The book of lamentations also reminds us that it is impossible for gods people to sink so far into sin that they should lose hope in his mercy and forgiveness. The book of lamentations is book of sorrowful songs or poems. Chapter 3 is slightly different as it has 66 verses in total, with three verses for each of the 22 letters. See 2 kgs 25 for a prose account of the fall of jerusalem.
The name implies that the topic is expressing grief over something to lament. Although the poems are traditionally ascribed to the prophet jeremiah. For this yoke, though it may seem to be very heavy for a time, when it has humbled us, and brought us to christ, will bring us innumerable blessings. The author of the book of lamentations was attempting to show the fulfillment of the curses presented in deuteronomy 28. He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of. The thought of my wretched homelessness is wormwood and poison. It was written soon after the fall of jerusalem in 586 b. Im going to read the most famous verses in the book of lamentations. He has led me into darkness,shutting out all light. Lamentations 3 commentary spurgeons verse expositions of. The fifth poem, corresponding to the fifth chapter, is not acrostic but still has 22 lines. Nov 26, 20 and jeremiah wrote about his suffering in a little book tucked away between the major prophets called lamentations. This book contains the elegies of the prophet jeremiah. My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
Im going to read from chapter 3 of lamentations to you this evening. It is good to wait in silence for the lord god to save. Jeremiah lamented, saying, i am the man who has seen affliction, who has seen affliction more than all the prophets who prophesied concerning the. Lamentations 3, new living translation nlt the bible app. Click the verse number to read commentary, definitions, meanings, and notesfor that particular lamentations 3 verse. The adversary has stretched out his hand over all her precious things, for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, the ones whom you commanded that they should not enter into your congregation. I dont have to tell you, this has been a traumatic week in the life of our church family. The fourth stanza chapter is constructed as stanzas 1 and 2 with the difference that each verse contains of two instead of three lines. Clicking on a chapter will show you the text of that chapter of lamentations in the bible new international version. Lamentations 3 commentary spurgeons verse expositions. Find top church sermons, illustrations, and powerpoints for preaching on lamentations 3.
In the middle of the book, the writer reminds the people to hope in god. He doth not ascribe his deliverance in any measure to any man, much less to his own merit. My soul is shut out from peace i have forgotten happiness. There are 22 verses, but they arent arranged into an acrostic. And i said, my strength and my hope is perished from the lord. Jeremiah, also known as the weeping prophet writes this after the destruction of jerusalem by the babylonians. Verse click for chapter new international version i have been deprived of peace. And now i say, my strength is gone that hope which came from the lord. Feb 28, 2012 lamentations is one of the more poetic offerings in the bible. Next chapter of lamentations the book of lamentations, chapter 3 we hope that you find the content of the book of lamentations, chapter 3 from the douay rheims version of the catholic bible helpful to your bible studies and for references which allow you to read the books and individual verses of this chapter.
Lamentations 3 may fit with jeremiahs experience of being cast into the pit compare lamentations 3. He has led me and made me walkin darkness and not in light. These verses embody the central thesis of the book. So i say, my splendor is gone and all that i had hoped from the lord. The scope of this chapter is the same with that of the two foregoing chapters, but the composition is somewhat different. In the time of his trial the lord had become terrible to him. Lamentations 3 is the third chapter of the book of lamentations in the hebrew bible or the old testament of the christian bible, part of the ketuvim writings. I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. Lamentations 3 bible commentary matthew henry concise. Lamentations is a poem, expanding the utility of words. I tell myself my future is lost, all that i hoped for from the lord. Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5 have 22 verses in each of those chapters and each of the verses in each chapters begin with a letter of the hebrew alphabet. My soul is deprived of peace, i have forgotten what. The book of lamentations, chapter 2 king james version.
