They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast a stone on me.
Waters flowed over my head. I said, “I am cut off.”
I called on your name, Yahweh, out of the lowest dungeon.
Parallel Translations
-
They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast a stone on me.
Waters flowed over my head. I said, “I am cut off.”
I called on your name, Yahweh, out of the lowest dungeon.
-
They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.
Show all 3 translations
-
They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast stones upon me.
Waters flowed over my head; I said: 'I am cut off.'
I called upon Thy name, O LORD, Out of the lowest dungeon.
Cross-references (28)
- Jonah 2:3-5 (v54) For you threw me into the depths, in the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows passed over me. I…
- Jeremiah 38:6 (vv53, 55) Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down…
- Jeremiah 38:9 (v53) “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon. He is…
- Ezekiel 37:11 (v54) Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is…
- Daniel 6:17 (v53) A stone was brought, and laid on the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that…
Show all 27 cross-references
- Psalms 18:4 (v54) The cords of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
- Jeremiah 37:16 (v53) When Jeremiah had come into the dungeon house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days,
- Lamentations 3:18 (v54) I said, “My strength has perished, along with my expectation from Yahweh.”
- Acts 16:24-28 (v55) who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and…
- 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 (v54) For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down…
- 2 Chronicles 33:11-12 (v55) Therefore Yahweh brought on them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, bound him with fetters, and…
- Job 17:11-16 (v54) My days are past. My plans are broken off, as are the thoughts of my heart. They change the night into day, saying ‘The light is near’ in…
- Psalms 18:5-6 (v55) The cords of Sheol were around me. The snares of death came on me. In my distress I called on Yahweh, and cried to my God. He heard my…
- Psalms 31:22 (v54) As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes.” Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.
- Psalms 40:1-2 (v55) I waited patiently for Yahweh. He turned to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set…
- Psalms 69:1-2 (v54) Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck! I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, where…
- Psalms 69:13-18 (v55) But as for me, my prayer is to you, Yahweh, in an acceptable time. God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of…
- Psalms 69:15 (v54) Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me.
- Psalms 116:3-4 (v55) The cords of death surrounded me, the pains of Sheol got a hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called on Yahweh’s name: “Yahweh,…
- Psalms 124:4-5 (v54) then the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul; then the proud waters would have gone over our soul.
- Psalms 130:1-2 (v55) Out of the depths I have cried to you, Yahweh. Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my petitions.
- Psalms 142:3-7 (v55) When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my route. On the path in which I walk, they have hidden a snare for me. Look on my…
- Isaiah 38:10-13 (v54) I said, “In the middle of my life I go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the residue of my years.” I said, “I won’t see Yah, Yah in…
- Jeremiah 37:20 (v53) Now please hear, my lord the king: please let my supplication be presented before you, that you not cause me to return to the house of…
- Jonah 2:2-4 (v55) He said, “I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice. For you threw…
- Matthew 27:60 (v53) and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock, and he rolled a great stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.
- Matthew 27:66 (v53) So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone.
27 distinct cross-references across this passage (28 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv53–55 He now employs other comparisons. Some improperly confine this…
He now employs other comparisons. Some improperly confine this to Jeremiah himself, as though he explained here before God the wrongs done to himself: but there is no doubt but that he undertakes the cause of the whole people; and his object was to encourage by his own example the faithful to lament their state so that they might obtain pardon from God.
He then compares himself to a man half-dead, cast into a pit, and there left for lost. Then some improperly interpret the words, “they cast stones;” for stoning was not in the mind of the Prophet; but having said that he was fast bound in a pit or dungeon, he adds that a stone was laid over him, that lie might not come forth, as we know was the case with Daniel. (Daniel 6:16, 17.) Daniel was cast into the den of lions, and then a stone was put on the mouth of the den. So also the Prophet says, that he was bound fast in the pit, and not only that, but that a stone was laid over him, that there might be no hope of coming out; and thus the pit was like a grave. Here, then, he means that lie was reduced to the last extremity, because he had not only been taken by his enemies, but had also been cast into a pit. And, as it is well known, it is a metaphorical expression or a similitude. He 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 v53 Read Jer. 37:16, how he was in the miry…
Read Jer. 37:16, how he was in the miry dungeon.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv53–55 Lam 3:53 They have cut off my life in…
Lam 3:53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
Ver. 53. They have cut off my life in the dungeon.] Where I led a lifeless life; such as did Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, in King Stephen’s time, who sustained such miseries in prison, ut vivere noluerit, mori nescierit, that live he would not, and yet die he could not.
