mh_parser/vol_split/25 - Lamentations/Chapter 2.xml

<div2 id="Lam.iii" n="iii" next="Lam.iv" prev="Lam.ii" progress="47.89%" title="Chapter II">
<h2 id="Lam.iii-p0.1">L A M E N T A T I O N S.</h2>
<h3 id="Lam.iii-p0.2">CHAP. II.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Lam.iii-p1" shownumber="no">The second alphabetical elegy is set to the same
mournful tune with the former, and the substance of it is much the
same; it begins with Ecah, as that did, "How sad is our case! Alas
for us!" I. Here is the anger of Zion's God taken notice of as the
cause of her calamities, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.1-Lam.2.9" parsed="|Lam|2|1|2|9" passage="La 2:1-9">ver.
1-9</scripRef>. II. Here is the sorrow of Zion's children taken
notice of as the effect of her calamities, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.10-Lam.2.19" parsed="|Lam|2|10|2|19" passage="La 2:10-19">ver. 10-19</scripRef>. III. The complaint is made to
God, and the matter referred to his compassionate consideration,
<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.20-Lam.2.22" parsed="|Lam|2|20|2|22" passage="La 2:20-22">ver. 20-22</scripRef>. The hand that
wounded must make whole.</p>
<scripCom id="Lam.iii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2" parsed="|Lam|2|0|0|0" passage="La 2" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Lam.iii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.1-Lam.2.9" parsed="|Lam|2|1|2|9" passage="La 2:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Lam.iii-p1.6">
<h4 id="Lam.iii-p1.7">Cause, Extent, and Greatness of Zion's
Calamities. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.iii-p1.8">b. c.</span> 588.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Lam.iii-p2" shownumber="no">1 How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion
with a cloud in his anger, <i>and</i> cast down from heaven unto
the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in
the day of his anger!   2 The Lord hath swallowed up all the
habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in
his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath
brought <i>them</i> down to the ground: he hath polluted the
kingdom and the princes thereof.   3 He hath cut off in
<i>his</i> fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back
his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob
like a flaming fire, <i>which</i> devoureth round about.   4
He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as
an adversary, and slew all <i>that were</i> pleasant to the eye in
the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like
fire.   5 The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up
Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his
strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning
and lamentation.   6 And he hath violently taken away his
tabernacle, as <i>if it were of</i> a garden: he hath destroyed his
places of the assembly: the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.iii-p2.1">Lord</span>
hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion,
and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the
priest.   7 The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred
his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the
walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.iii-p2.2">Lord</span>, as in the day of a solemn
feast.   8 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.iii-p2.3">Lord</span> hath
purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath
stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from
destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament;
they languished together.   9 Her gates are sunk into the
ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her
princes <i>are</i> among the Gentiles: the law <i>is</i> no
<i>more;</i> her prophets also find no vision from the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.iii-p2.4">Lord</span>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p3" shownumber="no">It is a very sad representation which is
here made of the state of God's church, of Jacob and Israel, of
Zion and Jerusalem; but the emphasis in these verses seems to be
laid all along upon the hand of God in the calamities which they
were groaning under. The grief is not so much that such and such
things are done as that God has done them, that he appears angry
with them; it is he that chastens them, and chastens them <i>in
wrath</i> and <i>in his hot displeasure;</i> he has become their
enemy, and fights against them; and this, this is the wormwood and
the gall in the affliction and the misery.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p4" shownumber="no">I. Time was when God's delight was in his
church, and he appeared to her, and appeared for her, as a friend.
But now his displeasure is against her; he is angry with her, and
appears and acts against her as an enemy. This is frequently
repeated here, and sadly lamented. What he has done he has done
<i>in his anger;</i> this makes the present day a melancholy day
indeed with us, that it is <i>the day of his anger</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.1" parsed="|Lam|2|1|0|0" passage="La 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), and again (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.2" parsed="|Lam|2|2|0|0" passage="La 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>) it is <i>in his wrath,</i>
and (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.3" parsed="|Lam|2|3|0|0" passage="La 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>) it is <i>in
his fierce anger,</i> that he has <i>thrown down</i> and <i>cut
off,</i> and (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.6" parsed="|Lam|2|6|0|0" passage="La 2:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>)
<i>in the indignation of his anger.</i> Note, To those who know how
to value God's favour nothing appears more dreadful than his anger;
corrections in love are easily borne, but rebukes in love wound
deeply. It is God's wrath that <i>burns against Jacob like a
flaming fire</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.3" parsed="|Lam|2|3|0|0" passage="La 2:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>), and it is a consuming fire; it <i>devours round
about,</i> devours all her honours, all her comforts. This is the
<i>fury that is poured out like fire</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.4" parsed="|Lam|2|4|0|0" passage="La 2:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), like the fire and brimstone which
were rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah; but it was their sin that
kindled this fire. God is such a tender Father to his children that
we may be sure he is never angry with them but when they provoke
him, and give him cause to be angry; nor is he ever angry more than
there is cause for. God's covenant with them was that if they would
<i>obey his voice</i> he would be <i>an enemy to their enemies</i>
