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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC25004.HTM">Previous</A>]
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>L A M E N T A T I O N S.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. V.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This chapter, though it has the same number of verses with the 1st,
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2nd, and 4th, is not alphabetical, as they were, but the scope of it is
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the same with that of all the foregoing elegies. We have in it,
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I. A representation of the present calamitous state of God's people in
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their captivity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:1-16">ver. 1-16</A>.
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II. A protestation of their concern for God's sanctuary, as that which
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lay nearer their heart than any secular interest of their own,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:17,18">ver. 17, 18</A>.
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III. A humble supplication to God and expostulation with him, for the
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returns of mercy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:19-22">ver. 19-22</A>);
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for those that lament and do not pray sin in their lamentations. Some
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ancient versions call this chapter, "The Prayer of Jeremiah."</P>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>An Appeal to God; Complicated Sorrows.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 588.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Remember, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, what is come upon us: consider, and behold
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our reproach.
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2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
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3 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers <I>are</I> as widows.
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4 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto
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us.
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5 Our necks <I>are</I> under persecution: we labour, <I>and</I> have no
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rest.
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6 We have given the hand <I>to</I> the Egyptians, <I>and to</I> the
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Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
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7 Our fathers have sinned, <I>and are</I> not; and we have borne
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their iniquities.
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8 Servants have ruled over us: <I>there is</I> none that doth
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deliver <I>us</I> out of their hand.
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9 We gat our bread with <I>the peril of</I> our lives because of the
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sword of the wilderness.
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10 Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible
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famine.
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11 They ravished the women in Zion, <I>and</I> the maids in the
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cities of Judah.
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12 Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders
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were not honoured.
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13 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell
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under the wood.
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14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from
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their music.
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15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into
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mourning.
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16 The crown is fallen <I>from</I> our head: woe unto us, that we
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have sinned!
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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<I>Is any afflicted? let him pray;</I> and let him in prayer pour out
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his complaint to God, and make known before him his trouble. The people
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of God do so here; being overwhelmed with grief, they give vent to
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their sorrows at the footstool of the throne of grace, and so give
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themselves ease. They complain not of evils feared, but of evils felt:
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"<I>Remember what has come upon us,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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What was of old threatened against us, and was long in the coming, has
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now at length <I>come upon us,</I> and we are ready to sink under it.
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<I>Remember what is</I> past, <I>consider and behold</I> what is
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present, and <I>let not all the trouble</I> we are in <I>seem little to
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thee,</I> and not worth taking notice of,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+9:32">Neh. ix. 32</A>.
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Note, As it is a great comfort to us, so it ought to be a sufficient
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one, in our troubles, that God sees, and considers, and remembers, all
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that <I>has come upon us;</I> and in our prayers we need only to
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recommend our case to his gracious and compassionate consideration. The
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one word in which all their grievances are summer up is <I>reproach:
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Consider, and behold our reproach.</I> The troubles they were in
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compared with their former dignity and plenty, were a greater reproach
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to them than they would have been to any other people, especially
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considering their relation to God and dependence upon him, and his
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former appearances for them; and therefore this they complain of very
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sensibly, because, as it was a reproach, it reflected upon the name and
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honour of that God who had owned them for his people. <I>And what wilt
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thou do unto thy great name?</I></P>
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<P>
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I. They acknowledge the reproach of sin which they bear, <I>the
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reproach of their youth</I> (which Ephraim bemoans himself for,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+31:19">Jer. xxxi. 19</A>),
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of the early days of their nation. This comes in in the midst of their
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complaints
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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but may well be put in the front of them: <I>Our fathers have sinned
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and are not;</I> they are dead and gone, but <I>we have borne their
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iniquities.</I> This is not here a peevish complaint, nor an imputation
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of unrighteousness to God, like that which we have,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+31:29,Eze+18:2">Jer. xxxi. 29, Ezek. xviii. 2</A>.
