mh_parser/vol_split/25 - Lamentations/Chapter 1.xml

<div2 id="Lam.ii" n="ii" next="Lam.iii" prev="Lam.i" progress="47.45%" title="Chapter I">
<h2 id="Lam.ii-p0.1">L A M E N T A T I O N S.</h2>
<h3 id="Lam.ii-p0.2">CHAP. I.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Lam.ii-p1" shownumber="no">We have here the first alphabet of this
lamentation, twenty-two stanzas, in which the miseries of Jerusalem
are bitterly bewailed and her present deplorable condition is
aggravated by comparing it with her former prosperous state; all
along, sin is acknowledged and complained of as the procuring cause
of all these miseries; and God is appealed to for justice against
their enemies and applied to for compassion towards them. The
chapter is all of a piece, and the several remonstrances are
interwoven; but here is, I. A complaint made to God of their
calamities, and his compassionate consideration desired, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.1.1-Lam.1.11" parsed="|Lam|1|1|1|11" passage="La 1:1-11">ver. 1-11</scripRef>. II. The same complaint
made to their friends, and their compassionate consideration
desired, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.1.12-Lam.1.17" parsed="|Lam|1|12|1|17" passage="La 1:12-17">ver. 12-17</scripRef>. III.
An appeal to God and his righteousness concerning it (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.1.18-Lam.1.22" parsed="|Lam|1|18|1|22" passage="La 1:18-22">ver. 18-22</scripRef>), in which he is
justified in their affliction and is humbly solicited to justify
himself in their deliverance.</p>
<scripCom id="Lam.ii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.1" parsed="|Lam|1|0|0|0" passage="La 1" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Lam.ii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Lam.1.1-Lam.1.11" parsed="|Lam|1|1|1|11" passage="La 1:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Lam.ii-p1.6">
<h4 id="Lam.ii-p1.7">The Miseries of Jerusalem; Grief for the
Loss of Ordinances. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.ii-p1.8">b. c.</span> 588.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Lam.ii-p2" shownumber="no">1 How doth the city sit solitary, <i>that
was</i> full of people! <i>how</i> is she become as a widow! she
<i>that was</i> great among the nations, <i>and</i> princess among
the provinces, <i>how</i> is she become tributary!   2 She
weepeth sore in the night, and her tears <i>are</i> on her cheeks:
among all her lovers she hath none to comfort <i>her:</i> all her
friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her
enemies.   3 Judah is gone into captivity because of
affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the
heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her
between the straits.   4 The ways of Zion do mourn, because
none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her
priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she <i>is</i> in
bitterness.   5 Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies
prosper; for the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.ii-p2.1">Lord</span> hath afflicted
her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone
into captivity before the enemy.   6 And from the daughter of
Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like harts
<i>that</i> find no pasture, and they are gone without strength
before the pursuer.   7 Jerusalem remembered in the days of
her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she
had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the
enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, <i>and</i>
did mock at her sabbaths.   8 Jerusalem hath grievously
sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise
her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and
turneth backward.   9 Her filthiness <i>is</i> in her skirts;
she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down
wonderfully: she had no comforter<span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.ii-p2.2">. O
Lord</span>, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified
<i>himself.</i>   10 The adversary hath spread out his hand
upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen <i>that</i> the
heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command
<i>that</i> they should not enter into thy congregation.   11
All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their
pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, <span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.ii-p2.3">O Lord</span>, and consider; for I am become vile.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p3" shownumber="no">Those that have any disposition to <i>weep
with those that weep,</i> one would think, should scarcely be able
to refrain from tears at the reading of these verses, so very
pathetic are the lamentations here.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p4" shownumber="no">I. The miseries of Jerusalem are here
complained of as very pressing and by many circumstances very much
aggravated. Let us take a view of these miseries.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p5" shownumber="no">1. As to their civil state. (1.) A city
that was populous is now depopulated, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.1" parsed="|Lam|2|1|0|0" passage="La 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. It is spoken of by way of
wonder—Who would have thought that ever it should come to this! Or
by way of enquiry—What is it that has brought it to this? Or by
way of lamentation—Alas! alas! (as <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.18.10 Bible:Rev.18.16 Bible:Rev.18.19" parsed="|Rev|18|10|0|0;|Rev|18|16|0|0;|Rev|18|19|0|0" passage="Re 18:10,16,19">Rev. xviii. 10, 16, 19</scripRef>) <i>how doth the
city sit solitary that was full of people!</i> She was full of her
own people that replenished her, and full of the people of other
nations that resorted to her, with whom she had both profitable
commerce and pleasant converse; but now her own people are carried
into captivity, and strangers make no court to her: she <i>sits
solitary.</i> The <i>chief places of the city</i> are not now, as
they used to be, <i>place of concourse,</i> where <i>wisdom
cried</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.1.20-Prov.1.21" parsed="|Prov|1|20|1|21" passage="Pr 1:20,21">Prov. i. 20,
21</scripRef>); and justly are they left unfrequented, because
wisdom's cry there was not heard. Note, Those that are ever so much
increased God can soon diminish. <i>How has she become as a
widow!</i> Her king that was, or should have been, as a husband to
her, is cut off, and gone; her God has departed from her, and has
given her a bill of divorce; she is emptied of her children, is
solitary and sorrowful as a widow. Let no family, no state, not
Jerusalem, no, nor Babylon herself, be secure, and say, <i>I sit as
a queen,</i> and shall never <i>sit as a widow,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.47.8 Bible:Rev.18.7" parsed="|Isa|47|8|0|0;|Rev|18|7|0|0" passage="Isa 47:8,Re 18:7">Isa. xlvii. 8; Rev. xviii. 7</scripRef>.