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.22" parsed="|Exod|23|22|0|0" passage="Ex 23:22">Exod. xxiii. 22</scripRef>), and he
had been so as long as they kept close to him; but now he is an
enemy to them; at least he is <i>as an enemy,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p4.8" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.5" parsed="|Lam|2|5|0|0" passage="La 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. He has <i>bent his bow
like an enemy,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p4.9" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.4" parsed="|Lam|2|4|0|0" passage="La 2:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. He stood <i>with his right hand</i> stretched out
against them, and a sword drawn in it <i>as an adversary.</i> God
is not really an enemy to his people, no, not when he is angry with
them and corrects them in anger. We may be sorely displeased
against our dearest friends and relations, whom yet we are far from
having an enmity to. But sometimes he is <i>as an enemy</i> to
them, when all his providences concerning them seem in outward
appearance to have a tendency to their ruin, when every thing made
against them and nothing for them. But, blessed be God, Christ is
<i>our peace,</i> our peacemaker, who has slain the enmity, and in
him we may <i>agree with our adversary,</i> which it is our wisdom
to do, since it is in vain to contend with him, and he offers us
advantageous conditions of peace.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p5" shownumber="no">II. Time was when God's church appeared
very bright, and illustrious, and considerable among the nations;
but now <i>the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion with a
cloud</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.1" parsed="|Lam|2|1|0|0" passage="La 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), a
dark cloud, which is very terrible to himself, and through which
she cannot see his face; <i>a thick cloud</i> (so that word
signifies), a <i>black cloud,</i> which eclipses all her glory and
conceals her excellency; not such a cloud as that under which God
conducted them through the wilderness, or that in which God took
possession of the temple and filled it with his glory: no, that
side of the cloud is now turned towards them which was turned
towards the Egyptians in the Red Sea. The <i>beauty of Israel is
now cast down from heaven to the earth;</i> their princes
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.1.19" parsed="|2Sam|1|19|0|0" passage="2Sa 1:19">2 Sam. i. 19</scripRef>), their
religious worship, their beauty of holiness, all that which
recommended them to the affection and esteem of their neighbours
and rendered them amiable, which had <i>lifted them up to
heaven,</i> was now withered and gone, because God had covered it
with a cloud. He has <i>cut off all the horn of Israel</i>
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.3" parsed="|Lam|2|3|0|0" passage="La 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), all her beauty
and majesty (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.132.17" parsed="|Ps|132|17|0|0" passage="Ps 132:17">Ps. cxxxii.
17</scripRef>), all her plenty and fulness, and all her power and
authority. They had, in their pride, lifted up their horn against
God, and therefore justly will God <i>cut off their horn.</i> He
disabled them to resist and oppose their enemies; he <i>turned back
their right hand,</i> so that they were not able to follow the blow
which they gave nor to ward off the blow which was given them. What
can their right hand do against the enemy when God draws it back,
and withers it, as he did Jeroboam's? Thus was the <i>beauty of
Israel cast down,</i> when a people famed for courage were not able
to stand their ground nor make good their post.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p6" shownumber="no">III. Time was when Jerusalem and the cities
of Judah were strong and well fortified, were trusted to by the
inhabitants and let alone by the enemy as impregnable. But now the
lord has in anger <i>swallowed them up;</i> they are quite gone;
the forts and barriers are taken away, and the invaders meet with
no opposition: the stately structures, which were their strength
and beauty, are pulled down and laid waste. 1. The Lord has in
anger <i>swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.2" parsed="|Lam|2|2|0|0" passage="La 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), both the cities and the
country houses; they are burnt, or otherwise destroyed, so totally
ruined that they seem to have been <i>swallowed up,</i> and no
remains left of them. He has <i>swallowed up, and has not
pitied.</i> One would have thought it a pity that such sumptuous
houses, so well built, so well furnished, should be quite
destroyed, ad that some pity should have been had for the poor
inhabitants that were thus dislodged and driven to wander; but
God's wonted compassion seemed to fail: <i>He has swallowed up
Israel,</i> as a lion swallows up his prey, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.5" parsed="|Lam|2|5|0|0" passage="La 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. 2. He has <i>swallowed up</i> not
only her common habitations, but her palaces, <i>all her
palaces,</i> the habitations of their princes and great men
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.5" parsed="|Lam|2|5|0|0" passage="La 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), though those
were most stately, and strong, and rich, and well guarded. God's
judgments, when they come with commission, level palaces with
cottages, and as easily swallow them up. If palaces be polluted
with sin, as theirs were, let them expect to be visited with a
curse, which shall <i>consume them, with the timber thereof and the
stones thereof,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Zech.5.4" parsed="|Zech|5|4|0|0" passage="Zec 5:4">Zech. v.
4</scripRef>. 3. He had destroyed not only their dwelling-places,
but their <i>strong-holds,</i> their castles, citadels, and places
of defence. These he has <i>thrown down in his wrath,</i> and
<i>brought them to the ground;</i> for shall they stand in the way
of his judgments, and give check to the progress of them? No; let
them drop like leaves in autumn; let them be raised to the
foundations, and made to touch the <i>ground,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.2" parsed="|Lam|2|2|0|0" passage="La 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. And again (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.5" parsed="|Lam|2|5|0|0" passage="La 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), <i>He has destroyed his
strong-holds;</i> for what strength could they have against God?
And thus he <i>increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and
lamentation,</i> for they could not but be in a dreadful
consternation when they saw all their defence departed from them.
