Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh.
Let’s lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens.
“We have transgressed and have rebelled. You have not pardoned.
Parallel Translations
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Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh.
Let’s lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens.
“We have transgressed and have rebelled. You have not pardoned.
-
Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
Show all 3 translations
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Let us search and try our ways, and return to the LORD.
Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
We have transgressed and have rebelled; Thou hast not pardoned.
Cross-references (39)
- 2 Corinthians 13:5 (v40) Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know about your own selves, that Jesus Christ is…
- Psalms 139:23-24 (v40) Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
- Joel 2:12-13 (v40) “Yet even now,” says Yahweh, “turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.” Tear your heart, and…
- Psalms 4:4 (v40) Stand in awe, and don’t sin. Search your own heart on your bed, and be still.
- Isaiah 55:7 (v40) Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him, to our God,…
Show all 39 cross-references
- Psalms 119:59 (v40) I considered my ways, and turned my steps to your statutes.
- Haggai 1:5-9 (v40) Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have…
- Hosea 6:1 (v40) “Come! Let’s return to Yahweh; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds.
- Hosea 14:1-3 (v40) Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive…
- 1 Corinthians 11:28 (v40) But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
- 2 Chronicles 30:9 (v40) For if you turn again to Yahweh, your brothers and your children will find compassion before those who led them captive, and will come…
- 2 Chronicles 30:6 (v40) So the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of…
- Ezekiel 18:28 (v40) Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die.
- 1 Corinthians 11:31 (v40) For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged.
- Deuteronomy 4:30 (v40) When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Yahweh your God and listen to his…
- Psalms 25:1 (v41) To you, Yahweh, I lift up my soul.
- Zechariah 1:3-4 (v40) Therefore tell them: Yahweh of Armies says: ‘Return to me,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘and I will return to you,’ says Yahweh of Armies. Don’t…
- Job 11:13-15 (v40) “If you set your heart aright, stretch out your hands toward him. If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away. Don’t let unrighteousness…
- Job 34:31-32 (v40) “For has any said to God, ‘I am guilty, but I will not offend any more. Teach me that which I don’t see. If I have done iniquity, I will do…
- Hosea 12:6 (v40) Therefore turn to your God. Keep kindness and justice, and wait continually for your God.
- Acts 26:20 (v40) but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should…
- Psalms 28:2 (v41) Hear the voice of my petitions, when I cry to you, when I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.
- Psalms 86:4 (v41) Bring joy to the soul of your servant, for to you, Lord, do I lift up my soul.
- Psalms 143:6-8 (v41) I spread out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land. Hurry to answer me, Yahweh. My spirit fails. Don’t hide your…
- Nehemiah 9:26 (v42) “Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against you, cast your law behind their back, killed your prophets that testified against…
- Psalms 63:4 (v41) So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.
- Psalms 141:2 (v41) Let my prayer be set before you like incense; the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice.
- Jeremiah 5:7-9 (v42) “How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed…
- Luke 15:18-19 (v42) I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be…
- 1 Thessalonians 2:8 (v41) Even so, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you, not the Good News of God only, but also our own souls,…
- 2 Kings 24:4 (v42) and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Yahweh would not pardon.
- Job 33:27-28 (v42) He sings before men, and says, ‘I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it didn’t profit me. He has redeemed my soul from…
- Jeremiah 3:13 (v42) Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against Yahweh your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under…
- Lamentations 1:18 (v42) “Yahweh is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment. Please hear all you peoples, and see my sorrow. My virgins and my young…
- Lamentations 5:16 (v42) The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
- Ezekiel 24:13 (v42) “ ‘ “In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you and you weren’t cleansed, you won’t be cleansed from your filthiness any…
- Daniel 9:5-14 (v42) we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your…
- Zechariah 1:5 (v42) Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
- 1 Chronicles 15:12-13 (v40) and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, both you and your brothers, that you…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv40–42 The Prophet now shews more clearly what the reproof…
The Prophet now shews more clearly what the reproof meant which we shortly explained yesterday: he said that men act absurdly while they weary themselves in their sins; he now adds that they would do rightly if they inquired into their own life, and faithfully examined themselves.
For hence is trouble and weariness, when men feel and deplore their outward evils, but consider not the cause, that is, when they consider not that they are justly chastised by God’s hand. Then the examination now mentioned is set in opposition to the torpor and weariness with which men in vain torment themselves, and in which they pine away, because they reflect not on their vices. Hence it is that they attain nothing but weariness — and that is a sorrow to death, as Paul says; but sorrow to life proceeds from the self-examination to which the Prophet now invites and exhorts us.
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He then says that the only true remedy in adversities is when men carefully examine themselves, and consider what they deserve. He also mentions conversion; for they who are really touched with the fear of God do not stop at this examination, but rise higher; for as God calls them back to the right way, when they acknowledge that they have departed from him, they flee to his mercy, loathe themselves on account of their vices, and seek after newness of life. Thus our Prophet prescribes to us a certain order, — that we are to examine our whole life, and that, being influenced by the fear of God, we are to return to him; for while he treats us with severity, he still kindly invites us by ever offering to sinners a free pardon. He afterwards adds, —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v41 That is, both hearts and hands: for else to…
That is, both hearts and hands: for else to lift up the hands, is but hypocrisy.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv40–42 Lam 3:40 Let us search and try our ways,…
Lam 3:40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
Ver. 40. Let us search and try our ways,] i.e., Make accurate inquiry into them; so shall we soon find ourselves to be a whole newly found world of wickedness. Search we therefore, and do it thoroughly. Many either search not at all (they cannot endure these domestic audits: it is death to them to reflect and recognise what they have done), or as though they desired not to find. They search as men do for their bad money; they know they have it, but they would gladly have it to pass for current among the rest. Heathens will rise up in judgment against such, for they prescribed and practised self-examination: Pythagoras once a day;
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“ Non prius in dulcem declines lumina somnum,
Quam prius exactae reputaveris acta diei, ”& c.
Phocylides thrice a day, if Stobaeus {a} may be believed.
And turn again to the Lord.] Let self-examination end in reformation, else sin will be thereby but emboldened and strengthened, as idle vagrants and lawless subjects are, if questioned only, and not punished and restrained. Of turning again to the Lord; {See Trapp on "Zec 1:2"}
{a} Serm.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv40–42 Seeing God doth not grieve us willingly, nor delight…
Seeing God doth not grieve us willingly, nor delight to crush us, though we be his prisoners, and seeing the hand of God is in these things upon us, and that justly, to recompense our iniquities into our bosoms, instead of mourning and fretting against God, which is not reasonable, nor will be of any profit to us, let us examine our thoughts, words, and actions, and consider what they have been, and reform, and turn again to the Lord, by apostatizing from whom we have brought these evils upon us.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v42 It is easier to chide ourselves for complaining than…
It is easier to chide ourselves for complaining than to chide ourselves out of it. The prophet had owned that a living man should not complain, as if he checked himself for his complaints in the former part of the chapter; and yet here the clouds return after the rain and the wound bleeds afresh; for great pains must be taken with a troubled spirit to bring it into temper.