(2.) A city that had dominion is now in subjection. She had been
<i>great among the nations,</i> greatly loved by some and greatly
feared by others, and greatly observed and obeyed by both; some
made her presents, and others paid her taxes; so that she was
really <i>princess among the provinces,</i> and every sheaf bowed
to hers; even the princes of the people entreated her favour. But
now the tables are turned; she has not only lost her friends and
<i>sits solitary,</i> but has lost her freedom too and sits
<i>tributary;</i> she paid tribute to Egypt first and then to
Babylon. Note, Sin brings a people not only into solitude, but into
slavery. (3.) A city that used to be full of mirth has now become
melancholy and upon all accounts full of grief. Jerusalem had been
a joyous city, whither the tribes went up on purpose to rejoice
before the Lord; she was <i>the joy of the whole earth,</i> but now
<i>she weeps sorely,</i> her laughter is turned into mourning, her
solemn feasts are all gone; she weeps <i>in the night,</i> as true
mourners do who weep in secret, in silence and solitude; <i>in the
night,</i> when others compose themselves to rest, her thoughts are
most intent upon her troubles, and grief then plays the tyrant.
What the prophet's head was for her, when she regarded it not, now
her head is—<i>as waters, and</i> her <i>eyes fountains of
tears,</i> so that she <i>weeps day and night</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.9.1" parsed="|Jer|9|1|0|0" passage="Jer 9:1">Jer. ix. 1</scripRef>); <i>her tears are</i>
continually <i>on her cheeks.</i> Though nothing dries away sooner
than a tear, yet fresh griefs extort fresh tears, so that her
cheeks are never free from them. Note, There is nothing more
commonly seen <i>under the sun</i> than <i>the tears of the
oppressed,</i> with whom <i>the clouds return after the rain,</i>
<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.1" parsed="|Eccl|4|1|0|0" passage="Ec 4:1">Eccl. iv. 1</scripRef>. (4.) Those that
were separated from the heathen now <i>dwell among the heathen;</i>
those that were a peculiar people are now a mingled people
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.3" parsed="|Lam|2|3|0|0" passage="La 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>Judah has
gone into captivity,</i> out of her own land into the land of her
enemies, and there she abides, and is likely to abide, among those
that are aliens to God and the covenants of promise, with whom
<i>she finds no rest,</i> no satisfaction of mind, nor any
settlement of abode, but is continually hurried from place to place
at the will of the victorious imperious tyrants. And again
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.5" parsed="|Lam|2|5|0|0" passage="La 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): "<i>Her
children have gone into captivity before the enemy;</i> those that
were to have been the seed of the next generation are carried off;
so that the land that is now desolate is likely to be still
desolate and lost for want of heirs." Those that dwell among their
own people, and that are a free people, and in their own land, would be
more thankful for the mercies they thereby enjoy if they would but
consider the miseries of those that are forced into strange
countries. (5.) Those that used in their wars to conquer are now
conquered and triumphed over: <i>All her persecutors overlook her
between the straits</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.3" parsed="|Lam|2|3|0|0" passage="La 2:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>); they gained all possible advantages against her, sot
hat her people unavoidably <i>fell into the hand of the enemy,</i>
for there was no way to escape (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.10" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.7" parsed="|Lam|2|7|0|0" passage="La 2:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>); they were hemmed in on every
side, and, which way soever they attempted to flee, they found
themselves embarrassed. When they made the best of their way they
could make nothing of it, but were overtaken and overcome; so that
every where <i>her adversaries are the chief and her enemies
prosper</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.11" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.5" parsed="|Lam|2|5|0|0" passage="La 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>);
which way soever their sword turns they get the better. Such
straits do men bring themselves into by sin. If we allow that which
is our greatest adversary and enemy to have dominion over us, and
to be chief in us, justly will our other enemies be suffered to
have dominion over us. (6.) Those that had been not only a
distinguished but a dignified people, on whom God had put honour,
and to whom all their neighbours had paid respect, are now brought
into contempt (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.12" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.8" parsed="|Lam|2|8|0|0" passage="La 2:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>):
<i>All that honoured her</i> before <i>despise her;</i> those that
courted an alliance with her now value it not; those that caressed
her when she was in pomp and prosperity slight her now that she is
in distress, <i>because they have seen her nakedness.</i> By the
prevalency of the enemies against her they perceive her weakness,
and that she is not so strong a people as they thought she had
been; and by the prevalency of God's judgments against her they
perceive her wickedness, which now comes to light and is every
where talked of. Now it appears how they have vilified themselves
by their sins: <i>The enemies magnify themselves</i> against them
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.13" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.9" parsed="|Lam|2|9|0|0" passage="La 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>); they trample
upon them, and insult over them, and in their eyes they have
<i>become vile,</i> the tail of the nations, though once they were
the head. Note, <i>Sin is the reproach of any people.</i> (7.)