This is again insisted on, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.7-Lam.2.9" parsed="|Lam|2|7|2|9" passage="La 2:7-9"><i>v.</i>
7-9</scripRef>. In order to the <i>swallowing up of her
palaces,</i> he has <i>given up into the hand of the enemy the
walls of her palaces,</i> which were their security, and, when they
are <i>broken down,</i> the palaces themselves are soon broken
into. The walls of palaces cannot protect them, unless God himself
be a wall of fire round about them. This God did <i>in his
anger,</i> and yet he has done it deliberately. It is the result of
a previous purpose, and is done by a wise and steady providence;
for the Lord has <i>purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of
Zion;</i> he brought the Chaldean army in on purpose to do this
execution. Note, Whatever desolations God makes in his church, they
are all according to his counsels; he <i>performs the thing that is
appointed for us,</i> even that which makes most against us. But,
when it is done, he has <i>stretched out a line,</i> a measuring
line, to do it exactly and by measure: hitherto the destruction
shall go, and no further; no more shall be cut off than what is
marked to be so. Or it is meant of <i>the line of confusion</i>
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.34.11" parsed="|Isa|34|11|0|0" passage="Isa 34:11">Isa. xxxiv. 11</scripRef>), a
levelling line; for he will go on with his work; he <i>has not
withdrawn his hand from destroying,</i> that right hand which he
stretched out against his people as <i>an adversary,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.4" parsed="|Lam|2|4|0|0" passage="La 2:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. As far as the purpose went
the performance shall go, and his hand shall accomplish his counsel
to the utmost, and not be withdrawn. Therefore he made the
<i>rampart and the wall,</i> which the people had rejoiced in and
upon which perhaps they had <i>made merry,</i> to <i>lament,</i>
and they <i>languished together;</i> the <i>walls and the
ramparts,</i> or bulwarks, upon them, fell together, and were left
to condole with one another on their fall. <i>Her gates</i> are
gone in an instant, so that one would think they were sunk into the
ground with their own weight, and <i>he has destroyed and broken
her bars,</i> those bars of Jerusalem's gates which formerly <i>he
had strengthened,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p6.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.13" parsed="|Ps|147|13|0|0" passage="Ps 147:13">Ps. cxlvii.
13</scripRef>. Gates and bars will stand us in no stead when God
has withdrawn his protection.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p7" shownumber="no">IV. Time was when their government
flourished, their princes made a figure, their kingdom was great
among the nations, and the balance of power was on their side; but
now it is quite otherwise: <i>He has polluted the kingdom and the
princes thereof,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.2" parsed="|Lam|2|2|0|0" passage="La 2:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. They had first polluted themselves with their
idolatries, and then God dealt with them as with polluted things;
he threw them to the dunghill, the fittest place for them. He has
given up their glory, which was looked upon as sacred (that is a
character we give to majesty), to be trampled upon and profaned;
and no marvel that the king and the priest, whose characters were
always deemed venerable and inviolable, are despised by every body,
when God has, <i>in the indignation of his anger, despised the king
and the priest,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.6" parsed="|Lam|2|6|0|0" passage="La 2:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>. He has abandoned them; he looks upon them as no
longer worthy of the honours conveyed to them by the covenants of
royalty and priesthood, but as having forfeited both; and then
Zedekiah the king was used despitefully, and Seraiah the chief
priest put to death as a malefactor. The crown has fallen from
their heads, for <i>her king and her princes are among the
Gentiles,</i> prisoners among them, insulted over by them
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.9" parsed="|Lam|2|9|0|0" passage="La 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), and treated
not only as common persons, but as the basest, without any regard
to their character. Note, It is just with God to debase those by
his judgments who have by sin debased themselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p8" shownumber="no">V. Time was when the ordinances of God were
administered among them in their power and purity, and they had
those tokens of God's presence with them; but now those were taken
from them, that part of the <i>beauty of Israel</i> was gone which
was indeed their greatest beauty. 1. The ark was God's footstool,
under the mercy-seat, between the cherubim; this was of all others
the most sacred symbol of God's presence (it is called his
<i>footstool,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.28.2 Bible:Ps.99.5 Bible:Ps.132.7" parsed="|1Chr|28|2|0|0;|Ps|99|5|0|0;|Ps|132|7|0|0" passage="1Ch 28:2,Ps 99:5,132:7">1
Chron. xxviii. 2; Ps. xcix. 5; cxxxii. 7</scripRef>); there the
Shechinah rested, and with an eye to this Israel was often
protected and saved; but now he <i>remembered not his
footstool.</i> The ark itself was suffered, as it should seem, to
fall into the hands of the Chaldeans. God, being angry, threw that
away; for it shall be no longer his footstool; the earth shall be
so, as it had been before the ark was, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.66.1" parsed="|Isa|66|1|0|0" passage="Isa 66:1">Isa. lxvi. 1</scripRef>. Of what little value are the
tokens of his presence when his presence is gone! Nor was this the
first time that God gave his ark into captivity, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.61" parsed="|Ps|78|61|0|0" passage="Ps 78:61">Ps. lxxviii. 61</scripRef>. God and his kingdom can
stand without that footstool. 2. Those that ministered in holy
things had been <i>pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the
daughter of Zion</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.4" parsed="|Lam|2|4|0|0" passage="La 2:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>); they had been <i>purer than snow, whiter than
milk</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Lam.4.7" parsed="|Lam|4|7|0|0" passage="La 4:7"><i>ch.</i> iv. 7</scripRef>);
none more pleasant in the eyes of all good people than those that
did the service of the tabernacle. But now these are slain, and
their <i>blood is mingled with their sacrifices.</i> Thus is the
priest despised as well as the king. Note, When those that were
pleasant to the eye in Zion's tabernacle are slain God must be
acknowledged in it; he has done it, and the <i>burning which the
Lord has kindled must be bewailed</i> by the whole house of
Israel, as in the case of Nadab and Abihu, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Lev.10.6" parsed="|Lev|10|6|0|0" passage="Le 10:6">Lev. x. 6</scripRef>. 3. The temple was God's tabernacle
(as the tabernacle, while that was in being, was called <i>his
temple,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.27.4" parsed="|Ps|27|4|0|0" passage="Ps 27:4">Ps. xxvii. 4</scripRef>)
and this <i>he has violently taken away</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.8" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.6" parsed="|Lam|2|6|0|0" passage="La 2:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>); he has plucked up the stakes of
it and cut the cords; it shall be no more a tabernacle, much less
his; he has <i>taken it away,</i> as the keeper <i>of a garden</i>
takes away his shovel or shade, when he has done with it and has no
more occasion for it; he takes it down as easily, as speedily, and
with a little regret and reluctance as if it were but a <i>cottage
in a vineyard or a lodge in a garden of cucumbers</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.8" parsed="|Isa|1|8|0|0" passage="Isa 1:8">Isa. i. 8</scripRef>), but a <i>booth which the
keeper makes,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.10" osisRef="Bible:Job.27.18" parsed="|Job|27|18|0|0" passage="Job 27:18">Job xxvii.