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And cast a stone upon me.] As they did upon the mouths of dens, dungeons, or sepulchres, to make sure work. The Chaldee hath it, They stoned me.
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 vv53–55 Dungeon seemeth not to be here taken literally, for…
Dungeon seemeth not to be here taken literally, for the lowest and nastiest place in prisons, which probably was the portion but of a few of the Jews; but metaphorically, for the lowest and saddest condition of misery. Their enemies had brought them into the deepest miseries, to the cutting off of their lives; and as men use to roll great stones upon the mouths of dens and pits, where they have shut up persons, to make them sure from escaping out, so their enemies had dealt with them, doing what lay in them to make their condition remediless and desperate.
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 v55 We may observe throughout this chapter a struggle in…
We may observe throughout this chapter a struggle in the prophet's breast between sense and faith, fear and hope; he complains and then comforts himself, yet drops his comforts and returns again to his complaints, as Psa 42:1-11. But, as there, so here, faith gets the last word and comes off a conqueror; for in these verses he concludes with some comfort. And here are two things with which he comforts himself: -
I. His experience of God's goodness even in his affliction. This may refer to the prophet's personal experience, with which he encourages himself in reference to the public troubles. He that has seasonably succoured particular saints will not fail the church in general. Or it may include the remnant of good people that were among the Jews, who had found that it was not in vain to wait upon God. In three things the prophet and his pious friends had found God good to them: - 1. He had heard their prayers; though they had been ready to fear that the cloud of wrath was such as their prayers could not pass through (Lam 3:44), yet upon second thoughts, or at least upon further trial, they find it otherwise, and that God had not said unto them, Seek you me in vain. When they were in the low dungeon, as free among the dead, they called upon God's name (Lam 3:55); their weeping did not hinder praying. Note, Though we are cast into ever so low a dungeon, we may thence find a way of access to God in the highest heavens. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee (Psa 130:1), as Jonah out of the whale's belly. And could God hear them out of the low dungeon, and would he? Yes, he did: Thou hast heard my voice; and some read the following words as carrying on the same thankful acknowledgment: Thou didst not hide thy ear at my breathing, at my cry; and the original will bear that reading. We read it as a petition for further audience: Hide not thy ear. God's having heard our voice when we cried to him, even out of the low dungeon, is an encouragement for us to hope that he will not at any time hide his ear. Observe how he calls prayer his breathing; for in prayer we breathe towards God, we breathe after him. Though we be but weak in prayer, cannot cry aloud, but only breathe in groanings that cannot be uttered, yet we shall not be neglected if we be sincere. Prayer is the breath of the new man, sucking in the air of mercy in petitions and returning it in praises; it is both the evidence and the maintenance of the spiritual life. Some read it, at my gasping. "When I lay gasping for life, and ready to expire, and thought i was breathing my last, then thou tookest cognizance of my distressed case." 2. He had silenced their fears and quieted their spirits (Lam 3:57): "Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee; thou didst graciously assure me of thy presence with me, and give me to see thee nigh unto me, whereas I had thought thee to be at a distance from me." Note, When we draw nigh to God in a way of duty we may by faith see him drawing nigh to us in a way of mercy. But this was not all: Thou saidst, Fear not. This was the language of God's prophets preaching to them not to fear (Isa 41:10, Isa 41:13, Isa 41:14), of his providence preventing those things which they were afraid of, and of his grace quieting their minds, and making them easy, by the witness of his Spirit with their spirits that they were his people still, though in distress, and therefore ought not to fear. 3. He had already begun to appear for them (Lam 3:58): "O Lord! thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul" (that is, as it follows), "thou hast redeemed my life, hast rescued that out of the hands of those who would have taken it away, hast saved that when it was ready to be swallowed up, hast given me that for a prey." And this is an encouragement to them to hope that he would yet further appear for them: "Thou hast delivered my soul from death, and therefore wilt deliver my feet from falling; thou hast pleaded the causes of my life, and therefore wilt plead my other causes."