Those that lived in a fruitful land were ready to perish, and many
of them did perish, for want of necessary food (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.14" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.11" parsed="|Lam|2|11|0|0" passage="La 2:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>All her people sigh</i> in
despondency and despair; they are ready to faint away; their
spirits fail, and therefore they sigh, <i>for they seek bread</i>
and seek it in vain. They were brought at last to that extremity
that there was <i>no bread for the people of the land</i>
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.15" osisRef="Bible:Jer.52.6" parsed="|Jer|52|6|0|0" passage="Jer 52:6">Jer. lii. 6</scripRef>), and in their
captivity they had much ado to get break, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p5.16" osisRef="Bible:Lam.5.6" parsed="|Lam|5|6|0|0" passage="La 5:6"><i>ch.</i> v. 6</scripRef>. <i>They have given their
pleasant things,</i> their jewels and pictures, and all the
furniture of their closets and cabinets, which they used to please
themselves with looking upon, they have sold these to buy bread for
themselves and their families, have parted with them <i>for meat to
relieve the soul,</i> or (as the margin is) <i>to make the soul
come again,</i> when they were ready to faint away. They desired no
other cordial than meat. <i>All that a man has will he give for
life,</i> and for bread, which is the staff of life. Let those that
abound in pleasant things not be proud of them, nor fond of them;
for the time may come when they may be glad to let them go for
necessary things. And let those that have competent food to relieve
their soul be content with it, and thankful for it, though they
have not pleasant things.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p6" shownumber="no">2. We have here an account of their
miseries in their ecclesiastical state, the ruin of their sacred
interest, which was much more to be lamented than that of their
secular concerns. (1.) Their religious feasts were no more
observed, no more frequented (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.4" parsed="|Lam|2|4|0|0" passage="La 2:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>): <i>The ways of Zion do mourn;</i> they look
melancholy, overgrown with grass and weeds. It used to be a
pleasant diversion to see people continually passing and repassing
in the highway that led to the temple, but now you may stand there
long enough, and see nobody stir; for <i>none come to the solemn
feasts;</i> a full end is put to them by the destruction of that
which was the <i>city of our solemnities,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.20" parsed="|Isa|33|20|0|0" passage="Isa 33:20">Isa. xxxiii. 20</scripRef>. <i>The solemn feasts</i>
had been neglected and profaned (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.11-Isa.1.12" parsed="|Isa|1|11|1|12" passage="Isa 1:11,12">Isa. i. 11, 12</scripRef>), and therefore justly is
an end now put to them. But, when thus <i>the ways of Zion</i> are
made to <i>mourn,</i> all the sons of Zion cannot but mourn with
them. It is very grievous to good men to see religious assemblies
broken up and scattered, and those restrained from them that would
gladly attend them. And, as <i>the ways of Zion mourned,</i> so
<i>the gates of Zion,</i> in which the faithful worshippers used to
meet, <i>are desolate;</i> for there is none to meet in them. Time
was when <i>the Lord loved the gates of Zion more than all the
dwellings of Jacob,</i> but now he has forsaken them, and is
provoked to withdraw from them, and therefore it cannot but fare
with them as it did with the temple when Christ quitted it.
<i>Behold, your house is left unto you desolate,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.38" parsed="|Matt|23|38|0|0" passage="Mt 23:38">Matt. xxiii. 38</scripRef>. (2.) Their religious
persons were quite disabled from performing their wonted services,
were quite dispirited: <i>Her priests sigh</i> for the desolations
of the temple; their songs are turned into sighs; they sigh, for
they have nothing to do, and therefore there is nothing to be had;
they sigh, as the people (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.11" parsed="|Lam|2|11|0|0" passage="La 2:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>), <i>for want of bread,</i> because the offerings of
the Lord, which were their livelihood, failed. It is time to sigh
when the priests, the Lord's ministers, sigh. <i>Her virgins</i>
also, that used, with their music and dancing, to grace the
solemnities of their feasts, <i>are afflicted</i> and <i>in
heaviness.</i> Notice is taken of their service in the day of
Zion's prosperity (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.25" parsed="|Ps|68|25|0|0" passage="Ps 68:25">Ps. lxviii.
25</scripRef>, <i>Among them were the damsels playing with
timbrels</i>), and therefore notice is taken of the failing of it
now. <i>Her virgins are afflicted,</i> and therefore <i>she is in
bitterness;</i> that is, all the inhabitants of Zion are so, whose
character it is that they are <i>sorrowful for the solemn
assembly,</i> and that to them <i>the reproach of it is a
burden,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.3.18" parsed="|Zeph|3|18|0|0" passage="Zep 3:18">Zeph. iii. 18</scripRef>.