18</scripRef>. When men profane God's tabernacle it is just with
him to take it from them. God has justly refused to <i>smell their
solemn assemblies</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.11" osisRef="Bible:Amos.5.21" parsed="|Amos|5|21|0|0" passage="Am 5:21">Amos v.
21</scripRef>); they had provoked him to withdraw from them, and
then no marvel that he has <i>destroyed his places of the
assembly;</i> what should they do with the places when the services
had become an abomination? He has now <i>abhorred his sanctuary</i>
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.12" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.7" parsed="|Lam|2|7|0|0" passage="La 2:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>); it has been
defiled with sin, that only thing which he hates, and for the sake
of that he abhors even his sanctuary, which he had delighted in and
called <i>his rest for ever,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.13" osisRef="Bible:Ps.132.14" parsed="|Ps|132|14|0|0" passage="Ps 132:14">Ps.
cxxxii. 14</scripRef>. Thus he had <i>done to Shiloh.</i> Now the
enemies have made as great <i>a noise</i> of revelling and
blaspheming <i>in the house of the Lord</i> as ever had been made
with the temple-songs and music <i>in the day of a solemn
feast,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.14" osisRef="Bible:Ps.74.4" parsed="|Ps|74|4|0|0" passage="Ps 74:4">Ps. lxxiv. 4</scripRef>.
Some, by the <i>places of the assembly</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.15" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.6" parsed="|Lam|2|6|0|0" passage="La 2:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), understand not only the temple,
but the synagogues, and the schools of the prophets, which the
enemy had <i>burnt up,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.16" osisRef="Bible:Ps.74.8" parsed="|Ps|74|8|0|0" passage="Ps 74:8">Ps. lxxiv.
8</scripRef>. 4. The solemn feasts and the sabbaths had been
carefully remembered, and the people constantly put in mind of
them; but now the Lord has <i>caused those to be forgotten,</i> not
only in the country, among those that lived at a distance, but even
in Zion itself; for there were none left to remember them, nor were
there the places left where they used to be observed. Now that Zion
was in ruins no difference was made between sabbath time and other
times; every day was a day of mourning, so that all the <i>solemn
feasts were forgotten.</i> Note, It is just with God to deprive
those of the benefit and comfort of sabbaths and solemn feasts who
have not duly valued them, nor conscientiously observed them, but
have profaned them, which was one of the sins that the Jews were
often charged with. Those that have <i>seen the days of the Son of
man,</i> and slighted them, may <i>desire to see one of those
days</i> and not be permitted, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.17" osisRef="Bible:Luke.17.22" parsed="|Luke|17|22|0|0" passage="Lu 17:22">Luke
xvii. 22</scripRef>. 5. The altar that had sanctified their gifts
is now cast off, for God will no more accept their gifts, nor be
honoured by their sacrifices, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.18" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.7" parsed="|Lam|2|7|0|0" passage="La 2:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>. The altar was <i>the table of the Lord,</i> but God
will no longer keep house among them; he will neither feast them
nor feast with them. 6. They had been blest with prophets and
teachers of the law; but now <i>the law is no more</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.19" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.9" parsed="|Lam|2|9|0|0" passage="La 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>); it is no more read by the
people, no more expounded by the scribes; the tables of the law are
gone with the ark; the book of the law is taken from them, and the
people are forbidden to have it. What should those do with Bibles
who had made no better improvement of them when they had them?