I. They confess the righteousness of God in afflicting them (Lam 3:42): We have transgressed and have rebelled. Note, It becomes us, when we are in trouble, to justify God, by owning our sins, and laying the load upon ourselves for them. Call sin a transgression, call it a rebellion, and you do not miscall it. This is the result of their searching and trying their ways; the more they enquired into them the worse they found them. Yet,
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II. They complain of the afflictions they are under, not without some reflections upon God, which we are not to imitate, but, under the sharpest trials, must always think and speak highly and kindly of him.
1. They complain of his frowns and the tokens of his displeasure against them. Their sins were repented of, and yet (Lam 3:42), Thou hast not pardoned. They had not the assurance and comfort of the pardon; the judgments brought upon them for their sins were not removed, and therefore they thought they could not say the sin was pardoned, which was a mistake, but a common mistake with the people of God when their souls are cast down and disquieted within them. Their case was really pitiable, yet they complain, Thou hast not pitied, Lam 3:43. Their enemies persecuted and slew them, but that was not the worst of it; they were but the instruments in God's hand: "Thou hast persecuted us, and thou hast slain us, though we expected thou wouldst protect and deliver us." They complain that there was a wall of partition between them and God, and, (1.) This hindered God's favours from coming down upon them. The reflected beams of God's kindness to them used to be the beauty of Israel; but now "thou hast covered us with anger, so that our glory is concealed and gone; now God is angry with us, and we do not appear that illustrious people that we have formerly been thought to be." Or, "Thou hast covered us up as men that are buried are covered up and forgotten." (2.) It hindered their prayers from coming up unto God (Lam 3:44): "Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud," not like that bright cloud in which he took possession of the temple, which enabled the worshippers to draw near to him, but like that in which he came down upon Mount Sinai, which obliged the people to stand at a distance. "This cloud is so thick that our prayers seem as if they were lost in it; they cannot pass through; we cannot obtain an audience." Note, The prolonging of troubles is sometimes a temptation, even to praying people, to question whether God be what they have always believed him to be, a prayer-hearing God.
2. They complain of the contempt of their neighbours and the reproach and ignominy they were under (Lam 3:45): "Thou hast made us as the off-scouring, or scrapings, of the first floor, which are thrown to the dunghill." This St. Paul refers to in his account of the sufferings of the apostles. Co1 4:13, We are made as the filth of the world and are the off-scouring of all things. "We are the refuse, or dross, in the midst of the people, trodden upon by every body, and looked upon as the vilest of the nations, and good for nothing but to be cast out as salt which has lost its savour. Our enemies have opened their mouths against us (Lam 3:46), have gaped upon us as roaring lions, to swallow us up, or made mouths at us, or have taken liberty to say what they please of us." These complaints we had before, Lam 2:15, Lam 2:16. Note, It is common for base and ill-natured men to run upon, and run down, those that have fallen into the depths of distress from the height of honour. But this they brought upon themselves by sin. If they had not made themselves vile, their enemies could not have made them so: but therefore men call them reprobate silver, because the Lord has rejected them for rejecting him.
3. They complain of the lamentable destruction that their enemies made of them (Lam 3:47): Fear and a snare have come upon us; the enemies have not only terrified us with those alarms, but prevailed against us by their stratagems, and surprised us with the ambushes they laid for us; and then follows nothing but desolation and destruction, the destruction of the daughter of my people (Lam 3:48), of all the daughters of my city, Lam 3:51. The enemies, having taken some of them like a bird in a snare, chased others as a harmless bird is chased by a bird of prey (Lam 3:52): My enemies chased me sorely like a bird which is beaten from bush to bush, as Saul hunted David like a partridge. Thus restless was the enmity of their persecutors, and yet causeless. They have done it without cause, without any provocation given them. Though God was righteous, they were unrighteous. David often complains of those that hated him without cause; and such are the enemies of Christ and his church, Joh 15:25. Their enemies chased them till they had quite prevailed over them (Lam 3:53): They have cut off my life in the dungeon. They have shut up their captives in close and dark prisons, where they are as it were cut off from the land of the living (as Lam 3:6), or the state and kingdom are sunk and ruined, the life and being of them are gone, and they are as it were thrown into the dungeon or grave and a stone cast upon them, such as used to be rolled to the door of the sepulchres. They look upon the Jewish nation as dead and buried, and imagine that there is not possibility of its resurrection. Thus Ezekiel saw it, in vision, a valley full of dead and dry bones. Their destruction is compared not only to the burying of a dead man, but to the sinking of a living man into the water, who cannot long be a living man there, Lam 3:54. Waters of affliction flowed over my head. The deluge prevailed and quite overwhelmed them. The Chaldean forces broke in upon them as the breaking forth of waters, which rose so high as to flow over their heads; they could not wade, they could not swim, and therefore must unavoidably sink. Note, The distresses of God's people sometimes prevail to such a degree that they cannot find any footing for their faith, nor keep their head above water, with any comfortable expectation.
4. They complain of their own excessive grief and fear upon this account. (1.) The afflicted church is drowned in tears, and the prophet for her (Lam 3:48, Lam 3:49): My eye runs down with rivers of water, so abundant was their weeping; it trickles down and ceases not, so constant was their weeping, without any intermission, there being no relaxation of their miseries. The distemper was in continual extremity, and they had no better day. It is added (Lam 3:51), "My eye affects my heart. My seeing eye affects my heart. The more I look upon the desolation of the city and country the more I am grieved. Which way soever I cast my eye, I see that which renews my sorrow, even because of all the daughters of my city," all the neighbouring towns, which were as daughters to Jerusalem the mother-city. Or, My weeping eye affects my heart; the venting of the grief, instead of easing it, did but increase and exasperate it. Or, My eye melts my soul; I have quite wept away my spirits; not only my eye is consumed with grief, but my soul and my life are spent with it, Psa 31:9, Psa 31:10. Great and long grief exhausts the spirits, and brings not only many a gray head, but many a green head too, to the grave. I weep, ways the prophet, more than all the daughters of my city (so the margin reads it); he outdid even those of the tender sex in the expressions of grief. And it is no diminution to any to be much in tears for the sins of sinners and the sufferings of saints; our Lord Jesus was so; for, when he came near, he beheld this same city and wept over it, which the daughters of Jerusalem did not. (2.) She is overwhelmed with fears, not only grieves for what is, but fears worse, and gives up all for gone (Lam 3:54): "Then I said, I am cut off, ruined, and see no hope of recovery; I am as one dead." Note, Those that are cast down are commonly tempted to think themselves cast off, Psa 31:22; Jon 2:4.