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II. He comforts himself with an appeal to God's justice, and (in order to the sentence of that) to his omniscience.
1. He appeals to God's knowledge of the matter of fact, how very spiteful and malicious his enemies were (Lam 3:59): "O Lord! thou hast seen my wrong, that I have done no wrong at all, but suffer a great deal." He that knows all things knew, (1.) The malice they had against him: "Thou hast seen all their vengeance, how they desire to do me a mischief, as if it were by way of reprisal for some great injury I had done them." Note, We should consider, to our terror and caution, that God knows all the revengeful thoughts we have in our minds against others, and therefore we should not allow of those thoughts nor harbour them, and that he knows all the revengeful thoughts others have causelessly in their minds against us, and therefore we should not be afraid of them, but leave it to him to protect us from them. (2.) The designs and projects they had laid to do him a mischief: Thou hast seen all their imaginations against me (Lam 3:60), and again, "Thou hast heard all their imaginations against me (Lam 3:61), both the desire and the device they have to ruin me; whether it show itself in word or deed, it is known to thee; nay, though the products of it are not to be seen nor heard, yet their device against me all the day is perceived and understood by him to whom all things are naked and open." Note, The most secret contrivances of the church's enemies are perfectly known to the church's God, from whom they can hide nothing. (3.) The contempt and calumny wherewith they loaded him, all that they spoke slightly of him, and all that they spoke reproachfully: "Thou hast heard their reproach (Lam 3:61), all the bad characters they give me, laying to my charge things that I know not, all the methods they use to make me odious and contemptible, even the lips of those that rose up against me (Lam 3:62), the contumelious language they use whenever they speak of me, and that at their sitting down and rising up, when they lie down at night and get up in the morning, when they sit down to their meat and with their company, and when they rise from both, still I am their music; they make themselves and one another merry with my miseries, as the Philistines made sport with Samson." Jerusalem was the tabret they played upon. Perhaps they had some tune or play, some opera or interlude, that was called the destruction of Jerusalem, which, though in the nature of a tragedy, was very entertaining to those who wished ill to the holy city. Note, God will one day call sinners to account for all the hard speeches which they have spoken against him and his people, Jde 1:15.
2. He appeals to God's judgment upon this fact: "Lord, thou hast seen my wrong; there is no need of any evidence to prove it, nor any prosecutor to enforce and aggravate it; thou seest it in its true colours; and now I leave it with thee. Judge thou my cause, Lam 3:59. Let them be dealt with," (1.) "As they deserve (Lam 3:64): Render to them a recompence according to the work of their hands. Let them be dealt with as they have dealt with us; let thy hand be against them as their hand has been against us. They have created us a great deal of vexation; now, Lord, give them sorrow of heart (Lam 3:65), perplexity of heart" (so some read it); "let them be surrounded with threatening mischiefs on all sides, and not be able to see their way out. Give them despondence of heart" (so others read it); "let them be driven to despair, and give themselves up for gone." God can entangle the head that thinks itself clearest, and sink the heart that thinks itself stoutest. (2.) "Let them be dealt with according to the threatenings: Thy curse unto them; that is, let thy curse come upon them, all the evils that are pronounced in thy word against the enemies of thy people, Lam 3:65. They have loaded us with curses; as they loved cursing, so let it come unto them, thy curse which will make them truly miserable. Theirs is causeless, and therefore fruitless, it shall not come; but thine is just, and shall take effect. Those whom thou cursest are cursed indeed. Let the curse be executed, Lam 3:66. Persecute and destroy them in anger, as they persecute and destroy us in their anger. Destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord; let them have no benefit of the light and influence of the heavens. Destroy them in such a manner that all who see it may say, It is a destruction from the Almighty, who sits in the heavens and laughs at them (Psa 2:4), and may own that the heavens do rule," Dan 4:26. What is said of the idols is here said of their worshippers (who in this also shall be like unto them), They shall perish from under these heavens, Jer 10:11. They shall be not only excluded from the happiness of the invisible heavens, but cut off from the comfort even of these visible ones, which are the heavens of the Lord (Psa 115:16) and which those therefore are unworthy to be taken under the protection of who rebel against him.