Brooding on my anguish and affliction is gall and wormwood. My spirit ponders it continually and sinks within me. Lamentations chapter 3 coffmans commentary of the new. These are all of the chapters of the book of lamentations. How hath the lord covered the daughter of zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger. It is because of the lords mercy and lovingkindness that we are not consumed, because his tender compassions fail not. In this chapter he refers to his own experience under affliction as an example as to how the people of judah should behave under theirs, so as to have hope of a restoration. There are 22 letters in the hebrew alphabet, and chapters 1, 2 and 4 have 22 verses eacha verse for each of the 22 letters. In this book of jeremiahs lamentations, chapters one, two and four form an acrostic, each chapter consisting of twentytwo verses, and each verse beginning with one of each of the letters of the hebrew alphabet, beginning with aleph and ending with tau. Well send you a new verse every day to download or.
The third chapter of lamentations has 66 verses, and each three verse segment begins with a successive letter of the hebrew alphabet. And when poems are set to music, the words become saturated. The main characteristic of the book is indicated by its title, lamentations in greek threnoi threnos song expressing grief for one who has died cp mt 2. His faithfulness is perfect, infinite, overflowing, far beyond human faithfulness. It is an elegy, a dirge, written over the desolation of jerusalem by one whose love for it, guilty as he knew it to be, was. Like many psalms see psalms 22 and 88 for examples, the poem begins with painful and heartfelt statements about the horrors of the author lamentations 3. Chapter 5s verses reflect the hebrew alphabet in number alone. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Lamentations 3 commentary matthew henry commentary on the. The first chapter uses standard alphabetical order. How like b a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations. The book of lamentations is a collection of five poems that serve as an anguished response to the destruction of jerusalem in 587 b.
The catastrophe of conquest and exile has shaken judahs survivors after babylons 587bc obliteration of jerusalem. But even in a book named lamentations, the god of vengeance is still a god of hope. Earlier in this chapter jeremiah felt god was his adversary lamentations 3. Jun 28, 2009 in its design, chapter three is a classic lament.
The faithful lament their calamities, and hope in gods mercies. You perceive there is not a word concerning himself or his own pleadings. The thought of my homeless poverty is wormwood and gall. Chapter 5 also has 22 verses, but is not in acrostic arrangement. The lamentations of jeremiah chapter 3 verse by verse. Chapter 3 has 66 verses, so that each letter begins three lines. Silence is an expression of the psalmists the lamentations are psalms for resignation to the will of god. This statement of faith standing strong in the midst of the surrounding darkness shines as a beacon to all those suffering under the consequences of their own sin and disobedience.
Remembering it over and over leaves my soul downcast within me. Chapter 5 has 22 verses, but the acrostic style of writing was not used in this chapter. Book of lamentations overview insight for living ministries. Lamentations 3 i am the man who has seen affliction under. Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall. At the time of a loved ones death, perhaps a surprising death that turns life for the mourners on its ear, perhaps this whole book will resonate. Choosing to remember gods faithfulness will bring you hope. At first, the language sounds like the stock vocabulary of the lament psalms. But at the heart of this book, at the center of this lament over the effects of sin in the world, sit a few verses devoted to hope in the lord lamentations 3. Lamentations 3 new international version niv biblica.
Judahs been caught for centuries between powerful countries in the middle east, and this time they backed the wrong guys. It is good to wait in silence for the lord to save. Unlike standard alphabetical order, in the middle chapters of lamentations, the letter pe the 17th letter comes before ayin the 16th. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead. Oct 28, 2014 the book of lamentations has a unique writing style. Floyd fell on tuesday afternoon and suffered a severe concussion.
But this i call to mind, and therefore i have hope. Darkness, affliction, derision, but the lord is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance 2pe 3. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the lord. The fifth stanza chapter contains of 22 single lines, which however are not in alphabetical order. While chapters 1, 2, and 4 are alphabetized, chapter 5 is not. When you read that god has led the everyman into darkness not light, has turned his hand against, besieged and encircled with poverty, etc. Chapter 3 extends the acrostic by having succeeding sets of three for each letter of the alphabet hence, twentytwo sets of three for a total of sixtysix verses. The setting is the aftermath of the destruction of jerusalem. Now viewing scripture range from the book of lamentations chapter 3. We sing the words of these few verses all the time. Despite its primary character of lament and woe, there is a quiet hope in gods forgiveness and mercy that underlies the entire work. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. The book of lamentations has a unique writing style.