5. In the midst of these sad complaints here is one word of comfort, by which it appears that their case was not altogether so bas as they made it, Lam 3:50. We continue thus weeping till the Lord look down and behold from heaven. This intimates, (1.) That they were satisfied that God's gracious regard to them in their miseries would be an effectual redress of all their grievances. "If God, who now covers himself with a cloud, as if he took no notice of our troubles (Job 22:13), would but shine forth, all would be well; if he look upon us, we shall be saved," Psa 80:19; Dan 9:17. Bad as the case is, one favourable look from heaven will set all to rights. (2.) That they had hopes that he would at length look graciously upon them and relieve them; nay, they take it for granted that he will: "Though he contend long, he will not contend for ever, thou we deserve that he should." (3.) That while they continued weeping they continued waiting, and neither did nor would expect relief and succour from any hand but his; nothing shall comfort them but his gracious returns, nor shall any thing wipe tears from their eyes till he look down. Their eyes, which now run down with water, shall still wait upon the Lord their God until he have mercy upon them, Psa 123:2.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv40–42 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud,.... With wrath…
Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud,.... With wrath and anger, as a cloud; he wrapped up himself in thick darkness, so as not to be seen or come at: sin, when it appears not pardoned, is as a cloud between God and his people; and this causes him to show his anger and displeasure; which is the cloud about him, Or the hiding of his face. The Targum is,
"thou hast covered the heavens with the clouds of thy glory:''
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that our prayer should not pass through; in such circumstances God seems to his people to be inexorable; and not a God hearing and answering prayer, as he is; as if there was no access unto him, or audience to be had of him, or acceptance of persons and prayers with him; whereas the throne of grace is always open and accessible: and there is a new and living way for believers always to approach unto God in; he is on a mercy seat, ready to receive and hear their prayers.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v42 Thou - Thou hast plagued us according to the…
Thou - Thou hast plagued us according to the just desert of our sins.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v40 Verse 40. Let us search] How are we to…
Verse 40. Let us search] How are we to get the pardon of our sins? The prophet tells us:
1. Let us examine ourselves.
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2. "Let us turn again to the Lord."
3. "Let us lift up our heart;" let us make fervent prayer and supplication for mercy.
4. "Let us lift up our hand;" let us solemnly promise to be his, and bind ourselves in a covenant to be the Lord's only: so much lifting up the hand to God implies. Or, let us put our heart on our hand, and offer it to God; so some have translated this clause.
5. "We have transgressed;" let our confession of sin be fervent and sincere.
6. And to us who profess Christianity it may be added, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as having died for thee; and thou shalt not perish, but have everlasting life.
Verses 46, 47, 48, La 3:46-48, beginning with פ phe, should, as to the order of the alphabet, follow 49, 50, 51, La 3:49-51, which begin with ain, which in its grammatical position precedes the former.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv40, 42 Lam 3:40-41. Let us search and try our ways…
Lam 3:40-41. Let us search and try our ways — This will be a more reasonable and profitable employment than that of complaining and murmuring against the providence of God. Let us search what our ways have been, and try whether they have been right and good or not. Let us examine our tempers, words, and works, and consider what they have been, whether agreeable or contrary to the holy will of God. Let us try our ways, that by them we may try ourselves: for we are to judge of our state and character, not by our faint wishes, good intentions, transient resolutions, or even warm affections, but by our steps; and not by one particular step, but by our ways, our whole conduct; the ends we aim at, the rules we go by, and the agreeableness or contrariety of the temper of our minds, and the tenor of our lives to those ends and those rules. When we are in affliction it is peculiarly seasonable to consider our ways, (Hag 1:5,) that what is amiss may be repented of, and amended for the future, and so we may answer the intention of the affliction. We are apt, in times of public calamity, to reflect upon other people’s ways, and lay blame upon them, whereas our business is to search and try our own ways: we have work enough to do at home; we must each of us say, What have I done? what have I contributed to the public distress? That we may each of us mend one, then we shall all be mended. And let us turn again to the Lord — Namely, by a sincere conversion, even to him who is turned against us, and from whom we have turned; to him let us turn by repentance, reformation, and faith, as to our owner and ruler. This particular must accompany the former, and be the fruit of it; therefore we must search and try our ways, that we may turn from the evil of them to God; this was the method David took, who says, Psa 119:59, I thought on my ways, and turned my feet into thy testimonies. Let us lift up our heart, &c. — Let us apply ourselves unto God by prayer, without which we shall attempt in vain to take the preceding advice. Without supernatural light from him we shall search and try our ways to little purpose: we shall still remain unacquainted with ourselves, and shall pass a false judgment on our character and conduct; and without his renewing grace we shall not be turned to him effectually. Now for these blessings we must make application to him in fervent prayer, lifting up our hearts with our hands, and pouring out our souls with our words, in confident expectation of receiving what we ask.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v40 The prophet urges men to search out their faults…
The prophet urges men to search out their faults and amend them.
Lam 3:40
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And turn again to the Lord - Or, “and return to Yahweh.” The prep. (to) in the Hebrew implies not half way, but the whole.
Lam 3:41
Literally, “Let us lift up our heart unto our hands unto God in heaven;” as if the heart first lifted up the hands, and then with them mounted up in prayer to God. In real prayer the outward expression is caused by the emotion stirring within.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv41–42 Up. This posture "is the testimony of a soul…
Up. This posture "is the testimony of a soul naturally Christian." (Tertullian, Apol.) --- Our heart must accompany our hands, 1 Timothy ii. 8. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv40–42 us--Jeremiah and his fellow countrymen in their calamity.
us--Jeremiah and his fellow countrymen in their calamity.
search--as opposed to the torpor wherewith men rest only on their outward sufferings, without attending to the cause of them (Psa 139:23-24).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv40–42 CONFESSION OF SIN, AND LAMENTATIONS OVER THE EVIL WHICH…
CONFESSION OF SIN, AND LAMENTATIONS OVER THE EVIL WHICH HAS COME, Lam_3:40-66.
40. Let us search… our ways — As Roseumuller long ago wrote, “when our sufferings arise from our sins we should search out and correct our faults.” The closing thought of the previous triplet prepares for this, which consists of exhortation to reformation and amendment.
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Turn… to the Lord — The preposition here is not, as we would expect, el, (אל) but ol, (על,) in which lurks an emphasis which our Version does not express.