<i>Her prophets also find no vision from the Lord;</i> God
<i>answers them no more by prophets and dreams,</i> which was the
melancholy case of Saul, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p8.20" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.28.15" parsed="|1Sam|28|15|0|0" passage="1Sa 28:15">1 Sam.
xxviii. 15</scripRef>. They had persecuted God's prophets, and
despised the visions they had from the Lord, and therefore it is
just with God to say that they shall have no more prophets, no more
visions. Let them go to the prophets that had flattered and
deceived them with visions of their own hearts, for they shall have
none from God to comfort them, or tell them <i>how long.</i> Those
that misuse God's prophets justly lose them.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Lam.iii-p8.21" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.10-Lam.2.22" parsed="|Lam|2|10|2|22" passage="La 2:10-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Lam.iii-p8.22">
<h4 id="Lam.iii-p8.23">Complicated Sorrows. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.iii-p8.24">b. c.</span> 588.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Lam.iii-p9" shownumber="no">10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon
the ground, <i>and</i> keep silence: they have cast up dust upon
their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the
virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.   11
Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is
poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my
people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets
of the city.   12 They say to their mothers, Where <i>is</i>
corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of
the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers' bosom.
  13 What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing
shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal
to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for
thy breach <i>is</i> great like the sea: who can heal thee?  
14 Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and
they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy
captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of
banishment.   15 All that pass by clap <i>their</i> hands at
thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem,
<i>saying, Is</i> this the city that <i>men</i> call The perfection
of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?   16 All thine enemies
have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the
teeth: they say, We have swallowed <i>her</i> up: certainly this
<i>is</i> the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen
<i>it.</i>   17 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.iii-p9.1">Lord</span> hath
done <i>that</i> which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word
that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and
hath not pitied: and he hath caused <i>thine</i> enemy to rejoice
over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.   18
Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no
rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.   19 Arise, cry
out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine
heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands
toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for
hunger in the top of every street.   20 Behold, <span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.iii-p9.2">O Lord</span>, and consider to whom thou hast done
this. Shall the women eat their fruit, <i>and</i> children of a
span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the
sanctuary of the Lord?   21 The young and the old lie on the
ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by
the sword; thou hast slain <i>them</i> in the day of thine anger;
thou hast killed, <i>and</i> not pitied.   22 Thou hast called
as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.iii-p9.3">Lord</span>'s anger none escaped nor
remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy
consumed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p10" shownumber="no">Justly are these called
<i>Lamentations,</i> and they are very pathetic ones, the
expressions of grief in perfection, mourning and woe, and nothing
else, like the contents of Ezekiel's roll, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.2.10" parsed="|Ezek|2|10|0|0" passage="Eze 2:10">Ezek. ii. 10</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p11" shownumber="no">I. Copies of lamentations are here
presented and they are painted to the life. 1. The judges and
magistrates, who used to appear in robes of state, have laid them
aside, or rather are stripped of them, and put on the habit of
mourners (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.10" parsed="|Lam|2|10|0|0" passage="La 2:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>); the
elders now sit no longer in the judgment-seats, the <i>thrones of
the house of David,</i> but they <i>sit upon the ground,</i> having
no seat to repose themselves in, or in token of great grief, as
Job's friends <i>sat with him upon the ground,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.2.13" parsed="|Job|2|13|0|0" passage="Job 2:13">Job ii. 13</scripRef>. They open not their mouth
in the gate, as usual, to give their opinion, but they <i>keep
silence,</i> overwhelmed with grief, and not knowing what to say.
They have <i>cast dust upon their heads, and girded themselves with
sackcloth,</i> as deep mourners used to do; they had lost their
power and wealth, and that made the grieve thus. <i>Ploratur
lachrymis amissa pecunia veris—Genuine are the tears which we shed
over lost property.</i> 2. The young ladies, who used to dress
themselves so richly, and <i>walk with stretched-forth necks</i>
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.16" parsed="|Isa|3|16|0|0" passage="Isa 3:16">Isa. iii. 16</scripRef>), now are
humbled; <i>The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the
ground;</i> those are made to know sorrow who seemed to bid
defiance to it and were always disposed to be merry. 3. The prophet
himself is a pattern to the mourners, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.11" parsed="|Lam|2|11|0|0" passage="La 2:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. His <i>eyes do fail with
tears;</i> he has wept till he can weep no more, has almost wept
his eyes out, wept himself blind. Nor are the inward impressions of
grief short of the outward expressions. <i>His bowels are
troubled,</i> as they were when he saw these calamities coming
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.4.19-Jer.4.20" parsed="|Jer|4|19|4|20" passage="Jer 4:19,20">Jer. iv. 19, 20</scripRef>),
which, one would think, might have excused him now; but even he, to
whom they were no surprise, felt them an insupportable grief, to
such a degree that his <i>liver is poured out on the earth;</i> he
felt himself a perfect colliquation; all his entrails were melted
and dissolved, as <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.22.14" parsed="|Ps|22|14|0|0" passage="Ps 22:14">Ps. xxii.