(3.) Their religious places were profaned (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.10" parsed="|Lam|2|10|0|0" passage="La 2:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>The heathen entered into her
sanctuary,</i> into the temple itself, into which no Israelite was
permitted to enter, though ever so reverently and devoutly, but the
priests only. <i>The stranger that comes nigh,</i> even to worship
there, <i>shall be put to death.</i> Thither the heathen now crowds
rudely in, not to worship, but to plunder. God had commanded that
<i>the heathen should not</i> so much as <i>enter into the
congregation,</i> nor be incorporated with the people of the Jews
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:Deut.23.3" parsed="|Deut|23|3|0|0" passage="De 23:3">Deut. xxiii. 3</scripRef>); yet now
they <i>enter into the sanctuary</i> without control. Note, Nothing
is more grievous to those who have a true concern for the glory of
God, nor is more lamented, than the violation of God's laws, and
the contempt they see put upon sacred things. What <i>the enemy did
wickedly in the sanctuary</i> was complained of, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.74.3-Ps.74.4" parsed="|Ps|74|3|74|4" passage="Ps 74:3,4">Ps. lxxiv. 3, 4</scripRef>. (4.) Their religious
utensils, and all the rich things with which the temple was adorned
and beautified, and which were made use of in the worship of God,
were made a prey to the enemy (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.11" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.10" parsed="|Lam|2|10|0|0" passage="La 2:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>The adversary has spread out
his hand upon all her pleasant things,</i> has grasped them all,
seized them all, for himself. What these pleasant things are we may
learn from <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.64.11" parsed="|Isa|64|11|0|0" passage="Isa 64:11">Isa. lxiv. 11</scripRef>,
where, to the complaint of the burning of the temple, it is added,
<i>All our pleasant things are laid waste;</i> the ark and the
altar, and all the other tokens of God's presence with them, these
were their pleasant things above any other things, and these were
now broken to pieces and carried away. Thus from <i>the daughter of
Zion all her beauty has departed,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.13" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.6" parsed="|Lam|2|6|0|0" passage="La 2:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. <i>The beauty of holiness</i> was
the <i>beauty of the daughter of Zion;</i> when the temple, that
holy and beautiful house, was destroyed, her beauty was gone; that
was the breaking of <i>the staff of beauty,</i> the taking away of
the pledges and seals of the covenant, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.14" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.10" parsed="|Zech|11|10|0|0" passage="Zec 11:10">Zech. xi. 10</scripRef>. (5.) Their religious days were
made a jest of (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p6.15" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.7" parsed="|Lam|2|7|0|0" passage="La 2:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>):
<i>The adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.</i> They
laughed at them for observing one day in seven as a day of rest
from worldly business. Juvenal, a heathen poet, ridicules the Jews
in his time for losing a seventh part of their time:—</p>
<verse id="Lam.ii-p6.16" type="stanza">
<l class="t1" id="Lam.ii-p6.17">————cui septima quæque fuit lux</l>
<l class="t1" id="Lam.ii-p6.18">Ignava et vitæ partem non attigit ullam——</l>
<l class="t1" id="Lam.ii-p6.19">They keep their sabbaths to their cost,</l>
<l class="t1" id="Lam.ii-p6.20">For thus one day in sev'n is lost;</l>
</verse>
<p id="Lam.ii-p7" shownumber="no">whereas sabbaths, if they be sanctified as they ought to be,
will turn to a better account than all the days of the week
besides. And whereas the Jews professed that they did it in
obedience to their God, and to his honour, their adversaries asked
them, "What do you get by it now? What profit have you in keeping
the ordinances of your God, who now deserts you in your distress?"
Note, it is a very great trouble to all that love God to hear his
ordinances mocked at, and particularly his sabbaths. Zion calls
them <i>her sabbaths,</i> for the sabbath was made for men; they
are his institutions, but they are her privileges; and the contempt
put upon sabbaths all the sons of Zion take to themselves and lay
to heart accordingly; nor will they look upon sabbaths, or any
other divine ordinances, as less honourable, nor value them less,
for their being mocked at. (6.) That which greatly aggravated all
these grievances was that her state at present was just the reverse
of what it had been formerly, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.7" parsed="|Lam|2|7|0|0" passage="La 2:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>. Now, <i>in the days of affliction and misery,</i>
when every thing was black and dismal, <i>she remembers all her
pleasant things that she had in the days of old,</i> and now knows
how to value them better than formerly, when she had the full
enjoyment of them. God often makes us know the worth of mercies by
the want of them; and adversity is borne with the greatest
difficulty by those that have fallen into it from the height of
prosperity. This cut David to the heart, when he was banished from
God's ordinances, that he could remember when he <i>went with the
multitude to the house of God,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.42.4" parsed="|Ps|42|4|0|0" passage="Ps 42:4">Ps.
xlii. 4</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p8" shownumber="no">II. The sins of Jerusalem are here
complained of as the procuring provoking cause of all these
calamities. Whoever are the instruments, God is the author of all
these troubles; it is <i>the Lord</i> that <i>has afflicted her</i>
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.5" parsed="|Lam|2|5|0|0" passage="La 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>) and he has done
it as a righteous Judge, for <i>she has sinned.</i> 1. Her sins are
for number numberless. Are her troubles many? Her sins are many
more. it is <i>for the multitude of her transgressions</i> that
<i>the Lord has afflicted her.</i> See <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.30.14" parsed="|Jer|30|14|0|0" passage="Jer 30:14">Jer. xxx. 14</scripRef>. When the transgressions of a
people are multiplied we cannot say, as Job does in his own case,
that <i>wounds are multiplied without cause,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.9.17" parsed="|Job|9|17|0|0" passage="Job 9:17">Job ix. 17</scripRef>. 2. They are for nature
exceedingly heinous (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.8" parsed="|Lam|2|8|0|0" passage="La 2:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>): <i>Jerusalem has grievously sinned,</i> has
<i>sinned sin</i> (so the word is), sinned wilfully, deliberately,
has sinned that sin which of all others is the abominable things
that the Lord hates, the sin of idolatry. The sins of Jerusalem,
that makes such a profession and enjoys such privileges, are of all
others the most grievous sins. She has <i>sinned grievously</i>
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.8" parsed="|Lam|2|8|0|0" passage="La 2:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), and therefore
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.9" parsed="|Lam|2|9|0|0" passage="La 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>) she <i>came
down wonderfully.</i> Note, Grievous sins bring wondrous ruin;
there are some workers of iniquity to whom there is a strange
punishment, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.3" parsed="|Job|31|3|0|0" passage="Job 31:3">Job xxxi. 3</scripRef>.