Turn as far as Jehovah; not half way, but the whole, through conversion.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv40–42 40–42. Let us search] As it is through our…
40–42. Let us search] As it is through our sins that this evil is come upon us, let us (40) seek out what has been amiss in us and repent, (41) place ourselves before God in prayer, (42) confess our sin.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv40–42 (40) Let us search . . .—Warnings against murmurs…
(40) Let us search . . .—Warnings against murmurs are followed by counsels which point to a more excellent way. Suffering calls a man to self-scrutiny. We should seek to know the sins which it is meant to punish and correct.
To the Lord.—The preposition is an emphatic one: even to the Lord. There is to be no halting half-way in the work of conversion.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv40–42 Vers. 40-51. Confession of sin, followed by sighs and…
Vers. 40-51. Confession of sin, followed by sighs and groans.
Let us search. Our troubles being caused by our sins, let us search them out and correct them.
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Self-examination.
It is interesting to watch the progress of the thoughts and feelings of the writer who addresses us as a sufferer in the overthrow of Jerusalem. At first he bewails his lot, then he calls to God for assistance. After doing so he regains faith, and calls to mind the merciful kindness of God. This helps him to the assurance that the trouble is but temporary. He feels that since it comes from God it must not be complained of. It is rather a call to reflection and self-examination.
I CHASTISEMENT SHOULD LEAD TO SELF-EXAMINATION. It does us little good until it makes us thoughtful. We must sit still under it and think. Then we should turn our thoughts in upon ourselves. We are inclined to look anywhere else, to discuss the justice of God, to complain of the conduct of men, to criticize the course of events. But the one thing necessary is to look within. This is difficult, as any one who has honestly tried it knows quite well. It is not necessary habitually. Too much introspection develops a morbid subjectivity. But there are special occasions for self-examination, and trouble is one of them.
II SELF-EXAMINATION SHOULD INVESTIGATE CONDUCT. It is "our ways" that we are to inquire into.
1. The important question is as to what we do and how we live. People examine their feelings. The examination is delusive and unwholesome. They examine their opinions. But opinions should not be matters of moral trial so much as questions for calm intellectual testing. The chief point is as to our behaviour.
2. The most important questions of conduct are those which concern our habitual actions. "Our ways" are not isolated deeds, but courses of action. We may be surprised into a fall or spurred into a good deed. More significant is our normal, everyday conduct. This is what we should investigate most closely.
III THE INVESTIGATION OF CONDUCT SHOULD BE SEARCHING AND JUDICIAL.
1. It should be searching. Evil is subtle. Plausible excuses cover bad deeds. We must not be content with condemning conscious and confessed wickedness. The hidden evil of our heart must be searched out. The detective must do his part before the magistrate does his.
2. It should be periodical. We must "try" our ways. It is unprofitable and demoralizing to conscience to confess guilt which we do not feel and see. Until we are convinced of it we are dishonest in attempting to blame ourselves for it. Conviction must precede the sentence. We should also be just to ourselves. Wholesale self-accusation is often dishonest and rarely profitable. We want point and specific charges in our judgment of ourselves the Law of God, the voice of conscience, the example of Christian standards by which to try ourselves. If we find the process difficult, we may pray that God will carry it on for us. (Psa_139:23, Psa_139:24)
IV THE CONVICTION WHICH FOLLOWS THE TRIAL OF OUR OWN CONDUCT SHOULD LEAD US TO REPENTANCE. It is of no use unless it does this. The mere sense of guilt is depressing and, left to itself, may lead us to ruin through despair. Repentance should follow. We are to know that we are in the wrong way only in order that we may turn from it to the right way. We all sin, and therefore self-examination should lead all of us through conviction of sin to repentance. Then we can return to God. He waits only for our confession of guilt. When we own to it he will pardon it.
Repentance.
Sin and suffering are the topic of much thought and inquiry and speculation. But it is of supreme concern to the sinner and the sufferer to act aright. He may or may not be able to explain the mysteries of the human heart, of the Divine government. But it is most important that he should repent and turn unto the Lord.
I THE CONDITION OF REPENTANCE. The unreflecting and careless will not repent. There are two conditions necessary to such an attitude of mind.
1. Those afflicted because of sin should search themselves. To take a favourable view of self is natural; hut truth and justice require that every man should look below the surface, should explore his inmost nature. Thus the springs of action, its hidden motives, will be brought to light.
2. They should consider against whom they have sinned. It was a profoundly just exclamation of David, "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned!" We may indeed wrong our fellowmen, but we sin against our Creator and Lord. Conduct must be looked at in this light, in order that it may lead to repentance.
II THE NATURE OF REPENTANCE. This exercise of the heart is accompanied with sorrow for sin, but it consists mainly
(1) in turning away from sin, and
(2) in turning unto the Lord.
This involves the seeking of pardon and acceptance, and the acceptance by faith of the Divine terms of mercy.
III THE PROOF OF REPENTANCE. This may be said to consist in:
1. The hatred and loathing of the evil in which the sinner in his impenitence took pleasure,
2. The love and pursuit of holiness as pleasing unto God. T.
Vers. 40-42. Approaching God in sincerity.
I THE ASCERTAINING OF OUR TRUE STATE. Such is the exhortation of ver. 40. The talk of complaining people is generally the hasty outbreak of superficial thought if, indeed, such loose operations of the mind are worthy to be called thought at all. Searching is above all things needful. Beneath the surface with which we are only too easily contented there are deep possibilities of good and evil. Note the figure here employed. We are in a way further advanced today than we were yesterday. There is no standing still. This way we are urged to search and try asking whither it goes, who are our predecessors, our leaders, our companions. Then note the result of all our searching and testing. The way is one in which God is not. He walks in quite another way, and therefore we must turn to him. Only one result of a real searching is deemed possible. The man without God who yet concludes that all is right, has in truth left the most important matters unexplored.
II THE RETURN TO GOD MUST BE A REAL RETURN. There had, perhaps, been abundant lifting up of the hands on the part of many, with no lifting of the heart. But many more had not even lifted up the hands. We must not say that posture and gesture are mere trifles. To God, of course, the mere gesture in itself can matter nothing, but from its associations it may matter a great deal. Prayer to the unseen and spiritual One is such a difficult thing that we may welcome every aid. Still, the great matter is to lift up the heart. Lift it up filled with gratitude, humility, repentance, submissiveness.