14</scripRef>. Jeremiah himself had better treatment than his
neighbours, better than he had had before from his own countrymen,
nay, their destruction was his deliverance, their captivity his
enlargement; the same that made them prisoners made him a
favourite; and yet his private interests are swallowed up in a
concern for the public, and he bewails the <i>destruction of the
daughter of his people</i> as sensibly as if he himself had been
the greatest sufferer in that common calamity. Note, The judgments
of God upon the land and nation are to be lamented by us, though
we, for our parts, may escape pretty well.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p12" shownumber="no">II. Calls to lamentation are here given:
<i>The heart of the people cried unto the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.18" parsed="|Lam|2|18|0|0" passage="La 2:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. Some fear it was a cry,
not of true repentance, but of bitter complaint; their heart was as
full of grief as it could hold, and they gave vent to it in doleful
shrieks and outcries, in which they made use of God's name; yet we
will charitably suppose that many of them did in sincerity cry unto
God for mercy in their distress; and the prophet bids them go on to
do so: "<i>O wall of the daughter of Zion!</i> either you that
stand upon the wall, you <i>watchmen on the walls</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.62.6" parsed="|Isa|62|6|0|0" passage="Isa 62:6">Isa. lxii. 6</scripRef>), when you see the
enemies encamped about the walls and making their approaches
towards them, or <i>because of the wall</i> (that is the subject of
the lamentation), because of the <i>breaking down of the wall</i>
(which was not done till about a month after the city was taken),
because of this further calamity, let <i>the daughter of Zion
lament</i> still." This was a thing which Nehemiah lamented long
after, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.1.3-Neh.1.4" parsed="|Neh|1|3|1|4" passage="Ne 1:3,4">Neh. i. 3, 4</scripRef>.
"<i>Let tears run down like a river day and night,</i> weep without
intermission, give thyself no rest from weeping, <i>let not the
apple of thy eye cease.</i>" This intimates, 1. That the calamities
would be continuing, and the causes of grief would frequently
recur, and fresh occasion would be given them every day and every
night to bemoan themselves. 2. That they would be apt, by degrees,
to grow insensible and stupid under the hand of God, and would need
to be still called upon to afflict their souls yet more and more,
till their proud and hard hearts were thoroughly humbled and
softened.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p13" shownumber="no">III. Causes for lamentation are here
assigned, and the calamities that are to be bewailed are very
particularly and pathetically described.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p14" shownumber="no">1. Multitudes perish by famine, a very sore
judgment, and piteous is the case of those that fall under it. God
had corrected them by scarcity of provisions through want of rain
some time before (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.14.1" parsed="|Jer|14|1|0|0" passage="Jer 14:1">Jer. xiv.
1</scripRef>), and they were not brought to repentance by that
lower degree of this judgment, and therefore now by the straitness
of the siege God brought it upon them in extremity; for, (1.) The
children died for hunger in their mothers' arms: <i>The children
and sucklings,</i> whose innocent and helpless state entitles them
to relief as soon as any, <i>swoon in the streets</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.11" parsed="|Lam|2|11|0|0" passage="La 2:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>) <i>as the wounded</i>
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.12" parsed="|Lam|2|12|0|0" passage="La 2:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>), there being
no food to be had for them; those that are starved die as surely as
those that are stabbed. They lie a great while crying to their poor
mothers for corn to feed them and wine to refresh them, for they
are such as had been bred up to the use of wine and wanted it now;
but there is none for them, so that at length <i>their soul is
poured into their mothers' bosom,</i> and there they breathe their
last. This is mentioned again (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.19" parsed="|Lam|2|19|0|0" passage="La 2:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>): <i>They faint for hunger in the
top of every street.</i> Yet this is not the worst, (2.) There were
some little children that were slain by their mothers' hands and
eaten, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.20" parsed="|Lam|2|20|0|0" passage="La 2:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. Such
was the scarcity of provision that the <i>women ate the fruit</i>
of their own bodies, even their children when they were but of <i>a
span long,</i> according to the threatening, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.53" parsed="|Deut|28|53|0|0" passage="De 28:53">Deut. xxviii. 53</scripRef>. The like was done in the
siege of Samaria, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.6.29" parsed="|2Kgs|6|29|0|0" passage="2Ki 6:29">2 Kings vi.
29</scripRef>. Such extremities, nay, such barbarities, were they
brought to by the famine. Let us, in our abundance, thank God that
we have food convenient, not only for ourselves, but for our
children.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p15" shownumber="no">2. Multitudes fall by the sword, which
devours one as well as another, especially when it is in the hand
of such cruel enemies as the Chaldeans were. (1.) They spared no
character, no, not the most distinguished; even the <i>priest and
the prophet,</i> who of all men, one would think, might expect
protection from heaven and veneration on earth, <i>are slain,</i>
not abroad in the field of battle, where they are out of their
place, as Hophni and Phinehas, but in <i>the sanctuary of the
Lord,</i> the place of their business and which they hoped would be
a refuge to them. (2.) They spared no age, no, not those who, by
reason of their tender or their decrepit age, were exempted from
taking up the sword; for even they <i>perished by the sword.</i>
"The young, who have not yet come to bear arms, and the old, who
have had their <i>discharge, lie on the ground, slain in the
streets,</i> till some kind hand is found that will bury them."
(3.) They spared no sex: <i>My virgins and my young men have fallen
by the sword.</i> In the most barbarous military executions that
ever we read of the virgins were spared, and made part of the spoil
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Num.31.18 Bible:Judg.5.30" parsed="|Num|31|18|0|0;|Judg|5|30|0|0" passage="Nu 31:18,Jdg 5:30">Num. xxxi. 18, Judges v.