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<I>The fathers did eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on
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edge,</I> and therefore <I>the ways of the Lord are not equal.</I> But
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it is a penitent confession of the sins of their ancestors, which they
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themselves also had persisted in, for which they now justly suffered;
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the judgments God brought upon them were so very great that it appeared
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that God had in them an eye to the sins of their ancestors (because
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they had not been remarkably punished in this world) as well as to
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their own sins; and thus God was justified both in his connivance at
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their ancestors (he <I>laid up their iniquity for their children</I>)
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and in his severity with them, on whom he visited that iniquity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+23:35,36">Matt. xxiii. 35, 36</A>.
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Thus they do here,
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1. Submit themselves to the divine justice: "Lord, thou art just in all
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that is brought upon us, for we are a seed of evil doers, children of
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wrath, and heirs of the curse; we are sinful, and we have it by kind."
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Note, The sins which God looks back upon in punishing we must look back
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upon in repenting, and must take notice of all that which will help to
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justify God in correcting us.
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2. They refer themselves to the divine pity: "Lord, <I>our fathers have
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sinned,</I> and we justly smart for their sins; but <I>they are
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not;</I> they were taken away from the evil to come; they lived not to
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see and share in these miseries that have <I>come upon us,</I> and we
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are left to <I>bear their iniquities.</I> Now, though herein God is
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righteous, yet it must be owned that our case is pitiable, and worthy
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of compassion." Note, If we be penitent and patient under what we
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suffer for the sins of our fathers, we may expect that he who punishes
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will pity, and will soon return in mercy to us.</P>
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<P>
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II. They represent the reproach of trouble which they bear, in divers
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particulars, which tend much to their disgrace.</P>
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<P>
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1. They are disseised of that good land which God gave them, and their
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enemies have got possession of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Canaan was their inheritance; it was theirs by promise. God gave it to
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them and their seed, and they held it by grant from his crown,
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+136:21,22">Ps. cxxxvi. 21, 22</A>);
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but now, "It is turned to strangers; those possess it who have no right
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to it, who are <I>strangers to the commonwealth of Israel and aliens
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from the covenants of promise;</I> they dwell in the houses that we
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built, and this is our reproach." It is the happiness of all God's
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spiritual Israel that the heavenly Canaan is an inheritance that they
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cannot be disseised of, that shall never be turned to strangers.</P>
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<P>
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2. Their state and nation are brought into a condition like that of
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widows and orphans
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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"<I>We are fatherless</I> (that is, helpless); we have none to protect
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us, to provide for us, to take any care of us. Our king, who is the
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father of the country, is cut off; nay, God our Father seems to have
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forsaken us and cast us off; <I>our mothers,</I> our cities, that were
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as fruitful mothers in Israel, <I>are</I> now <I>as widows,</I> are as
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wives whose husbands are dead, destitute of comfort, and exposed to
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wrong and injury, and this is our reproach; for we who made a figure
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are now looked on with contempt."</P>
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<P>
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3. They are put hard to it to provide necessaries for themselves and
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their families, whereas once they lived in abundance and had plenty of
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every thing. Water used to be free and easily come by, but now
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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<I>We have drunk our water for money,</I> and the saying is no longer
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true, <I>Usus communis aquarum</I>--<I>Water is free to all.</I> So
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hardly did their oppressors use them that they could not have a draught
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of fair water but they must purchase it either with money or with work.
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Formerly they had fuel too for the fetching; but now, "<I>Our wood is
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sold to us,</I> and we pay dearly for every faggot." Now were they
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punished for employing their children to gather wood for fire with
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which to <I>bake cakes for the queen of heaven,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+7:18">Jer. vii. 18</A>.
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They were perfectly proscribed by their oppressors, were forbidden the
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use both of fire and water, according to the ancient form, <I>Interdico
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tibi aqua et igni</I>--<I>I forbid thee the use of water and fire.</I>
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But what must they do for bread? Truly that was as hard to come at as
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any thing, for
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(1.) Some of them sold their liberty for it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"<I>We have given the hand to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians,</I>
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have made the best bargain we could with them, to serve them, that we
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might <I>be satisfied with bread.</I> We were glad to submit to the
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meanest employment, upon the hardest terms, to get a sorry livelihood;
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we have yielded ourselves to be their vassals, have parted with all to
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them, as the Egyptians did to Pharaoh in the years of famine, that we
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might have something for ourselves and families to subsist on." The
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neighbouring nations used to trade with Judah for wheat
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+27:17">Ezek. xxvii. 17</A>),
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for it was a fruitful land; but now it <I>eats up the inhabitants,</I>
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and they are glad to make court to the Egyptians and Assyrians.