III A SUGGESTION OF THE GREAT DIFFICULTY YET TO BE OVERCOME. God has not pardoned. On one side there is transgression and rebellion; on the other side, God angry with all this. And what is wanted is that Israel should see transgression as transgression, rebellion as rebellion. Here we are amid the confusion of life, and we do not see that for all the worst way in which that confusion affects us we are ourselves responsible. With a humble and repentant heart, taking continual cognizance of God"s righteous will, we could ride as in an ark over that deluge which overwhelms others. But with pride and selfishness in our hearts we are strong against all ameliorating forces. We will not come to God that in him we may have first pardon and then safety, peace, and blessing. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v40 WHEN prophets, speaking in the name of God, promised…
THE RETURN
Lam_3:40-42
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WHEN prophets, speaking in the name of God, promised the exiles a restoration to their land and the homes of their fathers, it was always understood and often expressly affirmed that this reversal of their outward fortunes must be preceded by an inner change, a return to God in penitent submission. Expulsion from Canaan was the chastisement of apostasy from God; it was only right and reasonable that the discipline should be continued as long as the sin that necessitated it remained. It would be a mistake, however, to relegate the treatment of this deadly sin to a secondary place, as only the cause of a more serious trouble. There could be no more serious trouble. The greatest evil from which Israel suffered was not the Babylonian exile; it was her self-inflicted banishment from God. The greatest blessing to be sought for her was not liberty to return to the hills and cities of Palestine; it was permission and power to come back to God. It takes us long to learn that sin is worse than punishment, and that to be brought home to our Father in heaven is a more desirable good than any earthly recovery of prosperity. But the soul that can say with the elegist, "The Lord is my portion," has reached the vantage ground from which the best things can be seen in their true proportions; and to such a soul no advent of temporal prosperity can compare with the gaining of its one prized possession. In the triplet of verses that follows the pointed phrase which rebukes complaint for suffering by attributing it to sin the poet conducts us to those high regions where the more spiritual truth concerning these matters can be appreciated.
The form of the language here passes into the plural. Already we have been made to feel that the man who has seen affliction is a representative sufferer, although he is describing his own personal distresses. The immediately preceding clause seems to point to the sinful Israelite generally, in its vague reference to a "living man." {Lam_3:39} Now there is a transition in the movement of the elegy, and the solitary voice gives place to a chorus, the Jews as a body appearing before God to pour out their confessions in common. According to his usual method the elegist makes the transition quite abruptly, without any explanatory preparation. The style resembles that of an oratorio, in which solo and chorus alternate with close sequence. In the present instance the effect is not that of dramatic variety, because we feel the vital sympathy that the poet cherishes for his people, so that their experience is as his experience. It is a faint shadow of the condition of the great Sin-bearer, of whom it could be said, "In all their affliction He was afflicted." {Isa_63:9} Before it is possible to return to God, before the desire to return is even awakened, a much less inviting action must be undertaken. The first and greatest hindrance to reconciliation with our Father is our failure to recognise that any such reconciliation is necessary. The most deadening effect of sin is seen in the fact that it prevents the sinner from perceiving that he is at enmity with God at all, although by everything he does he proclaims his rebellion. The Pharisee of the parable cannot be justified, cannot really approach God at all, because he will not admit that he needs any justification, or is guilty of any conduct that separates him from God. Just as the most hopeless state of ignorance is that in which there is a serene unconsciousness of any deficiency of knowledge, so the most abandoned condition of guilt is the inability to perceive the very existence of guilt. The sick man who ignores his disease will not. resort to a physician for the cure of it. If the souls quarrel with her Lord is ever to be ended it must be discovered. Therefore the first step will be in the direction of self-examination.
We are led to look in this direction by the startling thought with which the previous triplet closes. If the calamities bewailed are the chastisements of sin it is necessary for this sin to be sought out. The language of the elegist suggests that we are not aware of the nature of our own conduct, and that it is only by some serious effort that we can make ourselves acquainted with it, for this is what he implies when he represents the distressed people resolving to "search and try" their ways. Easy as it may seem in words, experience proves that nothing is more difficult in practice than to fulfil the precept of the philosopher, "Know thyself." The externalism in which most of our lives are spent makes the effort to look within a painful contradiction of habit. When it is attempted pride and prejudice face the inquirer, and too often quite hide the true self from view. If the pursuit is pushed on in spite of these hindrances the result may prove to be a sad surprise. Sometimes we see ourselves unexpectedly revealed, and then the sight of so great a novelty amazes us. The photographers proof of a portrait dissatisfies the subject, not because it is a bad likeness, but rather because it is too faithful to be pleasing. A wonderful picture of Rossettis represents a young couple who are suddenly confronted in a lonely forest by the apparition of their two selves as simply petrified with terror at the appalling spectacle.
Even when the effort to acquire self-knowledge is strenuous and persevering, and accompanied by an honest resolution to accept the results, however unwelcome they may be, it often fails for lack of a standard of judgment. We compare ourselves with ourselves-our present with our past. or at best our actual life with our ideals. But this is a most illusory process, and its limits are too narrow. Or we compare ourselves with our neighbours-a possible advance, but still a most unsatisfactory method; for we know so little of them, all of us dwelling more or less like stars apart, and none of us able to sound the abysmal depths of anothers personality. Even if we could fix this standard it too would be very illusory, because those people with whom we are making the comparison, quite as much as we ourselves, may be astray, just as a whole planetary system, though perfectly balanced in the mutual relations of its own constituent worlds, may yet be our of its orbit, and rushing on all together towards some awful common destruction.
A more trustworthy standard may be found in the heart-searching words of Scripture, which prove to be as much a revelation of man to himself as one of God to man. This Divine test reaches its perfection in the historical presentation of our Lord. We discover our actual characters most effectually when we compare our conduct with the conduct of Jesus Christ. As the Light of the world, He leads the world to see itself. He is the great touchstone of character. During His earthly life hypocrisy was detected by His searching glance; but that was not admitted by the hypocrite. It is when He comes to us spiritually that His promise is fulfilled, and the Comforter convinces of sin as well as of righteousness and judgment. Perhaps it is not so eminently desirable as Burns would have us believe, that we should see ourselves as others see us; but it is supremely important to behold ourselves in the pure, searching light of the Spirit of Christ.
We may be reminded, on the other hand, that too much introspection is not wholesome, that it begets morbid ways of thought, paralyses the energies, and degenerates into insipid sentimentality. No doubt it is best that the general tendency of the mind should be towards the active duties of life. But to admit this is not to deny that there may be occasions when the most ruthless self-examination becomes a duty of first importance. A season of severe chastisement such as that to which the Book of Lamentations refers, is one that calls most distinctly for the exercise of this rare duty. We cannot make our daily meal of drugs; but drugs may be most necessary in sickness. Possibly, if we were in a state of perfectly sound spiritual health, it might be well for us never to spare a thought for ourselves from our complete absorption with the happy duties of a full and busy life. But since we are far from being thus healthy, since we err and fail and sin, time devoted to the discovery of our faults may be exceedingly well spent.
