Lamentations 5:1

Lamentations 5:1 says, Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.  Jeremiah called on God to remember what was happening to the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  We really don't have to ask God to be aware of what is happening in our lives individually or as a nation collectively, because He is always aware.   Verse two adds, Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.  People of other nations had taken over their land.  Still, this was because of their disobedience, and if we are defeated spiritually today it will be because of our disobedience to God.  Even though our salvation is everlasting, we may still at times allow sin back into our lives.  Verse three continues, We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows,  When they rejected the heavenly Father, they were as orphans and Fatherless.   Verse four states, We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.  Even water was not free when they were under the authority of other nations.  We should never forget that all our blessings come from God.  If we turn away from Him, the we will find ourselves in need spiritually of the living water, which cannot be bought, but is given freely.  God had given His people a land flowing with milk and honey, and after they rejected Him, they didn't even have water to drink freely.  Verse five adds, Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.  They were continually working under oppression instead of working for their own benefit and God's glory.  Verse six continues, We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.  Jeremiah said that the people of Judah, and Israel as well, had placed themselves under the authority of the Egyptians and Assyrians for protection.  They had quit looking to God for protection and thought they could find it under other nations, but it did not work.  We will never find protection anywhere but in God.  Verse seven says, Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.  Jeremiah said that the fathers of the people had sinned and that they had borne their iniquities.  Even though their fathers may have sinned and been responsible for the people being enslaved, unless the current generation returned to God, the responsibility was theirs as well.  Every individual is responsible for his or her own sins.  Verse eight adds, Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.  Those who had been their servants were now in a position of power over them.  It was not just the rulers of the Chaldeans that had power over the people of Judah, but the servants of the Chaldeans did as well.  Verse nine continues, We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.  Jeremiah said even getting bread, one of the most basic of needs, was dangerous.  There is no real safety in the world outside of the protection of God.  Verse ten states, Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.  Famine had left their skin dry and parched, probably because of their being out scrounging for food.  Verse eleven adds, They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.  The men could not protect their wives and daughters from being ravaged and abused.  This was possible one of the hardest things to bear.  Death is not always the worst fate, unless we die without putting our faith in Jesus Christ.

Lamentations 4:13

Lamentations 4:13 says, The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, Jeremiah said that no one would have believed that Jerusalem could be defeated.   This was because of the protection of God, which they no longer had because of their sins..  Not just the people, but the prophets and priests of Jerusalem were guilty of sins.  These were the religious leaders.  It is bad enough when any person who calls them self a follower of Christ doesn't truly have a personal relationship with Him, but it is even worse when those who call themselves preachers and teachers do not.  Verse fourteen adds, They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.  The prophets and priests wandered around like blind men with blood on their hands.  Verse fifteen continues, They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there.  Jeremiah pointed out the hypocrisy of these religious leaders, who had called the Gentiles unclean while they themselves were filled with sin.  We need to be sure that we are not denouncing the sins of others while we are guilty of allowing sin to rule our life.  Verse sixteen declares, The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.  Jeremiah said that God would no longer protect the people of Jerusalem and Judah, because they did not obey His laws.  Verse seventeen adds, As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.  The people of Jerusalem had looked in vain for deliverance, or salvation, from some other nation, or source, instead of looking to God in obedience to His word.  We may look for salvation from some other source today, but salvation comes only from God through faith in Jesus Christ as one's personal Savior and Lord.   Verse eighteen continues, They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.  Though there might have been a time when no enemy could have come into Jerusalem, the people were now afraid to go out into the streets and knew that their defeat was ar hand.  Verse nineteen states, Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.  The people of Jerusalem and Judah could not outrun their enemies.   We cannot always outrun our enemies today as Christians, but if we remain faithful to God, He will always defeat them for us.  Verse twenty adds, The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.  The people thought that even though their leader had fallen that they could still survive as God's people under the rule of those who had defeated them.  If we are God's people in name only we may think that we can survive by accepting the rule of those who do not believe in God, and who may even think that they have defeated Him, but this will never be true.   Verse twenty-one continues, Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.  There was still hope for God's people if they returned to Him.  God is still our only source of hope today.   Verse twenty-two concludes, The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.  When the punishment for their sins was complete, then God would restore them.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, our captivity by sin is over.  We are restored to a right relationship with God. 