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(2.) Others of them ventured their lives for it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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<I>We got our bread with the peril of our lives;</I> when, being
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straitened by the siege and all provisions cut off, they either sallied
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or stole out of the city, to fetch in some supply, they were in danger
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of falling into the hands of the besiegers and being put to the sword,
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<I>the sword of the wilderness</I> it is called, or <I>of the plain</I>
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(for so the word signifies), the besiegers lying dispersed every where
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in the plains that were about the city. Let us take occasion hence to
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bless God for the plenty that we enjoy, that we get our bread so
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easily, scarcely with the sweat of our face, much less <I>with the
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peril of our lives;</I> and for the peace we enjoy, that we can go out,
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and enjoy not only the necessary productions, but the pleasures of the
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country, without any fear of <I>the sword of the wilderness.</I></P>
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<P>
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4. Those are brought into slavery who were a free people, and not only
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their own masters, but masters of all about them, and this is as much
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as any thing their reproach
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>Our necks are under</I> the grievous and intolerable yoke of
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<I>persecution</I> (the iron yoke which Jeremiah foretold should be
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laid upon them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+28:14">Jer. xxviii. 14</A>);
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we are used like beasts in the yoke, that wholly serve their owners,
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and are at the command of their drivers. That which aggravated the
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servitude was,
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(1.) That their labours were incessant, like those of Israel in Egypt,
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who were daily tasked, nay, overtasked: <I>We labour and have no
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rest,</I> neither leave nor leisure to rest. The oxen in the yoke are
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unyoked at night and have rest; so they have, by a particular provision
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of the law, on the sabbath day; but the poor captives in Babylon, who
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were compelled to work for their living, <I>laboured and had no
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rest,</I> no night's rest, no sabbath-rest; they were quite tired out
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with continual toil.
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(2.) That their masters were insufferable
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>Servants have ruled over us;</I> and nothing is more vexatious than
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<I>a servant when he reigns,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:22">Prov. xxx. 22</A>.
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They were not only the great men of the Chaldeans that commanded them,
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but even the meanest of their servants abused them at pleasure, and
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insulted over them; and they must be at their beck too. The curse of
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Canaan had now become the doom of Judah: <I>A servant of servants shall
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he be.</I> They would not be ruled by their God, and by his servants
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the prophets, whose rule was gentle and gracious, and therefore justly
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are they ruled with rigour by their enemies and their servants.
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(3.) That they saw no probable way for the redress of their grievances:
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"<I>There is none that doth deliver us out of their hand;</I> not only
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none to rescue us out of our captivity, but none to check and restrain
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the insolence of the servants that abuse us and trample upon us," which
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one would think their masters should have done, because it was a
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usurpation of their authority; but, it should seem, they connived at it
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and encouraged it, and, as if they were not worthy of the correction of
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gentlemen, they are turned over to the footmen to be spurned by them.
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Well might they pray, <I>Lord, consider and behold our
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reproach.</I></P>
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<P>
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5. Those who used to be feasted are now famished
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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<I>Our skin was black like an oven,</I> dried and parched too,
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<I>because of the terrible famine,</I> the <I>storms of famine</I> (so
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the word is); for, though famine comes gradually upon a people, yet it
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comes violently, and bears down all before it, and there is no
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resisting it; and this also is their disgrace; hence we read of <I>the
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reproach of famine,</I> which in captivity their received among the
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heathen,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+36:30">Ezek. xxxvi. 30</A>.</P>
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<P>
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6. All sorts of people, even those whose persons and characters were
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most inviolable, were abused and dishonoured.
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(1.) The <I>women</I> were <I>ravished,</I> even <I>the women in
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Zion,</I> that holy mountain,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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The committing of such abominable wickednesses there is very justly and
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sadly complained of.