Then while a certain kind of self-study is always mischievous-the sickly habit of brooding over ones feelings-it is to be observed that the elegist does not recommend this. His language points in quite another direction. It is not emotion but action that he is concerned with. The searching is to be into our "ways," the course of our conduct. There is an objectivity in this inquiry, though it is turned inward, that contrasts strongly with the investigation of shadowy sentiments. Conduct, too, is the one ground of the judgment of God. Therefore the point of supreme importance to ourselves is to determine whether conduct is right or wrong. With this branch of self-examination we are not in so much danger of falling into complete delusions as when we are considering less tangible questions. Thus this is at once the most wholesome, the most necessary, and the most practicable process of introspection.
The particular form of conduct here referred to should be noted. The word "ways" suggests habit and continuity. These are more characteristic than isolated deeds-short spasms of virtue or sudden falls before temptation. The final judgment will be according to the life, not its exceptional episodes. A man lives his habits. He may be capable of better things, he may be liable to worse; but he is what he does habitually. The world will applaud him for some outburst of heroism in which he rises for the moment above the sordid level of his everyday life, or execrate him for his shameful moment of self-forgetfulness; and the world will have this amount of justice in its action, that the capacity for the occasional is itself a permanent attribute, although the opportunity for the active working of the latent good or evil is rare. The startling outburst may be a revelation of old but hitherto hidden "ways." It must be so to some extent; for no man wholly belies his own nature unless he is mad-beside himself, as we say. Still it may not be so entirely, or even chiefly; the surprised self may not be the normal self, often is not. Meanwhile our main business in self-examination is to trace the course of the unromantic beaten track, the long road on which we travel from morning to evening through the whole day of life.
The result of this search into the character of their ways on the part of the people is that it is found to be necessary to forsake them forthwith; for the next idea is in the form of a resolution to turn out of them, nay, to turn back, retracing the footsteps that have gone astray, in order to come to God again. These ways are discovered, then, to be bad-vicious in themselves, and wrong in their direction. They run down-hill, away from the home of the soul, and towards the abodes of everlasting darkness. When this fact is perceived it becomes apparent that some complete change must be made. This is a case of ending our old ways, not mending them. Good paths may be susceptible of improvement. The path of the just should "shine more and more unto the perfect day." But here things are too hopelessly bad for any attempt at amelioration. No engineering skill will ever transform the path that points straight to perdition into one that conducts us up to the heights of heaven. The only chance of coming to walk in the right way is to forsake the wrong way altogether, and make an entirely new start. Here, then, we have the Christian doctrine of conversion - a doctrine which always appears extravagant to people who take superficial views of sin, but one that will be appreciated just in proportion to the depth and seriousness of our ideas of its guilt. Nothing contributes more to unreality in religion than strong language on the nature of repentance apart from a corresponding consciousness of the tremendous need of a most radical change. This deplorable mischief must be brought about when indiscriminate exhortations to the extreme practice of penitence are addressed to mixed congregations. It cannot be right to press the necessity of conversion upon young children and the carefully sheltered and lovingly trained youth of Christian homes in the language that applies to their unhappy brothers and sisters who have already made shipwreck of life. This statement is liable to misapprehension; doubtless to some readers it will savour of the light views of sin deprecated above, and point to the excuses of the Pharisee. Nevertheless it must be considered if we would avoid the characteristic sin of the Pharisee, hypocrisy. It is unreasonable to suppose that the necessity of a complete conversion can be felt by the young and comparatively innocent as it should be felt by abandoned profligates, and the attempt of the preacher to force it on their relatively pure consciences is a direct incentive to cant. The fifty-first Psalm is the confession of his crime by a murderer; Augustines "Confessions" are the outpourings of a man who feels that he has been dragging his earlier life through the mire; Bunyans "Grace Abounding" reveals the memories of a rough soldiers shame and folly. No good can come of the unthinking application of such utterances to persons whose history and character are entirely different from those of the authors.
On the other hand, there are one or two further considerations which should be borne in mind. Thus it must not be forgotten that the greatest sinner is not necessarily the man whose guilt is most glaringly apparent; nor that sins of the heart count with God as equivalent to obviously wicked deeds committed in the full light of day; nor that guilt cannot be estimated absolutely, by the bare evil done, without regard to the opportunities, privileges, and temptations of the offender. Then, the more we meditate upon the true nature of sin, the more deeply must we be impressed with its essential evil even when it is developed only slightly in comparison with the hideous crimes and vices that blacken the pages of history-as, for example, in the careers of a Nero or a Caesar Borgia. The sensitive conscience does not only feel the exact guilt of its individual offences, but also, and much more, "the exceeding sinfulness of sin." When we consider their times and the state of the society in which they lived, we must feel that neither Augustine nor Bunyan had been so wicked as the intensity of the language of penitence they both employed might lead us to suppose. It is quite foreign to the nature of heartfelt repentance to measure degrees of guilt. In the depth of its shame and humiliation no language of contrition seems to be too strong to give it adequate expression. But this must be entirely spontaneous; it is most unwise to impose it from without in the form of an indiscriminate appeal to abject penitence.
Then it is also to be observed that while the fundamental change described in the New Testament as a new birth cannot well be regarded as a thing of repeated occurrence, we may have occasion for many conversions. Every time we turn into the wrong path we put ourselves under the necessity of turning back if ever we would walk in the right path again. What is that but conversion? It is a pity that we should be hampered by the technicality of a term. This may lead to another kind of error-the error of supposing that if we are once converted we are converted for life, that we have crossed our Rubicon, and cannot recross it. Thus while the necessity of a primary conversion may be exaggerated in addresses to the young, the greater need of subsequent conversions may be neglected in the thoughts of adults. The "converted" person who relies on the one act of his past experience to serve as a talisman for all future time is deluding himself in a most dangerous manner. Can it be asserted that Peter had not been "converted," in the technical sense, when he fell through undue self-confidence, and denied his Master with "oaths and curses?"
Again-a very significant fact-the return is described in positive language. It is a coming back to God, not merely a departure from the old way of sin. The initial impulse towards a better life springs more readily from the attraction of a new hope than from the repulsion of a loathed evil. The hopeful repentance is exhilarating, while that which is only born of the disgust and horror of sin is dismally depressing. Lurid pictures of evil rarely beget penitence. The "Newgate Calendar" is not to be credited with the reformation of criminals. Even Dantes "Inferno" is no gospel. In prosecuting his mission as the prophet of repentance John the Baptist was not content to declare that the axe was laid at the root of the tree; the pith of his exhortation was found in the glad tidings that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand." St. Paul shows that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. Besides, the repentance that is induced by this means is of the best character. It escapes the craven slavishness of fear; it is not a merely selfish shrinking from the lash; it is inspired by the pure love of a worthy end. Only remorse lingers in the dark region of regrets for the past. Genuine repentance always turns a hopeful look towards a better future. It is of little use to exorcise the spirit of evil if the house is not to be tenanted by the spirit of good. Thus the end and purpose of repentance is to be reunited with God.
