Lamentations 3:1 says, I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. Jeremiah had indeed seen the affliction of God's wrath, not because of his own disobedience, but because of the disobedience of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. We may sometimes suffer because of the sins of others, but we will still be assured of our everlasting salvation if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Verse two adds, He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light. Without the light of God in the world, we like Jeremiah will be left in darkness. Verse three continues, Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day. Jeremiah felt as though God had turned against him all day long, but it was the sin of His people that God was judging. Verse four states, My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones. Jeremiah said that he was left physically suffering, though he had obeyed God. We need to keep this in mind the next time that we hear the claim that God only wants us to be happy and prosperous. Verse five adds, He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail. This was just another statement about how Jeremiah felt when he was in the midst of God's punishment of His people. Verse six continues, He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. Without God's light, the world is encompassed in darkness. Verse seven says, He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy. Jeremiah said there was no way to escape God's punishment at that time, and the only way to escape it today is through faith in Jesus Christ. Verse eight adds, Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. Jeremiah felt that God was not hearing his prayers, but God will always hear the prayers of His people, though if we do not get the answer we want we may feel that He doesn't. Verse nine continues, He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked. Jeremiah said that he felt that he had no way out, and the only way out of the punishment of God today is through faith in Jesus Christ. Verse ten states, He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. God's judgment was compared to a bear or a lion lying in wait, but it was and is even more deadly for those whom God is judging. Verse eleven adds, He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate. Verse twelve continues, He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. Jeremiah said that God had turned aside from him and made him a target for God's punishment. In this world full of sin, when God is sending His judgment on certain people, we may be caught up in the consequences, but that does not mean that God has abandoned us. Verse thirteen says, He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. This is just a continuation of how Jeremiah felt that God was punishing him, though it was not Jeremiah himself that was being punished. Verse fourteen adds, I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day. Though he was doing what God instructed him to do, Jeremiah said that his own people held him in derision. Verse fifteen continues, He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. Jeremiah said he was filled with bitterness, but no matter what happens in the world today, we as followers of Christ cannot afford to become bitter toward Him. Verse sixteen states, He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. Verse seventeen adds, And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. Jeremiah said that there was no peace to be found for himself, but if we are truly following Christ, then we should be at peace no matter what happens around us. Verse eighteen continues, And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: Verse nineteen says, Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. Jeremiah said that his strength had failed and his hope with it, but even if our strength fails us, we can never allow our hope in God to fail. Verse twenty adds, My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. Jeremiah said through it all though that his soul remembered God and he was humbled by his attitude. If we start to question God's love and protection because of what is going on in the world around us, we need to remember our salvation through Christ is everlasting and come to God in humility for questioning Him.
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