Lamentations 4:1

Lamentations 4:1 says, How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.  The gold of the temple had become tarnished, and the fine gold of the ornaments thrown into the streets.  Verse two adds, The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!  The house of God, the temple, and the people of God, Judah and Israel, had been held in high esteem like fine gold, but now they were seen as mere earthen vessels made by a potter.  Since their rebellion against God had lost them their protection from God, they were a weak and powerless people.  Without God's protection today, we as followers of Christ would be a weak and powerless people too often, which is why we must live in obedience to Him.  Verse three continues, Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.  The little children were suffering from lack of nourishment.  Verse four states, The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.  Jeremiah continued to speak of the suffering of the children, who were reliant on their parents for their food and drink.  As followers of Christ, we have a responsibility to meet not only our children's physical needs, but their spiritual needs as well.  We cannot afford to leave them spiritually hungry and thirsty.  Verse five adds, They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.  Not only the children, but all the people of Judah and Israel were left hungry, even though they had been blessed with plenty when following God.  Verse six continues, For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.  Jeremiah said that the punishment of Judah and Israel was greater than the punishment of Sodom.  Sometimes falling immediately is better than suffering for a long time.  The people of Sodom never had to endure long time suffering like the people in Jeremiah's day were.  Verse seven says, Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:  Verse eight adds, Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.  The Nazarites, some of the most devout and healthy of God's chosen people, had also been brought down.  Our devotion to earthly standards will never keep us safe if we are not following God's will for our life.   Verse nine continues, They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.  Jeremiah said that those who had been killed by the sword were better off than those who were dying of hunger.  If we are killed for our belief in God today, it may not be the worst outcome.   Of course, those who were supposed to be God's people then were suffering because of their lack of belief in and faithfulness to God.  Verse ten states, The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.  Mothers were killing their children because of their lack of food and the ability to provide for them.  Today, women kill their children before they are born simply because they would be an inconvenience.  Verse eleven adds, The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.  Jeremiah said that it was God Who had brought about the destruction of His rebellious people.  No matter what happens in this life, it is God's judgment that will be the final one.  Verse twelve continues, The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.  Jeremiah said that the people of the world had not believed that Jerusalem could or would be defeated.  This only happened because of their rebellion against God.  If we as Christians remain faithful to God, then the world will never defeat us. 

Lamentations 3:55

Lamentations 3:55 says, I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.  When he was in the dungeon, Jeremiah called out to the LORD, by name.  I believe this indicates a personal relationship with God, or at least a personal belief in God.  If we call out to God by name, we have to at least believe that He exists, and if He is to hear our prayers, we must pray in faith believing He will answer, which makes the relationship personal.  Verse fifty-six adds, Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.  Jeremiah asked God to not hide from hearing him.  Matthew Henry points out that his prayer was as natural as breathing, as should our prayers be today.  This should be the way of our prayer life at all times, and not just in times of distress.  Verse fifty-seven continues, Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.  Jeremiah said when he cried out to God in prayer that God told him not to fear.  We are not told that Jeremiah's condition changed, but that God simply told him to not be afraid.  If we put our faith in God, then we never have a need to be afraid, no matter what is happening in life.  Verse fifty-eight states, Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.  Jeremiah said God had interceded for his soul and redeemed his life.  Through Jesus Christ, God has interceded for anyone who will accept His gift of salvation and will save that person's soul.  Verse fifty-nine adds, O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.  Jeremiah didn't say that he was guiltless but placed his life in God's judgment.  We cannot claim to be guiltless of sin today, but we can ask that God judge us through our relationship with Jesus Christ, which is the only way that we can have hope.  Verse sixty continues, Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.  Jeremiah said that he knew that God was aware of what was going on in his life and of the vengeance that people felt against him.  Many of these were God's chosen people who not only refused to listen to Jeremiah but also imprisoned him.  Verse sixty-one says, Thou hast heard their reproach, O LORD, and all their imaginations against me;  Jeremiah really didn't have to state that God knew of his afflictions, but even so he acknowledged that God knew.  We should always have faith that God knows what is going on in our life, whether good or bad.  Verse sixty-two adds, The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.  Verse sixty-three continues, Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick.  Jeremiah said that the people spoke against him all day long and that they plotted against him all the time as well.  Verse sixty-four declares, Render unto them a recompence, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.  Jeremiah asked that God punish his enemies according to their works.  We are called to a higher standard, where we ask that God forgive our enemies, because if we are judged by our works we are all guilty and deserving of death.  Verse sixty-five adds, Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.  Verse sixty-six concludes, Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD.  Again, we may know that God will one day punish those who refuse His gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, and they may mistreat us continually, but our prayer should be for their salvation.  This is the example that Jesus Christ set for us.