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(2.) The great men were not only put to death, but put to ignominious
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deaths. <I>Princes were hanged,</I> as if they had been slaves, <I>by
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the hands</I> of the Chaldeans
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
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who took a pride in doing this barbarous execution with <I>their own
|
|
hands.</I> Some think that the dead bodies of the princes, after they
|
|
were slain with the sword, were hung up, as the bodies of Saul's sons,
|
|
in disgrace to them, and as it were to expiate the nation's guilt.
|
|
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|
(3.) No respect was shown to magistrates and those in authority: <I>The
|
|
faces of elders,</I> elders in age, elders in office, <I>were not
|
|
honoured.</I> This will be particularly remembered against the
|
|
Chaldeans another day.
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|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:6">Isa. xlvii. 6</A>,
|
|
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|
<I>Upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.</I>
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|
|
|
(4.) The tenderness of youth was no more considered than the gravity of
|
|
old age
|
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They took the young men to grind</I> at the hand-mills, nay, perhaps
|
|
at the horse-mills. <I>The young men have carried the grist</I> (so
|
|
some), <I>have carried the mill,</I> or <I>mill-stones,</I> so others.
|
|
They loaded them as if they had been beasts of burden, and so broke
|
|
their backs while they were young, and made the rest of their lives the
|
|
more miserable. Nay, they made <I>the</I> little <I>children</I> carry
|
|
their wood home for fuel, and laid such burdens upon them that they
|
|
<I>fell</I> down <I>under</I> them, so very inhuman were these cruel
|
|
taskmasters!</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
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|
|
|
7. An end was put to all their gladness, and their joy was quite
|
|
extinguished
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The young men,</I> who used to be disposed to mirth, have ceased
|
|
<I>from their music,</I> have hung their harps upon the willow-trees.
|
|
It does indeed well become old men to cease from their music; it is
|
|
time to lay it by with a gracious contempt when <I>all the daughters of
|
|
music are brought low;</I> but it speaks some great calamity upon a
|
|
people when their young men are made to cease from it. It was so with
|
|
the body of the people
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The joy of their heart ceased;</I> they never knew what joy was
|
|
since the enemy came in upon them like a flood, for ever since <I>deep
|
|
called unto deep,</I> and one wave flowed in upon the neck of another,
|
|
so that they were quite overwhelmed: <I>Our dance is turned into
|
|
mourning,</I> instead of leaping for joy, as formerly, we sink and lie
|
|
down in sorrow. This may refer especially to the joy of their solemn
|
|
feasts, and the dancing used in them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:21">Judg. xxi. 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
which was not only modest, but sacred, dancing; this was <I>turned into
|
|
mourning,</I> which was doubled on their festival days, in remembrance
|
|
of their former pleasant things.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
8. An end was put to all their glory.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The public administration of justice was their glory, but that was
|
|
gone: <I>The elders have ceased from the gate</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>);
|
|
|
|
the course of justice, which used to run down like a river, is now
|
|
stopped; the courts of justice, which used to be kept with so much
|
|
solemnity, are put down; for the judges are slain, or carried captive.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The royal dignity was their glory, but that also was gone: <I>The
|
|
crown has fallen from our head,</I> not only the <I>king</I> himself
|
|
fallen into disgrace, but <I>the crown;</I> he has no successor; the
|
|
regalia are all lost. Note, Earthly crowns are fading falling things;
|
|
but, blessed be God, there is <I>a crown of glory that fades not
|
|
away,</I> that never falls, <I>a kingdom that cannot be moved.</I> Upon
|
|
this complaint, but with reference to all the foregoing complaints,
|
|
they make that penitent acknowledgment, "<I>Woe unto us that we have
|
|
sinned!</I> Alas for us! Our case is very deplorable, and it is all
|
|
owing to ourselves; we are undone, and, which aggravates the matter, we
|
|
are undone by our own hands. God is righteous, for <I>we have
|
|
sinned.</I>" Note, All our woes are owing to our own sin and folly. If
|
|
<I>the crown of our head be fallen</I> (for so the words run), if we
|
|
lose our excellency and become mean, we may thank ourselves, we have by
|
|
our own iniquity profaned our crown and <I>laid our honour in the
|
|
dust.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="La5_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="La5_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="La5_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="La5_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="La5_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="La5_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Unchangeableness of God; Prayer for Mercy and Grace.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 588.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 For this our heart is faint; for these <I>things</I> our eyes are
|
|
dim.