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 vv53–55 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the cause of my…
O Lord, thou hast pleaded the cause of my soul,.... Or, causes of "my soul", or "life" (u); such as concerned his soul and life: not one only, but many of them; and this respects not Jeremiah only, and the Lord's pleading his cause against Zedekiah and his nobles; but the people of the Jews in former times, when in Egypt, and in the times of the judges:
thou hast redeemed my life; by delivering out of the pit and dungeon, where it was in danger; and not only him, but the whole body of the people of old out of Egypt, and out of the hands of their enemies, the Philistines and others.
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(u) "causas animaa meae", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
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 vv53–54 Dungeon - Dungeon seems here to be taken for…
Dungeon - Dungeon seems here to be taken for the lowest condition of misery.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv53–55 They have cut off my life in the dungeon…
They have cut off my life in the dungeon - Or, “They destroyed my life in the pit,” i. e. tried to destroy it by casting me into the cistern, and covering the month with a stone. See the margin reference.
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 v53 Over me, as if I were buried. (Haydock) ---…
Over me, as if I were buried. (Haydock) --- Jeremias was in prison (chap. xxxviii. 6.) when he prayed, ver. 54., and chap. xx. 7. (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 vv53–55 in . . . dungeon-- (Jer 37:16).
in . . . dungeon-- (Jer 37:16).
stone--usually put at the mouth of a dungeon to secure the prisoners (Jos 10:18; Dan 6:17; Mat 27:60).
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 vv53–55 53. Cast a stone, etc. — They covered the…
53. Cast a stone, etc. — They covered the pit in which the prophet was confined with a stone, to make escape hopeless.
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 v54 54. Waters flowed over mine head] figuratively. So in…
54. Waters flowed over mine head] figuratively. So in Psa_42:7; Psa_69:2, which latter Ps. was traditionally ascribed to Jeremiah.
I am cut off] Cp. Psa_31:22; Psa_88:5; 2Ch_26:21; Isa_53:8.
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 vv53, 55 (53) Cast a stone upon me.—The words admit of…
(53) Cast a stone upon me.—The words admit of two meanings: (1) that they cast stones at him; (2) that they placed a stone over the opening of his dungeon so as to prevent escape.
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 vv54–55 I am cut off. Some words have to be…
I am cut off. Some words have to be supplied, and Psa_31:22 suggests which these are: am cut off from before thine eyes," i.e. from the region on which the eyes of God rest.
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 v55 As this third elegy-the richest and the most elaborate…
DE PROFUNDIS
Lam_3:55-66
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As this third elegy-the richest and the most elaborate of the five that constitute the Book of Lamentations-draws to a close it retains its curious character of variability, not aiming at any climax, but simply winding on till its threefold acrostics are completed by the limits of the Hebrew alphabet, like a river that is monotonous in the very succession of its changes, now flowing through a dark gorge, then rippling in clear sunlight, and again plunging into gloomy caverns. The beauty and brightness of this very variegated poem are found at its centre. Sadder thoughts follow. But these are not so wholly complaining as the opening passages had been. There is one thread of continuity that may be traced right through the series of changes which occupy the latter part of the poem. The poet having once turned to the refuge of prayer never altogether forsakes it. The meditations as much as the petitions that here occur are all directed to God.
