, to him who is turned against us and whom we have turned from; to him let us turn by repentance and reformation, as to our owner and ruler. We have been with him, and it has never been well with us since we forsook him; let us therefore now turn again to him." This must accompany the former and be the fruit of it; therefore we must search and try our ways, that we may turn from the evil of them to God. This was the method David took. Psalms 119:59, I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.

      IV. We must offer up ourselves to God, and our best affections and services, in the flames of devotion, Lamentations 3:41; Lamentations 3:41. When we are in affliction, 1. We must look up to God as a God in the heavens, infinitely above us, and who has an incontestable dominion over us; for the heavens do rule, and are therefore not to be quarrelled with, but submitted to. 2. We must pray to him, with a believing expectation to receive mercy from him; for that is implied in our lifting up our hands to him (a gesture commonly used in prayer and sometimes put for it, as Psalms 141:2, Let the lifting up of my hands be as the evening sacrifice); it signifies our requesting mercy from him and our readiness to receive that mercy. (3.) Our hearts must go along with our prayers. We must lift up our hearts with our hands, as we must pour out our souls with our words. It is the heart that God looks at in that and every other service; for what will a sacrifice without a heart avail? If inward impressions be not in some measure answerable to outward expressions, we do but mock God and deceive ourselves. Praying is lifting up the soul to God (Psalms 25:1) as to our Father in heaven; and the soul that hopes to be with God in heaven for ever will thus, by frequent acts of devotion, be still learning the way thither and pressing forward in that way.