Following up his general exhortation to return to God, the elegist adds a particular one, in which the process of the new movement is described. It takes the form of a prayer from the heart. The resolution is to lift up the heart with the hands. The erect posture, with the hands stretched out to heaven, which was the Hebrew attitude in prayer, had often been assumed in meaningless acts of formal worship before there was any real approach to God or any true penitence. Now the repentance will be manifested by the reality of the prayer. Let the heart also be lifted up. The true approach to God is an act of the inner life, to which in its entirety-thought, affection, and will-the Jewish metaphor of the heart points.
Lastly, the poet furnishes the returning penitents with the very language of the hearts prayer, which is primarily confession. The doleful fact that God has not pardoned His people is directly stated, but not in the first place. This statement is preceded by a clear and unreserved confession of sin. Repentance must be followed by confession. It is not a private matter concerning the offender alone. Since the offence was directed against another, the amendment must begin with a humble admission of the wrong that has been done. Thus, immediately the prodigal son is met by his father he sobs out his confession; {Luk_15:21} and St. John assigns confession as an essential preliminary to forgiveness, saying: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.". {1Jn_1:9}
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v40 (נ) Lam_3:40. The remnant, who were referred to in…
EXEGETICAL NOTES.—
(נ) Lam_3:40. The remnant, who were referred to in Lam_3:22, carry out here the suggestion just made, that sighing, not over sufferings but over sins, is the becoming utterance for every one. The sorrows and pains endured were resultants from the sins of all the people, and thus a joint resolve and confession is made. Only as men see that they have strayed like lost sheep will they truly say, Let us search and try our ways, yet not delay in that effort, however genuine it may be, but let us return unto Jehovah, the whole way back, with no halt half-way, with no reserves for self.
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Lam_3:41. Such a return merges into soul-moving prayer—prayer that is not only “the motion of a hidden fire trembling in the breast” or “the upward glancing of an eye,” but also manifests itself by some outwardness. The emotion is the chief element in any suitable external gesture. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands unto God in the heavens, satisfied that our help is not sent from any earthly sanctuary, but from within the veil.
Lam_3:42. A vision of God throws a white light upon the dark records of past life. In that light men are forced to pass God’s judgment on themselves. I have brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. God’s rule and man’s treason are confronted, and man is condemned to suffer. As for us, We have transgressed and rebelled; as for Thee, Thou hast not pardoned; a phrase which intimates that He would scourge into the way of righteousness, if no other method avails, and that Israel was then under His chastising rod. He is ready to pardon, and the withholding pardon is not His desire, but a “natural sequence” of baffled instructions and warnings—of a deadened spiritual faculty which turns His grace into a penalty.
HOMILETICS
REPENTANCE
(Lam_3:40-42)
I. Begins in strict self-examination. “Let us search and try our ways” (Lam_3:40). The discovery of ourselves is the discovery of sin. We never know how sinful we are till we thoroughly investigate our own hearts. The more we search, the more we see, and the conviction of our sin becomes an intolerable reality.
II. Involves a turning to God. “And turn again to the Lord” (Lam_3:40). The preposition is forcible, implying “Let us go back; not half way, but the whole.” A repentance that spends itself in emotions and tears is ineffective. Sorrow for sin is but a symptom of repentance. Genuine repentance prompts to immediate and active moral reformation. Sin drives us from God: repentance brings us back to Him.
III. Is accompanied with earnest prayer. “Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens” (Lam_3:41). In real prayer the outward form is the expression of the feeling of the heart. The heart lifts up the hands, and then with them rises in prayer to God. Deep emotion will find its own way of expression. Repentance reveals the need of help and forgiveness, and prayer is the expression of that need.
IV. Includes confession of sin. “We have transgressed and have rebelled” (Lam_3:42). The spell of hardness with which the soul was bound is broken when it is brought to the point of full and free confession of sin. There is often much humbling to be done before this point is reached. Confession of sin is an important proof of the genuineness of repentance, especially when attended with the other signs referred to.
V. Must be genuine and complete to secure forgiveness. “Thou hast not pardoned” (Lam_3:42). Why? Not because God is not merciful; not because He is unwilling to forgive; not because the opportunity is inappropriate: but because there is a lack of reality and sincerity in the penitent. The prescription of repentance is a revelation of forgiveness. God does not mock the sinner by urging to repentance and then withholding forgiveness. If there is no eagerness for forgiveness, it is because there is something radically defective in the repentance.
LESSONS.—
1. Suffering should lead to reflection.
2. No amount of repentance can merit forgiveness.
3. God pardons only the penitent, not because of their penitence, but for His mercy’s sake.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Lam_3:40. The duty of self-reflection. I. Its usefulness.
1. Teaches us to know ourselves.
2. We discover our sins.
3. Provides good company and comfortable employment. II. Its neglect mischievous.
1. Hardens the heart.
2. A daily increase of sin.
3. Renders a man the more unwilling to reckon with himself. III. Demands diligence.
1. There is a natural reluctance to attend to the duty.
2. Many sins not easily discovered, unless diligent search is made.
3. A convenient time should be set apart for the work.
4. Affliction a time for heart-searching.
5. Let not the difficulty of the work discourage you.
6. A work that must be often repeated. IV. Leads to repentance. “Turn again to the Lord.” Sin is an aversion and turning away from God; repentance is a returning to Him.
1. Repentance must be speedy.
2. Thorough.
3. Resolute and steadfast.—Conant.
Lam_3:41. The sublimity of devotion. The finest and most sublime sensations of which the soul is susceptible are connected with the principle of devotion. I. The sublimest books existing are those from which we learn our faith. The writings of the inspired penmen abound with passages for which no parallel can be found in the productions of mere genius. Rousseau once exclaimed, “The majesty of the Scriptures fills me with astonishment; the holiness of the Gospel speaks to my very heart. Behold the books of the philosophers, with all their pomp, how little are they in comparison! Is it possible that a book at once so wise and so sublime should have been the production of mere men?” II. Some of the situations of real life prove the intimate connection between devotion and the sources of sublime feeling.
1. In studying the character of God and the works of Nature.
2. In the changing circumstances of life, in adversity or prosperity, the proper operation of religious thought is to call up sublime and fervent feelings. III. Consider the subject of adoration—God, whether worshipped in private or in public. If it be objected that in such an account of the effects of devout feeling, we place religion too much under the dominion of the imagination, it may be answered that though the abuse of a thing is dangerous, we are not therefore to relinquish its use. It is the soul that truly feels; imagination is the effort of the soul to rise above mortality. Imagination as well as reason is frequently appealed to in Scripture.—Nares.