They are such sins as may plainly be read in the punishment. (1.)
They have been very oppressive and therefore are justly oppressed
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p8.8" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.3" parsed="|Lam|2|3|0|0" passage="La 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>Judah has
gone into captivity,</i> and it is <i>because of affliction and
great servitude,</i> because the rich among them afflicted the poor
and made them serve with rigour, and particularly (as the Chaldee
paraphrases it) because they had oppressed their Hebrew servants,
which is charged upon them, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p8.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.34.11" parsed="|Jer|34|11|0|0" passage="Jer 34:11">Jer.
xxxiv. 11</scripRef>. Oppression was one of their crying sins
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p8.10" osisRef="Bible:Jer.6.6-Jer.6.7" parsed="|Jer|6|6|6|7" passage="Jer 6:6,7">Jer. vi. 6, 7</scripRef>) and it is
a sin that cries aloud. (2.) They have made themselves vile, and
therefore are justly vilified. They all <i>despise her</i>
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p8.11" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.8" parsed="|Lam|2|8|0|0" passage="La 2:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), for <i>her
filthiness is in her skirts;</i> it appears upon her garments that
she has rolled them in the mire of sin. None could stain our glory
if we did not stain it ourselves. (3.) They have been very secure
and therefore are justly surprised with this ruin (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p8.12" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.9" parsed="|Lam|2|9|0|0" passage="La 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): <i>She remembers not her
last end;</i> she did not take the warning that was given her to
<i>consider her latter end,</i> to consider what would be the end
of such wicked courses as she took, and therefore she <i>came down
wonderfully,</i> in an astonishing manner, that she might be made
to feel what she would not fear; therefore God shall <i>make their
plagues wonderful.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p9" shownumber="no">III. Jerusalem's friends are here
complained of as false and faint-hearted, and very unkind: They
<i>have all dealt treacherously with her</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.2" parsed="|Lam|2|2|0|0" passage="La 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), so that, in effect, <i>they have
become her enemies.</i> Her deceivers have created her as much
vexation as her destroyers. The staff that breaks under us may do
us as great a mischief as the <i>staff that beats us,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.29.6-Ezek.29.7" parsed="|Ezek|29|6|29|7" passage="Eze 29:6,7">Ezek. xxix. 6, 7</scripRef>. <i>Her
princes,</i> that should have protected her, have not courage
enough to make head against the enemy for their own preservation;
they <i>are like harts,</i> that, upon the first alarm, betake
themselves to flight and make no resistance; nay, they <i>are like
harts</i> that are famished for want of <i>pasture,</i> and
therefore <i>are gone without strength before the pursuer,</i> and,
having no strength for flight, are soon run down and made a prey
of. Her neighbours are unneighbourly, for, 1. There is none <i>to
help her</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.7" parsed="|Lam|2|7|0|0" passage="La 2:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>);
either they could not or they would not; nay, 2. <i>She has not
comforter,</i> none to sympathize with her, or suggest any thing to
alleviate her griefs, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.7 Bible:Lam.2.9" parsed="|Lam|2|7|0|0;|Lam|2|9|0|0" passage="La 2:7,9"><i>v.</i> 7,
9</scripRef>. Like Job's friends, they saw it was to no purpose,
her <i>grief was so great;</i> and <i>miserable comforters were
they all</i> in such a case.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p10" shownumber="no">IV. Jerusalem's God is here complained to
concerning all these things, and all is referred to his
compassionate consideration (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.9" parsed="|Lam|2|9|0|0" passage="La 2:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>): "<i>O Lord! behold my affliction,</i> and take
cognizance of it;" and (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.11" parsed="|Lam|2|11|0|0" passage="La 2:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>), "<i>See, O Lord! and consider,</i> take order about
it." Note, The only way to make ourselves easy under our burdens is
to cast them upon God first, and leave it to him to do with us as
seemeth him good.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Lam.ii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.1.12-Lam.1.22" parsed="|Lam|1|12|1|22" passage="La 1:12-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Lam.ii-p10.4">
<h4 id="Lam.ii-p10.5">God Acknowledged in Affliction; Jerusalem's
Complaint. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.ii-p10.6">b. c.</span> 588.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Lam.ii-p11" shownumber="no">12 <i>Is it</i> nothing to you, all ye that pass
by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,
which is done unto me, wherewith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.ii-p11.1">Lord</span> hath afflicted <i>me</i> in the day of his
fierce anger.   13 From above hath he sent fire into my bones,
and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet,
he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate <i>and</i> faint
all the day.   14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound by
his hand: they are wreathed, <i>and</i> come up upon my neck: he
hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into
<i>their</i> hands, <i>from whom</i> I am not able to rise up.
  15 The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty <i>men</i>
in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush
my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of
Judah, <i>as</i> in a winepress.   16 For these <i>things</i>
I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the
comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children
are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.   17 Zion spreadeth
forth her hands, <i>and there is</i> none to comfort her: the <span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.ii-p11.2">Lord</span> hath commanded concerning Jacob,
<i>that</i> his adversaries <i>should be</i> round about him:
Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.   18 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.ii-p11.3">Lord</span> is righteous; for I have rebelled
against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold
my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.