30</scripRef>), but here the virgins were put to the sword, as well
as the young men. (4.) This was the <i>Lord's doing;</i> he
suffered the sword of the Chaldeans to devour thus without
distinction: <i>Thou has slain them in the day of thy anger,</i>
for it is God that <i>kills and makes alive,</i> and saves alive,
as he pleases. But that which follows is very harsh: <i>Thou has
killed, and not pitied;</i> for his soul is <i>grieved for the
misery of Israel.</i> The enemies that used them thus cruelly were
such as he had both mustered and summoned (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.22" parsed="|Lam|2|22|0|0" passage="La 2:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>): "<i>Thou hast called in, as in
a solemn day, my terrors round about,</i> that is, the Chaldeans,
who are such a terror to me;" enemies crowded into Jerusalem now as
thickly as ever worshippers used to do on a solemn festival, so
that they were quite overpowered with numbers, and none escaped nor
remained; Jerusalem was made a perfect slaughter-house. Mothers are
cut to the heart to see those whom they have taken such care of,
and pains with, and whom they have been so tender of, thus
inhumanly used, suddenly cut off, though not soon reared: <i>Those
that I have swaddled, and brought up, has my enemy consumed,</i> as
if they were brought forth for the murderer, like lambs for the
butcher, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.9.13" parsed="|Hos|9|13|0|0" passage="Ho 9:13">Hosea ix. 13</scripRef>. Zion,
who was a mother to them all, lamented to see those who were
brought up in her courts, and under the tuition of her oracles,
thus made a prey.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p16" shownumber="no">3. Their false prophets cheated them,
<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.14" parsed="|Lam|2|14|0|0" passage="La 2:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. This was a
thing which Jeremiah had lamented long before, and had observed
with a great concern (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.14.13" parsed="|Jer|14|13|0|0" passage="Jer 14:13">Jer. xiv.
13</scripRef>): <i>Ah! Lord God, the prophets say unto them, You
shall not see the sword;</i> and here he inserts it among his
lamentations: <i>Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for
thee;</i> they pretended to discover for thee, and then to discover
to thee, the mind and will of God, to see <i>the visions of the
Almighty</i> and then to speak his words; but they were all vain
and foolish things; their visions were all their own fancies, and,
if they thought they had any, it was only the product of a crazed
head or a heated imagination, as appeared by what they delivered,
which was all idle and impertinent: nay, it is most likely that
they themselves knew that the visions they pretended were
counterfeit, and all a sham, and made use of only to colour that
which they designedly imposed upon the people with, that they might
make an interest in them for themselves. They are thy prophets, not
God's prophets; he never sent them, nor were they pastors after his
heart, but the people set them up, told them what they should say,
so that they were <i>prophets after their hearts.</i> (1.) Prophets
should tell people of their faults, should show them their sins,
that they may bring them to repentance, and so prevent their ruin;
but these prophets knew that would lose them the people's
affections and contributions, and knew they could not reprove their
hearers without reproaching themselves at the same time, and
therefore <i>they have not discovered thy iniquity;</i> they saw it
not themselves, or, if they did, saw so little evil in it, or
danger from it, that they would not tell them of it, though that
might have been a means, by taking away their iniquity, to turn
away their captivity. (2.) Prophets should warn people of the
judgments of God coming upon them, but these <i>saw for them false
burdens;</i> the messages they pretended to deliver to them from
God they knew to be false, and falsely ascribed to God; so that, by
soothing them up in carnal security, they caused that banishment
which, by plain dealing, they might have prevented.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p17" shownumber="no">4. Their neighbours laughed at them
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.15" parsed="|Lam|2|15|0|0" passage="La 2:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>All that
pass by thee clap their hands at thee.</i> Jerusalem had made a
great figure, got a great name, and borne a great sway, among the
nations; it was the envy and terror of all about; and, when the
city was thus reduced; they all (as men are apt to do in such a
case) triumphed in its fall; <i>they hissed, and wagged the
head,</i> pleasing themselves to see how much it had fallen from
its former pretensions. <i>Is this the city</i> (said they) <i>that
men called the perfection of beauty?</i> <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.50.2" parsed="|Ps|50|2|0|0" passage="Ps 50:2">Ps. l. 2</scripRef>. How is it now the perfection of
deformity! Where is all its beauty now? <i>Is this the city which
was called the joy of the whole earth</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.48.2" parsed="|Ps|48|2|0|0" passage="Ps 48:2">Ps. xlviii. 2</scripRef>), which rejoiced in the gifts of
God's bounty and grace more than any other place, and which all the
earth rejoiced in? Where is all its joy now and all its glorying?
It is a great sin thus to make a jest of others' miseries, and adds
very much affliction to the afflicted.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p18" shownumber="no">5. Their enemies triumphed over them,
<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.16" parsed="|Lam|2|16|0|0" passage="La 2:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. Those that
wished ill to Jerusalem and her peace now vent their spite and
malice, which before they concealed; they now <i>open their
mouths,</i> nay, they widen them; they <i>hiss and gnash their
teeth</i> in scorn and indignation; they triumph in their own
success against her, and the rich prey they have got in making
themselves masters of Jerusalem: "<i>We have swallowed her up;</i>
it is our doing, and it is our gain; it is all our own now.
Jerusalem shall never be either courted or feared as she has been.
<i>Certainly this is the day that we have long looked for; we have
found it; we have seen it; aha! so would we have it.</i>" Note, The
enemies of the church are apt to take its shocks for its ruins, and
to triumph in them accordingly; but they will find themselves
deceived; <i>for the gates of hell shall not prevail against the
church.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p19" shownumber="no">6. Their God, in all this, appeared against
them (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.17" parsed="|Lam|2|17|0|0" passage="La 2:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): <i>The
Lord has done that which he had devised.</i> The destroyers of
Jerusalem could have <i>no power against her unless it were given
them from above.</i> They are but the sword in God's hand; it is he
that has <i>thrown down, and has not pitied.</i> "In this
controversy of his with us we have not had the usual instances of
his compassion towards us." <i>He has caused thy enemy to rejoice
over thee</i> (see <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.30.11" parsed="|Job|30|11|0|0" passage="Job 30:11">Job xxx.