A peculiarity of the last portion of the elegy that claims special attention is the interesting reminiscence with which the poet finds encouragement for his present prayers. He is recalling the scenes of that most distressing period of his life, the time when he had been cast into a flooded dungeon. If ever he had come near to death it must have been then: though his life was spared the misery of his condition had been extreme. While in this most wretched situation the persecuted patriot cried to God for help, and as he now recollects for his present encouragement, he received a distinct and unmistakable answer. The scene is most impressive. As it shapes itself to his memory, the victim of tyranny is in the lowest dungeon. This phrase suggests the thought of the awful Hebrew Sheol. So dark was his experience and so near was the sufferer to death, it seems to him as though he had, been indeed plunged down into the very abode of the dead. Yet here he found utterance for prayer. It was the prayer of utter extremity, almost the last wild cry of a despairing soul, yet not quite, for that is no prayer at all, all prayer requiring some real faith, if only as a grain of mustard seed. Moreover, the poet states that he called upon the name of God.
Now in the Bible the name always stands for the attributes which it connotes. To call on Gods name is to make mention of some of His known and revealed characteristics. The man who will do this is more than one "feeling after God"; he has a definite conception of the nature and disposition of the Being to whom he is addressing himself. Thus it happens that old, familiar ideas of God, as He had been known in the days of light and joy, rise up in the heart of the miserable man, and awaken a longing desire to seek the help of One so great and good and merciful. Just in proportion to the fulness of the meaning of the name of God as it is conceived by us, will our prayers win definiteness of aim and strength of wing. The altar to "an unknown god" can excite but the feeblest and vaguest devotion. Inasmuch as our Lord has greatly enriched the contents of the name of God by His full revelation of the Divine Father, to us Christians there has come a more definite direction and a more powerful impulse for prayer. Even though this is a prayer de profundis it is an enlightened prayer. We may believe that, like a star seen from the depths of a well which excludes the glare of day, the significance of the sacred Name shone out to the sufferer with a beauty never before perceived when he looked up to heaven from the darkness of his pit of misery.
It has been suggested that in this passage the elegist is following the sixty-ninth psalm, and that perhaps that psalm is his own composition and the expression of the very prayer to which he is here referring. At all events, the psalm exactly fits the situation; and therefore it may be taken as a perfect illustration of the kind of prayer alluded to. The psalmist is "in deep mire, where there is no standing"; he has "come into deep waters, where the floods overthrow" him; he is persecuted by enemies who hate him "without a cause"; he has been weeping till his eyes have failed. Meanwhile he has been waiting for God, in prayers mingled with confessions. It is his zeal for Gods house that has brought him so near to death. He beseeches God that the flood may not be allowed to overwhelm him, nor "the pit shut her mouth upon him." He concludes with an invocation of curses upon the heads of his enemies. All these as well as some minor points agree very closely with our poets picture of his persecutions and the prayer he here records.
Read in the light of the elegists experience, such a prayer as that of the psalm cannot be taken as a model for daily devotion. It is a pity that our habitual use of the Psalter should encourage this application of it. The result is mischievous in several ways. It tends to make our worship unreal, because the experience of the psalmist, even when read metaphorically, as it was probably intended to be read, is by no means a type of the normal condition of human life. Besides, in so far as we bring ourselves to sympathise with this piteous outcry of a distressed soul, we reduce our worship to a melancholy plaint, when it should be a joyous anthem of praise. At the same time, we unconsciously temper the language we quote with the less painful feelings of our own experience, so that its force is lost upon us.