  19 I called for my lovers, <i>but</i> they deceived me: my
priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they
sought their meat to relieve their souls.   20 Behold, <span class="smallcaps" id="Lam.ii-p11.4">O Lord</span>; for I <i>am</i> in distress: my
bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have
grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home <i>there
is</i> as death.   21 They have heard that I sigh: <i>there
is</i> none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my
trouble; they are glad that thou hast done <i>it:</i> thou wilt
bring the day <i>that</i> thou hast called, and they shall be like
unto me.   22 Let all their wickedness come before thee; and
do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions:
for my sighs <i>are</i> many, and my heart <i>is</i> faint.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p12" shownumber="no">The complaints here are, for substance, the
same with those in the foregoing part of the chapter; but in these
verses the prophet, in the name of the lamenting church, does more
particularly acknowledge the hand of god in these calamities, and
the righteousness of his hand.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p13" shownumber="no">I. The church in distress here magnifies
her affliction, and yet no more than there was cause for; her
groaning was not heavier than her strokes. She appeals to all
spectators: <i>See if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,</i>
<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.12" parsed="|Lam|2|12|0|0" passage="La 2:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. This might
perhaps be truly said of Jerusalem's griefs; but we are apt to
apply it too sensibly to ourselves when we are in trouble and more
than there is cause for. Because we feel most from our own burden,
and cannot be persuaded to reconcile ourselves to it, we are ready
to cry out, Surely never was <i>sorrow like unto our sorrow;</i>
whereas, if our troubles were to be thrown into a common stock with
those of others, and then an equal dividend made, share and share
alike, rather than stand to that we should each of us say, "Pray,
give me my own again."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p14" shownumber="no">II. She here looks beyond the instruments
to the author of her troubles, and owns them all to be directed,
determined, and disposed of by him: "It is <i>the Lord</i> that
<i>has afflicted me,</i> and he has <i>afflicted me</i> because he
is angry with me; the greatness of his displeasure may be measured
by the greatness of my distress; it is <i>in the day of his fierce
anger,</i>" <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.12" parsed="|Lam|2|12|0|0" passage="La 2:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>.
Afflictions cannot but be very much our griefs when we see them
arising from God's wrath; so the church does here. 1. She is as one
in a fever, and the fever is of God's sending: "<i>He has sent fire
into my bones</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.13" parsed="|Lam|2|13|0|0" passage="La 2:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>), a preternatural heat, which <i>prevails against
them,</i> so that they are <i>burnt like a hearth</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.102.3" parsed="|Ps|102|3|0|0" passage="Ps 102:3">Ps. cii. 3</scripRef>), pained and wasted, and
dried away." 2. She is as one in a net, which the more he struggles
to get out of the more he is entangled in, and this net is of God's
spreading. "The enemies could not have succeeded in their
stratagems had not God <i>spread a net for my feet.</i>" 3. She is
as one in a wilderness, whose way is embarrassed, solitary, and
tiresome: "<i>He has turned me back,</i> that I cannot go on,
<i>has made me desolate,</i> that I have nothing to support me
with, but am <i>faint all the day.</i>" 4. She is as one in a yoke,
not yoked for service, but for penance, tied neck and heels
together (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.14" parsed="|Lam|2|14|0|0" passage="La 2:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>):
<i>The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand.</i> Observe,
We never are entangled in any yoke but what is framed out of our
own transgressions. The sinner is <i>holden with the cords of his
own sins,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.5.22" parsed="|Prov|5|22|0|0" passage="Pr 5:22">Prov. v. 22</scripRef>.
The yoke of Christ's commands is an <i>easy yoke</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.11.30" parsed="|Matt|11|30|0|0" passage="Mt 11:30">Matt. xi. 30</scripRef>), but that of our own
transgressions is a heavy one. God is said to bind this yoke when
he charges guilt upon us, and brings us into those inward and
outward troubles which our sins have deserved; when conscience, as
his deputy, binds us over to his judgment, then <i>the yoke is
bound</i> and <i>wreathed by the hand</i> of his justice, and
nothing but the hand of his pardoning mercy will unbind it. 5. She
is as one in the dirt, and he it is that has <i>trodden under foot
all her mighty men,</i> that has disabled them to stand, and
overthrown them by one judgment after another, and so left them to
be trampled upon by their proud conquerors, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.15" parsed="|Lam|2|15|0|0" passage="La 2:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. Nay, she is as one in a
wine-press, not only trodden down, but trodden to pieces, crushed
as grapes in the wine-press of God's wrath, and her blood pressed
out as wine, and it is God that has thus <i>trodden the virgin, the
daughter of Judah.</i> 6. She is in the hand of her enemies, and it
is the Lord that has delivered her <i>into their hands</i>
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.14" parsed="|Lam|2|14|0|0" passage="La 2:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>He has
made my strength to fall,</i> so that <i>I am not able to</i> make
head against them; nay, not only not able to rise up against them,
but <i>not able to rise up</i> from them, and then <i>he has
delivered me into their hands;</i> nay (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p14.9" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.15" parsed="|Lam|2|15|0|0" passage="La 2:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), <i>he has called an assembly
against me, to crush my young men,</i> and such an assembly as it
is in vain to think of opposing; and again (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p14.10" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.17" parsed="|Lam|2|17|0|0" passage="La 2:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), <i>The Lord has commanded
concerning Jacob that his adversaries should be round about
him.</i> He that has many a time <i>commanded deliverances for
Jacob</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p14.11" osisRef="Bible:Ps.44.4" parsed="|Ps|44|4|0|0" passage="Ps 44:4">Ps. xliv. 4</scripRef>) now
commands an invasion against Jacob, because Jacob has disobeyed the
commands of his law.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p15" shownumber="no">III. She justly demands a share in the pity
and compassion of those that were the spectators of her misery
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.12" parsed="|Lam|2|12|0|0" passage="La 2:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): "<i>Is it
nothing to you, all you that pass by?</i> Can you look upon me
without concern? What! are your hearts as adamants and your eyes as
marbles, that you cannot bestow upon me one compassionate thought,
or look, or tear? Are not you also in the body? Is it nothing to
you that your neighbor's house is on fire?" There are those to whom
Zion's sorrows and ruins are nothing; they are not <i>grieved for
the affliction of Joseph.</i> How pathetically does she beg their
compassion! (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.18" parsed="|Lam|2|18|0|0" passage="La 2:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>):
"<i>Hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow:</i> hear my
complaints, and see what cause I have for them." This is a request
like that of Job (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.19.21" parsed="|Job|19|21|0|0" passage="Job 19:21"><i>ch.</i> xix.