11</scripRef>); <i>he has set up the horn of thy adversaries,</i>
has given them power and matter for pride. This is indeed the
highest aggravation of the trouble, that God has become their
enemy, and yet it is the strongest argument for patience under it;
we are bound to submit to what God does, for, (1.) It is the
performance of his purpose: <i>The Lord has done that which he had
devised;</i> it is done with counsel and deliberation, not rashly,
or upon a sudden resolve; it is the <i>evil that he has framed</i>
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.11" parsed="|Jer|18|11|0|0" passage="Jer 18:11">Jer. xviii. 11</scripRef>), and we
may be sure it is framed so as exactly to answer the intention.
What God devises against his people is designed for them, and so it
will be found in the issue. (2.) It is the accomplishment of his
predictions; it is the fulfilling of the scripture; he has now
<i>put in execution his word that he had commanded in the days of
old.</i> When he gave them his law by Moses he told them what
judgments he would certainly inflict upon them if they transgressed
that law; and now that they have been guilty of the transgression
of this law he had executed the sentence of it, according to
<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Lev.26.16 Bible:Deut.28.15" parsed="|Lev|26|16|0|0;|Deut|28|15|0|0" passage="Le 26:16,De 28:15">Lev. xxvi. 16, &amp;c., Deut.
xxviii. 15</scripRef>. Note, In all the providences of God
concerning his church it is good to take notice of the fulfilling
of his word; for there is an exact agreement between the judgments
of God's hand and the judgments of his mouth, and when they are
compared they will mutually explain and illustrate each other.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p20" shownumber="no">IV. Comforts for the cure of these
lamentations are here sought for and prescribed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p21" shownumber="no">1. They are sought for and enquired after,
<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.13" parsed="|Lam|2|13|0|0" passage="La 2:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. The prophet
seeks to find out some suitable acceptable words to say to her in
this case: <i>Wherewith shall I comfort thee, O virgin! daughter of
Zion?</i> Note, We should endeavour to comfort those whose
calamities we lament, and, when our passions have made the worst of
them, our wisdom should correct them and labour to make the best of
them; we should study to make our sympathies with our afflicted
friends turn to their consolation. Now the two most common topics
of comfort, in case of affliction, are here tried, but are laid by
because they would not hold. We commonly endeavour to comfort our
friends by telling them, (1.) That their case is not singular, nor
without precedent; there are many whose trouble is greater, and
lies heavier upon them, than theirs does; but Jerusalem's case will
not admit this argument: "<i>What thing shall I liken to thee,</i>
or <i>what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee?</i> What
city, what country, is there, whose case is parallel to thine? What
witness shall I produce to prove an example that will reach thy
present calamitous state? Alas! there is none, no sorrow like
thine, because there is none whose honour was like thine." (2.) We
tell them that their case is not desperate, but that it may easily
be remedied; but neither will that be admitted here, upon a view of
human probabilities; for <i>thy breach is great, like the sea,</i>
like the breach which the sea sometimes makes upon the land, which
cannot be repaired, but still grows wider and wider. Thou art
wounded, and <i>who shall heal thee?</i> No wisdom nor power of man
can repair the desolations of such a broken shattered state. It is
to no purpose therefore to administer any of these common cordials;
therefore,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.iii-p22" shownumber="no">2. The method of cure prescribed is to
address themselves to God, and by a penitent prayer to commit their
case to him, and to be instant and constant in such prayers
(<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.19" parsed="|Lam|2|19|0|0" passage="La 2:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>):
"<i>Arise</i> out of thy dust, out of thy despondency, <i>cry out
in the night,</i> watch unto prayer; when others are asleep, be
thou upon thy knees, importunate with God for mercy; <i>in the
beginning of the watches,</i> of each of the four watches, of the
night (let thy <i>eyes prevent</i> them, <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.148" parsed="|Ps|119|148|0|0" passage="Ps 119:148">Ps. cxix. 148</scripRef>), then <i>pour out thy heart
like water before the Lord,</i> be free and full in prayer, be
sincere and serious in prayer, open thy mind, spread thy case
before the Lord; <i>lift up thy hands towards him</i> in holy
desire and expectation; beg for <i>the life of thy young
children.</i> These poor lambs, what have they done? <scripRef id="Lam.iii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.24.17" parsed="|2Sam|24|17|0|0" passage="2Sa 24:17">2 Sam. xxiv. 17</scripRef>. Take with you
words, take with you these words (<scripRef id="Lam.iii-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.20" parsed="|Lam|2|20|0|0" passage="La 2:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>), <i>Behold, O Lord! and consider
to whom thou hast done this,</i> with whom thou hast dealt thus.
Are they not thy own, the seed of Abraham thy friend and of Jacob
thy chosen? Lord, take their case into thy compassionate
consideration!" Note, Prayer is a salve for every sore, even the
sorest, a remedy for every malady, even the most grievous. And our
business in prayer is not to prescribe, but to subscribe to the
wisdom and will of God; to refer our case to him, and then to leave
it with him. <i>Lord, behold and consider,</i> and <i>thy will be
done.</i></p>
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