Yet the psalm is of value as a revelation of a souls agony relieved by prayer; and there are occasions when its very words can be repeated by men and women who are indeed overwhelmed by trouble. If we do not spoil the occasional by attempting to make it habitual it is wonderful to see how rich the Bible is in utterances to suit all cases and all conditions. Such an outpouring of a distressed heart as the elegist hints at and the psalmist illustrates, is itself full of profound significance. The stirring of a soul to its depths is a revelation of its depths. This revelation prevents us from taking petty views of human nature. No one can contemplate the Titanic struggle of Laocoon or the immeasurable grief of Niobe without a sense of the tragic greatness of which human life is capable. We live so much on the surface that we are in danger of forgetting that life is not always a superficial thing. But when a volcano bursts out of the quiet plain of everyday existence, we are startled into the perception that there must be hidden fires which we may not have suspected before. And, further, when the soul in its extremity is seen to be turning for refuge to God, the revelation of its Gethsemane gives a new meaning to the very idea of prayer. Here is prayer indeed, and at the sight of such a profound reality we are shamed into doubting whether we have ever begun to pray at all, so stiff and chill do our utterances to the Unseen now appear to be in comparison with this Jacob-like wrestling.
Immediately after mentioning the fact of his prayer the elegist adds that this was heard by God. His cry rose up from "the lowest dungeon" and reached the heights of heaven. And yet we cannot credit this to the inherent vigour of prayer. If a petition can thus wing its way to heaven, that is because it is of heavenly origin. There is no difficulty in making air to rise above water; the difficulty is to sink it; and if any could be taken to the bottom of the sea, the greater the depth descended the swifter would it shoot up. Since all true prayer is an inspiration it cannot spend itself until it has, so to speak, restored the equilibrium by returning to its natural sphere. But the elegist puts the case another way. In His great condescension God stoops to the very lowest depths to find one of His distressed children. It is not hard to make the prayer of the dungeon reach the ear of God, because God is in the dungeon. He is most near when He is most needed.
The prayer was more than heard; it was answered there was a Divine voice in response to this cry to God, a voice that reached the ear of the desolate prisoner in the silence of his dungeon. It consisted of but two words, but those two words were clear and unmistakable, and quite sufficient to satisfy the listener. The voice said, "Fear not." {Lam_3:57} That was enough.
Shall we doubt the reality of the remarkable experience that the elegist here records? Or can we explain it away by reference to the morbid condition of the mind of a prisoner enduring the punishment of solitary confinement? It is said that this unnatural punishment tends to develop insanity in its miserable victims. But the poet is now reviewing the occurrence, which made so deep an impression on his mind at the time, in the calm of later reflection; and evidently he has no doubt of its reality. It has nothing in it of the wild fancy of a disordered brain. Lunacy raves; this simple message is calm. And it is just such a message as God might be expected to give if He spoke at all-just like Him, we may say. To this remark some doubting critic may reply, "Exactly; and therefore the more likely to have been imagined by the expectant worshipper." But such an inference is not psychologically correct. The reply is not in harmony with the tone of the prayer, but directly opposed to it. Agony and terror cannot generate an assurance of peace and safety. The poison does not secrete its own antidote. Here is an indication of the presence of another voice, because the words breathe another spirit. Besides, this is not an unparalleled experience.
Most frequently, no doubt, the answer to prayer is not vocal, and yet the reality of it may not be any the less certain to the seeking soul. It may be most definite, although it comes in a deed rather than in a word. Then the grateful recipient can exclaim with the psalmist-
"This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.". {Psa_34:6}
Here is an answer, but not a spoken one, only an action, in saving from trouble. In other cases, however, the reply approaches nearer the form of a message from heaven. When we remember that God is our Father the wonder is not that at rare intervals these voices have been heard, but rather that they are so infrequent. It is so easy to become the victim of delusions that some caution is requisite to assure ourselves of the existence of Divine utterances. The very idea of the occurrence of such phenomena is discredited by the fact that those persons who profess most eagerly to have heard supernatural voices are commonly the subjects of hysteria; and when the voices become frequent this fact is taken by physicians as a symptom of approaching insanity. Among semi-civilised people madness is supposed to be closely allied to inspiration. The mantis is not far from the mad man. Such a man is not the better off for the march of civilisation. The ancients would have honoured him as a prophet; we shut him up in a lunatic asylum. But these discouraging considerations do not exhaust the question. Delusions are not in themselves disproofs of the existence of the occurrences they emulate. Each case must be taken on its own merits; and when, as in that which is now under our consideration, the character of the incident points to a conviction of its solid reality, it is only a mark of narrowness of thought to refuse to lift it out of the category of idle fancies.