21</scripRef>), <i>Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O you my
friends!</i> It helps to make a burden sit lighter if our friends
sympathize with us, and mingle their tears with ours, for this is
an evidence that, though we are in affliction, we are not in
contempt, which is commonly as much dreaded in an affliction as any
thing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p16" shownumber="no">IV. She justifies her own grief, though it
was very extreme, for these calamities (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.16" parsed="|Lam|2|16|0|0" passage="La 2:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): "<i>For these things I
weep,</i> I weep in the night (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.2" parsed="|Lam|2|2|0|0" passage="La 2:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), when none sees; <i>my eye, my eye, runs down with
water.</i>" Note, This world is a vale of tears to the people of
God. Zion's sons are often Zion's mourners. <i>Zion spreads forth
her hands</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.17" parsed="|Lam|2|17|0|0" passage="La 2:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>), which is here an expression rather of despair than
of desire; she flings out her hands as giving up all for gone. Let
us see how she accounts for this passionate grief. 1. Her God has
withdrawn from her; and Micah, that had but gods of gold, when they
were stolen from him cried out, <i>What have I more? And what is it
that you say unto me? What aileth thee?</i> The church here grieves
excessively; for, says she, <i>the comforter that should relieve my
soul is far from me.</i> God is the comforter; he used to be so to
her; he only can administer effectual comforts; it is his word that
speaks them; it is his Spirit that speaks them to us. His are
strong consolations, able to <i>relieve the soul,</i> to <i>bring
it back</i> when it is gone, and we cannot of ourselves <i>fetch it
again;</i> but now he has departed in displeasure, he is <i>far
from me,</i> and beholds me <i>afar off.</i> Note, It is no marvel
that the souls of the saints faint away, when God, who is the only
Comforter that can relieve them, keeps at a distance. 2. Her
children are removed from her, and are in no capacity to help her:
it is for them that she weeps, as Rachel for hers, <i>because they
were not,</i> and therefore she <i>refuses to be comforted. Her
children were desolate, because the enemy prevailed</i> against
them; there is <i>none of all her sons to take her by the hand</i>
(<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.18" parsed="|Isa|51|18|0|0" passage="Isa 51:18">Isa. li. 18</scripRef>); they cannot
help themselves, and how should they help her? Both the damsels and
the youths, that were her joy and hope, <i>have gone into
captivity,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.18" parsed="|Lam|2|18|0|0" passage="La 2:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>.
It is said of the Chaldeans that they had <i>no compassion upon
young men nor maidens,</i> not on the fair sex, not on the blooming
age, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.36.17" parsed="|2Chr|36|17|0|0" passage="2Ch 36:17">2 Chron. xxxvi. 17</scripRef>.
3. Her friends failed her; some would not and others could not give
her any relief. She <i>spread forth her hands,</i> as begging
relief, but <i>there is none to comfort her</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.7" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.17" parsed="|Lam|2|17|0|0" passage="La 2:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), none that can do it, none that
cares to do it; she <i>called</i> for her <i>lovers,</i> and, to
engage them to help her, <i>called</i> them her <i>lovers,</i> but
they <i>deceived</i> her (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.8" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.19" parsed="|Lam|2|19|0|0" passage="La 2:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>), they proved like the brooks in summer to the
thirsty traveller, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.9" osisRef="Bible:Job.6.15" parsed="|Job|6|15|0|0" passage="Job 6:15">Job vi.
15</scripRef>. Note, Those creatures that we set our hearts upon
and raise our expectations from we are commonly deceived and
disappointed in. Her idols were her lovers. Egypt and Assyria were
her confidants. But they deceived her. Those that made court to her
in her prosperity were shy of her, and strange to her, in her
adversity. Happy are those that have made God their friend and keep
themselves in his love, for he will not deceive them! 4. Those
whose office it was to guide her were disabled from doing her any
service. The <i>priests</i> and the <i>elders,</i> that should have
appeared at the head of affairs, died for hunger (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.10" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.19" parsed="|Lam|2|19|0|0" passage="La 2:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>); they <i>gave up the
ghost,</i> or were ready to expire, <i>while they sought their
meat;</i> they went a begging for bread to keep them alive. <i>The
famine</i> is <i>sore</i> indeed <i>in the land</i> when there is
no bread to the wise, when priests and elders are starved. The
priests and elders should have been her comforters; but how should
they comfort others when they themselves were comfortless? "<i>They
have heard that I sigh,</i> which should have summoned them to my
assistance; but <i>there is none to comfort me. Lover and friend
hast thou put far from me.</i>" 5. Her enemies were too hard for
her, and they insulted over her; they have <i>prevailed,</i>
<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.11" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.16" parsed="|Lam|2|16|0|0" passage="La 2:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. <i>Abroad the
sword bereaves</i> and slays all that comes in its way, and <i>at
home</i> all provisions are cut off by the besiegers, so that
<i>there is as death,</i> that is, famine, which is as bad as the
pestilence, or worse—<i>the sword without and terror within,</i>
<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.12" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.25" parsed="|Deut|32|25|0|0" passage="De 32:25">Deut. xxxii. 25</scripRef>. And as the
enemies, that were the instruments of the calamity, were very
barbarous, so were those that were the standers by, the Edomites
and Ammonites, that bore ill will to Israel: They have <i>heard of
my trouble, and are glad that thou hast done it</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.13" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.21" parsed="|Lam|2|21|0|0" passage="La 2:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>); they rejoice in the
trouble itself; they rejoice that it is God's doing; it pleases
them to find that God and his Israel have fallen out, and they act
accordingly with a great deal of strangeness towards them.