|
|
18 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the
|
|
foxes walk upon it.
|
|
19 Thou, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation
|
|
to generation.
|
|
20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, <I>and</I> forsake us so
|
|
long time?
|
|
21 Turn thou us unto thee, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and we shall be turned;
|
|
renew our days as of old.
|
|
22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth
|
|
against us.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
I. The people of God express the deep concern they had for the ruins of
|
|
the temple, more than for any other of their calamities; the interests
|
|
of God's house lay nearer their hearts than those of their own
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:17,18"><I>v.</I> 17, 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>For this our heart is faint,</I> and sinks under the load of its own
|
|
heaviness; <I>for these things our eyes are dim,</I> and our sight is
|
|
gone, as is usual in a deliquium, or fainting fit. "It is <I>because of
|
|
the mountain of Zion, which is desolate,</I> the holy mountain, and the
|
|
temple built upon that mountain. For other desolations our hearts
|
|
grieve and our eyes weep; but for this our hearts faint and our eyes
|
|
are dim." Note, Nothing lies so heavily upon the spirits of good people
|
|
as that which threatens the ruin of religion or weakens its interests;
|
|
and it is a comfort if we can appeal to God that that afflicts us more
|
|
than any temporal affliction to ourselves. "The people have polluted
|
|
the <I>mountain of Zion</I> with their sins, and therefore God has
|
|
justly made it <I>desolate,</I> to such a degree that <I>the foxes walk
|
|
upon it</I> as freely and commonly as they do in the woods." It is sad
|
|
indeed when the <I>mountain of Zion</I> has become <I>a portion for
|
|
foxes</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+63:10">Ps. lxiii. 10</A>);
|
|
|
|
but sin had first made it so,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+13:4">Ezek. xiii. 4</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. They comfort themselves with the doctrine of God's eternity, and
|
|
the perpetuity of his government
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
But <I>thou, O Lord! remainest for ever.</I> This they are taught to
|
|
do by that psalm which is entitled, <I>A prayer of the afflicted,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+102:27,28">Ps. cii. 27, 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
When all our creature-comforts are removed from us, and our hearts fail
|
|
us, we may then encourage ourselves with the belief,
|
|
|
|
1. Of God's eternity: <I>Thou remainest for ever.</I> What shakes the
|
|
world gives no disturbance to him who made it; whatever revolutions
|
|
there are on earth there is no change in the Eternal Mind; God is still
|
|
the same, and <I>remains for ever</I> infinitely wise and holy, just
|
|
and good; with him there is <I>no variableness nor shadow of
|
|
turning.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. Of the never-failing continuance of his dominion: <I>Thy throne is
|
|
from generation to generation;</I> the throne of glory, the throne of
|
|
grace, and the throne of government, are all unchangeable, immovable;
|
|
and this is matter of comfort to us when <I>the crown has fallen from
|
|
our head.</I> When the thrones of princes, that should be our
|
|
protectors, are brought to the dust, and buried in it, God's throne
|
|
continues still; he still rules the world, and rules it for the good of
|
|
the church. The Lord reigns, reigns for ever, even <I>thy God, O
|
|
Zion!</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. They humbly expostulate with God concerning the low condition they
|
|
were now in, and the frowns of heaven they were now under
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Wherefore dost thou forsake us so long time,</I> as if we were
|
|
quite deprived of the tokens of thy presence? Wherefore dost thou
|
|
defer our deliverance, as if thou hadst utterly abandoned us? Thou art
|
|
the same, and, though the throne of thy sanctuary is demolished, thy
|
|
throne in heaven is unshaken. But wilt thou not be the same to us?" Not
|
|
as if they thought God had forgotten and forsaken them, much less
|
|
feared his forgetting and forsaking them for ever; but thus they
|
|
express the value they had for his favour and presence, which they
|
|
thought it long that they were deprived of the evidence and comfort of.