ILLUSTRATIONS.—Repentance and confession.
Father, I scarcely dare to pray,
So clear I see, now it is done,
That I have wasted half my day,
And left my work but just begun:
So clear I see that things I thought
Were right or harmless were a sin;
So clear I see that I have sought,
Unconscious, selfish aims to win:
So clear I see that I have hurt
The souls I might have helped to save;
That I have slothful been, inert,
Deaf to the calls Thy leaders gave.
In outskirts of Thy kingdom vast,
Father, the humblest spot give me
Set me the lowliest task Thou hast,
Let me, repentant, work for Thee.
Repentance and forgiveness. No repentance is acceptable with God, but what is built or leans on the faith of forgiveness. We have a cloud of witnesses to this truth in the Scripture. Many there have been, many are recorded, who have been convinced of sin, perplexed about it, sorry for it, who have made open confession and acknowledgment of it, who, under the present sense of it, have cried out even to God for deliverance, and have yet come short of mercy, pardon, and acceptance with God. The cases of Cain, Pharaoh, Saul, Ahab, Judas, and others might be insisted upon.—John Owen.
Death bed repentance. The English proverb says, “The river past and God forgotten,” to express with how mournful a frequency He whose assistance was invoked—it may have been earnestly—in the moment of peril, is remembered no more, so soon as by His help the danger has been surmounted. And the Italian form of it sounds a still greater depth of ingratitude: “The peril past, the saint mocked”—the vows made to him in peril remaining unperformed in safety.—Trench.
—There is one case of death-bed repentance recorded, that no one should despair, and only one, that none should presume.—Augustine.
Repentance must be sincere. Lorenzo de’ Medici lies dying in the city of Florence; in the terrors of death he has sent for the one man who had never yielded to his threats or caresses—the brave Savonarola. Lorenzo confesses that he has heavy on his soul three crimes—the cruel sack of Volterra, the theft of the public dower of young girls, by which many were driven to a wicked life, and the blood shed after the conspiracy of Pazzi. He is greatly agitated, and Savonarola, to keep him quiet, keeps repeating, “God is merciful,” “God is good.” “But,” he added, “there is need of three things.” “And what are they, father?” “First, you must have a great and living faith in the mercy of God.” “This I have, the greatest.” “Second, you must restore that which you have wrongfully taken, or require your children to restore it for you.” Lorenzo looks surprised and troubled; but he forces himself to compliance, and nods his head in sign of assent. Then Savonarola rises to his feet, and stands over the dying prince. “Last, you must give back their liberties to the people of Florence.” Lorenzo, summoning up all his remaining strength, disdainfully turns his back, and, without uttering another word, Savonarola departs without giving him absolution.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v40 Confession of Sin and Complaint over the Cruelty of…
Confession of Sin and Complaint over the Cruelty of the Enemies
v. 40. Let us search and try our ways, in true contrition, to find the reason for God’s displeasure, and turn again to the Lord, returning all the way, in sincere repentance.
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v. 41. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens, with the last shred of hypocrisy banished.
v. 42. We have transgressed and have rebelled, the emphasis being on the pronoun, as in every sincere confession of sin; Thou hast not pardoned, that Isaiah He had not, like a weak earthly father, overlooked and condoned the transgression, but had meted out the punishment which it deserved.
v. 43. Thou hast covered with anger, shutting Himself off so as not to see them, and persecuted us. The veil of His wrath kept Him, as it were, from feeling a weak sympathy. Thou hast slain. Thou hast not pitied. Cf Jer 29:18.
v. 44. Thou hast covered Thyself with a cloud, an impenetrable covering, that our prayer should not pass through, and help, therefore, was not forthcoming.
v. 45. Thou hast made us, by refusing His assistance, as the off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the people. Israel, ground down to the dust, had become an object of contempt among the heathen nations.
v. 46. All our enemies have opened their mouths against us, gaping at them in a gesture of scorn and derision.
v. 47. Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction. The picture is taken from the hunting of wild beasts, which, filled with terror by the cries of the hunters, fall into the pits that have been prepared for their capture. This situation fills the heart of the inspired poet with deep anguish.
v. 48. Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water in an excess of sorrow, for the destruction of the daughter of my people. Cf Psa 119:136.
v. 49. Mine eye trickleth down, in a steady flow of tears, and ceaseth not, without any intermission, there being no abatement of the feeling of grief and therefore also no cessation of tears,
v. 50. till the Lord look down and behold from heaven, namely, to make an end of His people’s misery, to have mercy upon them.
v. 51. Mine eye affecteth mine heart, literally, "my eye puts an ache upon my soul," the pain of the eye from its ceaseless weeping affecting the soul as well, because of all the daughters of my city, whose fate was most deeply to be deplored.
v. 52. Mine enemies chased me sore, hunting him down like fowlers, like a bird, without cause. Cf Pro 1:17.
v. 53. They have cut off my life in the dungeon, desiring to destroy it by taking such extreme measures, and cast a stone upon me, heaping this further indignity upon him as he was helpless in their power.
v. 54. Waters flowed over mine head, the picture of a flood of waters being used to give some idea of the greatness and intensity of his suffering; then I said, I am cut off, abandoned by God, removed from the comfort of His fatherly eye and hand. To such heights does the feeling of being forsaken by the Lord sometimes rise that the believers consider themselves shut out entirely from His mercy.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v40 General Information:
General Information:
The writer speaks again about the suffering that God has caused to Jerusalem, but here he speaks of "we" and "us," not "I" and "me."
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General Information:
In verse 42 the author starts a prayer that he and the people of Israel should pray.
let us return to Yahweh
Here "return to Yahweh" represents submitting to him again. AT: "let us submit to Yahweh again" (See: Metaphor)
Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
Here "lift up our hearts" represents praying sincerely. It was customary for the Israelites to raise their hands when praying to God. AT: "Let us pray sincerely with lifted hands" or "Let us lift up our hands and pray sincerely" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
We have transgressed and rebelled
The words "transgressed" and "rebelled" share similar meanings. Together they indicate that transgression is the same as rebelling against Yahweh. (See: Doublet)
You have covered yourself with anger
Here anger is spoken of as if it were a garment that God has put on. Hebrew often spoke of emotions as if they were clothing. AT: "You have been angry" (See: Metaphor)
you have killed
"you have killed many of us"
you have not spared
Here "spared" represents having pity. AT: "you have not had pity on us" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
test
Yahweh
heart
God
heaven
pray
transgress
rebel
anger
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v40 3:40-42 Repentance is the key to receiving salvation (Isa…
3:40-42 Repentance is the key to receiving salvation (Isa 1:27; Jer 3:22; Ezek 3:21).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.