Lamentations 3:37

Lamentations 3:37 says, Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?  This is another way of asking who would say that God is wrong in what He says.  Many people in Jeremiah's day, even the religious leaders, were saying just that, and many people in the world do so today.   Verse thirty-eight adds, Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?  Jeremiah said that evil, or punishment, and good could both come from God.  Some people today say that they don't believe in hell because a loving God would not send people to such a place, and He doesn't, but He allows them to go there if they refuse His gracious salvation.  Verse thirty-nine continues, Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?  Jeremiah asked why we should complain about the punishment of our sins.  God has warned that all sin will be punished, so why should we complain when it is.  God also made it possible to avoid that punishment through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah Who was to come then and the Messiah Who has come now.  There is no one with a reason to complain about God's judgment.  Verse forty declares, Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.  Jeremiah tells us that instead of complaining about God's judgment that we should search, or examine, our ways and turn to God again if we find that we are no longer living by His guidance.   Verse forty-one adds, Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.  Jeremiah also said that instead of complaining that we should lift up our hearts and hands to God in praise.  When things are not going well, do we still praise God, or do we start to question Him and feel sorry for ourselves.  Verse forty-two continues, We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.  Jeremiah said that the people of Judah and Jerusalem had rebelled, and God had not pardoned them.  This was because they had not repented and returned to God.  The sad news is that God has already pardoned everyone if they will only come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ, and yet the majority never will.  Verse forty-three says, Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.  Jeremiah said that God had persecuted them with anger, but it was their sin that led Him to this action.  Verse forty-four adds,Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.  Jeremiah said that God had hidden Himself from them, but they really had hidden themselves from His will.  If we truly seek God, then He will be found.  Verse forty-five continues, Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.  Jeremiah said that the rest of the world now saw the people of Judah and Jerusalem as trash.  They had lost the protection of God because of their rebellion.  If we who call ourselves followers of Christ do not obey God's commandments, the people of the world may see God allowing us to be defeated as He chastises us.  Verse forty-six states, All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.  Jeremiah said that every enemy was crying out against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  The people of the world today are likewise crying out against Christians, but we must remain faithful to God and make sure that it isn't our disobedience to God that is causing this to happen.   Verse forty-seven adds, Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.  They were living in fear of the world and what the people of the world were doing to them instead of living in fear of the judgment of God which led them to this condition.  We as followers of Christ should never live in fear of the world.  Verse forty-eight continues, Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.  Jeremiah was crying about the destruction the people of Judah and Jerusalem, just as we should be crying for the lost of the world today who are facing everlasting punishment.  Verse forty-nine says, Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,  Jeremiah said he was continuously crying, not for himself, but for the people of Judah and Jerusalem.  Verse fifty adds, Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven.  Verse fifty-one continues, Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.  Jeremiah said that what he saw happening to those who were called God's people affected his heart and he was waiting for God to look down in mercy.  Verse fifty-two states, Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.  Jeremiah said that his enemies chased him without cause, and even though Jeremiah was faithful to God, his enemies were being successful because of the sins of God's chosen people.  Verse fifty-three adds, They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.  Verse fifty-four concludes, Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.  Jeremiah may have felt cut off from God, but he really wasn't.  Sometimes today if the world seems to close in on us, we may feel cut off from God, but if we are true followers of Christ we never will be.

Lamentations 3:21

Lamentations 3:21 says, This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.  Like Jeremiah, when things seem to be going all wrong, if we recall God in our mind, then we have hope.  Verse twenty-two adds, It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  Jeremiah said that it was because of God's mercy that they were not consumed and did not fail, and this will always be true.  Verse twenty-three continues, They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.  I believe that hope was what Jeremiah was saying was new every morning, and our hope should be new every morning as well because of the mercy of God.  Verse twenty-four states, The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.  Jeremiah said God was his portion and that he would hope in Him.  We should say the same thing as followers of Christ.  We should want no more than what God provides for us.  Verse twenty-five adds, The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.  Even in all the defeat that Judah had experienced, Jeremiah said that God was good to those who wait on and seek Him.  If we are missing the goodness of God, it may be that we aren't waiting on or seeking Him.  Verse twenty-six continues, It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.  Jeremiah said this and it still hasn't changed.  It is good to quietly hope for and wait for the salvation of the Lord, which is the only place salvation can come from.  Verse twenty-seven says, It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.  We probably don't want to hear about wearing a yoke, but Jesus said that His yoke is light, and the sooner we can come under His guidance, which is what a yoke is for, the better off we are.  Verse twenty-eight adds, He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.  I believe this means that we should neither boast or complaiin about serving God.  Verse twenty-nine continues, He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.  I believe this is another call for humility on the part of those who serve God.  Verse thirty states, He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.  This doesn't mean that we speak badly, or give cheek as we might say, to those who strike us, but that we turn the other cheek.  Verse thirty-one adds, For the Lord will not cast off for ever:  Those who had defeated Judah believed that they had defeated the God of Judah as well, but Jeremiah said that was not going to last forever.  God always has and always will be victorious over evil.  Verse thirty-two continues, But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.  When we are disobedient to God, as the people of Judah were, we may suffer punishment from God, as they did, but He prefers to show us mercy.  The choice is ours, to either accept His merciful gift of salvation or to suffer His punishment for our sins.  Verse thirty-three declares, For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.  Jeremiah tells us that it is not God's will to punish us, but He will if we don't come to Him by faith in salvation provided by Jesus Christ.  Verse thirty-four adds, To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,  God does not crush us for no reason, nor does He expect those that He might work through to correct His people to do so.  Of course, our sin gives Him a reason, but He still chooses to reach out to us in mercy.  Verse thirty-five continues, To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,  Verse thirty-six concludes, To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.  God will never endorse the oppression of people, and those who do so will merit His judgment. 

Lamentations 3:1

 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.