<i>Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them,</i> that they are
afraid of touching and are shy of, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.14" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.17" parsed="|Lam|2|17|0|0" passage="La 2:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. Upon all these accounts it
cannot be wondered at, nor can she be blamed, that <i>her sighs are
many,</i> in grieving for what is, and that <i>her heart is
faint</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p16.15" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.22" parsed="|Lam|2|22|0|0" passage="La 2:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>) in
fear of what is yet further likely to be.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p17" shownumber="no">V. She justifies God in all that is brought
upon her, acknowledging that her sins had deserved these severe
chastenings. The yoke that lies so heavily, and binds so hard, is
<i>the yoke of her transgressions,</i> <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.14" parsed="|Lam|2|14|0|0" passage="La 2:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. The fetters we are held in are
of our own making, and it is with our own rod that we are beaten.
When the church had spoken here as if she thought the Lord severe
she does well to correct herself, at least to explain herself, but
acknowledging (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.18" parsed="|Lam|2|18|0|0" passage="La 2:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>), <i>The Lord is righteous.</i> He does us no wrong
in dealing thus with us, nor can we charge him with any injustice
in it; how unrighteous soever men are, we are sure that the <i>Lord
is righteous,</i> and manifests his justice, though they contradict
all the laws of theirs. Note, Whatever our troubles are, which God
is pleased to inflict upon us, we must own that therein he <i>is
righteous;</i> we understand neither him nor ourselves if we do not
own it, <scripRef id="Lam.ii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.12.6" parsed="|2Chr|12|6|0|0" passage="2Ch 12:6">2 Chron. xii. 6</scripRef>.
She owns the equity of God's actions, but owning the iniquity of
her own: <i>I have rebelled against his commandments</i> (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.18" parsed="|Lam|2|18|0|0" passage="La 2:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>); and again (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.20" parsed="|Lam|2|20|0|0" passage="La 2:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>), <i>I have grievously
rebelled.</i> We cannot speak ill enough of sin, and we must always
speak worst of our own sin, must call it <i>rebellion, grievous
rebellion;</i> and very grievous sins is to all true penitents. It
is this that lies more heavily upon her than the afflictions she
was under: "<i>My bowels are troubled;</i> they work within me as
the troubled sea; <i>my heart is turned within me,</i> is restless,
is turned upside down; <i>for I have grievously rebelled.</i>"
Note, Sorrow for our sin must be great sorrow and must affect the
soul.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Lam.ii-p18" shownumber="no">VI. She appeals both to the mercy and to
the justice of God in her present case. 1. She appeals to the mercy
of God concerning her own sorrows, which had made her the proper
object of his compassion (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.20" parsed="|Lam|2|20|0|0" passage="La 2:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>): "<i>Behold, O Lord! for I am in distress;</i> take
cognizance of my case, and take such order for my relief as thou
pleasest." Note, It is matter of comfort to us that the troubles
which oppress our spirits are open before God's eye. 2. She appeals
to the justice of God concerning the injuries that her enemies did
her (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Lam.2.21-Lam.2.22" parsed="|Lam|2|21|2|22" passage="La 2:21,22"><i>v.</i> 21, 22</scripRef>):
"<i>Thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called,</i> the day that
is fixed in the counsels of God and published in the prophecies,
when my enemies, that now prosecute me, <i>shall be made like unto
me,</i> when the cup of trembling, now put into my hands, shall be
put into theirs." It may be read as a prayer, "Let the day
appointed come," and so it goes on, "<i>Let their wickedness come
before thee,</i> let it come to be remembered, let it come to be
reckoned for; take vengeance on them for all the wrongs they have
done to me (<scripRef id="Lam.ii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.109.14-Ps.109.15" parsed="|Ps|109|14|109|15" passage="Ps 109:14,15">Ps. cix. 14,
15</scripRef>); hasten the time when thou wilt <i>do to them</i>
for their transgressions <i>as thou hast done to me</i> for mine."
This prayer amounts to a protestation against all thoughts of a
coalition with them, and to a prediction of their ruin, subscribing
to that which God had in his word spoken of it. Note, Our prayers
may and must agree with God's word; and what day God has here
called we are to call for, and no other. And though we are bound in
charity to forgive our enemies, and to pray for them, yet we may in
faith pray for the accomplishment of that which God has spoken
against his and his church's enemies, that will not repent to give
him glory.</p>
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