|
|
The
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:22">last verse</A>
|
|
|
|
may be read as such an expostulation, and so the margin reads it:
|
|
"<I>For wilt thou utterly reject us? Wilt thou be perpetually wroth
|
|
with us,</I> not only not smile upon us and remember us in mercy, but
|
|
frown upon us and lay us under the tokens of thy wrath, not only not
|
|
draw nigh to us, but cast us out of thy presence and forbid us to draw
|
|
nigh unto thee? How ill this be reconciled with thy goodness and
|
|
faithfulness, and the stability of thy covenant?" We read it, "<I>But
|
|
thou hast rejected us;</I> thou hast given us cause to fear that thou
|
|
hast. Lord, how long shall we be in this temptation?" Note, Thou we may
|
|
not quarrel with God, yet we may plead with him; and, though we may not
|
|
conclude that he has cast off, yet we may (with the prophet,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:1">Jer. xii. 1</A>)
|
|
|
|
humbly reason with him concerning his judgments, especially the
|
|
continuance of the desolations of his sanctuary.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. They earnestly pray to God for mercy and grace: "Lord, do not
|
|
reject <I>us for ever,</I> but <I>turn thou us unto thee; renew our
|
|
days,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though these words are not put last, yet the Rabbin, because they would
|
|
not have the book to conclude with those melancholy words
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:22">v. 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
repeat this prayer again, that the sun may not set under a cloud, and
|
|
so make these the last words both in writing and reading this chapter.
|
|
They here pray,
|
|
|
|
1. For converting grace to prepare and qualify them for mercy: <I>Turn
|
|
us to thee, O Lord!</I> They had complained that God had forsaken and
|
|
forgotten them, and then their prayer is not, <I>Turn thou to us,</I>
|
|
but, <I>Turn us to thee,</I> which implies an acknowledgment that the
|
|
cause of the distance was in themselves. God never leaves any till they
|
|
first leave him, nor stands afar off from any longer than while they
|
|
stand afar off from him; if therefore he turn them to him in a way of
|
|
duty, no doubt but he will quickly return to them in a way of mercy.
|
|
This agrees with that repeated prayer
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+80:3,7,19">Ps. lxxx. 3, 7, 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Turn us again, and then cause thy face to shine. Turn us</I> from
|
|
our idols to thyself, by a sincere repentance and reformation,
|
|
<I>and</I> then <I>we shall be turned.</I> This implies a further
|
|
acknowledgment of their own weakness and inability to turn themselves.
|
|
There is in our nature a proneness to backslide from God, but no
|
|
disposition to return to him till his grace works in us both <I>to will
|
|
and to do.</I> So necessary is that grace that we may truly say,
|
|
<I>Turn us or we shall not be turned,</I> but shall wander endlessly;
|
|
and so powerful and effectual is that grace that we may as truly say,
|
|
<I>Turn us, and we shall be turned;</I> for it is a day of power,
|
|
almighty power, in which God's people are made a <I>willing people,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+110:3">Ps. cx. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. For restoring mercy: <I>Turn us to thee,</I> and then <I>renew our
|
|
days as of old,</I> put us into the same happy state that our ancestors
|
|
were in long ago and that they continued long in; let it be with us as
|
|
it was <I>at the first,</I> and <I>at the beginning,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:26">Isa. i. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, If God by his grace renew our hearts, he will be his favour
|
|
<I>renew our days,</I> so that we shall <I>renew our youth as the
|
|
eagle,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+103:5">Ps. ciii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that <I>repent, and do their first works,</I> shall rejoice, and
|
|
recover their first comforts. God's mercies to his people have been
|
|
<I>ever of old</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+25:6">Ps. xxv. 6</A>);
|
|
|
|
and therefore they may hope, even then when he seems to have forsaken
|
|
and forgotten them, that the mercy which was <I>from everlasting</I>
|
|
will be <I>to everlasting.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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