But, quite apart from the question of the sounding of Divine voices in the bodily ear, the more important truth to be considered is that in some way, if only by spiritual impression, God does most really speak to His children, and that He speaks now as surely as He spoke in the days of Israel. We have no new prophets and apostles who can give us fresh revelations in the form of additions to our Bible. But that is not what is meant. The elegist did not receive a statement of doctrine in answer to his prayer, nor, on this occasion, even help for the writing of his inspired poetry. The voice to which he here alludes was of quite a different character.
This was in the olden times; but if then, why not also now? Evidently the elegist regarded it as a rare and wonderful occurrence-a single experience to which he looked back in after years with the interest one feels in a vivid recollection which rises like a mountain, clean cut against the sky, above the mists that so quickly gather on the low plains of the uneventful past. Perhaps it is only in one of the crises of life that such an indubitable message is sent-when the soul is in the lowest dungeon, in extremis, crying out of the darkness, helpless if not yet hopeless, overwhelmed, almost extinguished. But if we listened for it, who can tell but that the voice might not be so rare? We do not believe in it; therefore we do not hear it. Or the noise of the worlds great loom and the busy thoughts of our own hearts drown the music that still floats down from heaven to ears that are tuned to catch its notes; for it does not come in thunder, and we must ourselves be still if we would hear the still small voice, inwardly still, still in soul, stifling the chatter of self, stopping our ears to the din of the world. There are those today who tell us with calm assurance, not at all in the visionarys falsetto notes, that they have known just what is here described by the poet-in the silence of a mountain valley, in the quiet of a sick chamber, even in the noisy crowd at a railway station.
When this is granted it is still well for us to remember that we are not dependent for Divine consolation on voices which to many must ever be as dubious as they are rare. This short message of two words is in effect the essence of teachings that can be gathered as freely from almost every page of the Bible as flowers from a meadow in May. We have the "more sure word of prophecy," and the burden of it is the same as the message of the voice that comforted the poet in his dungeon.
That message is wholly reassuring-"Fear not." So said God to the patriarch: "Fear not, Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward"; {Gen_15:1} and to His people through the prophet of the restoration: "Fear not, thou worm Jacob"; {Isa_41:14} and Jesus to His disciples in the storm: "Be of good cheer: it is I: be not afraid"; {Mar_6:50} and our Lord again in His parting address: "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful"; {Joh_14:27} and the glorified Christ to His terrified friend John, when He laid His right hand on him with the words: "Fear not; I am the first and the last; and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more, and I have the keys of death and of Hades." {Rev_1:17-18} This is the word that God is continually speaking to His faint-hearted children. When "the burthen of the mystery," and
"the heavy and the weary weight
Of all this unintelligible world"
oppress, when the greater sorrows threaten to crush outright, listening for the voice of God, we may hear the message of love from a Fathers heart as though spoken afresh to each of us; for we have but to acquaint ourselves with Him to be at peace.
The elegist does not recall this scene from his past life merely in order to indulge in the pleasures of memory-generally rather melancholy pleasures, and even mocking if they are in sharp contrast to the present. His object is to find encouragement for renewed hope in the efficacy of prayer. In the complaint that he has put into the mouth of His people He has just been depicting the failure of prayer. But now he feels that if for a time God has wrapped Himself in a mantle of wrath this cannot be forever, for He who was so gracious to the cry of His servant on that evermemorable occasion will surely attend again to the appeal of distress. This is always the greatest encouragement for seeking help from God. It is difficult to find much satisfaction in what is called with an awkward inconsequence of diction the "philosophy of prayer"; the spirit of philosophy is so wholly different from the spirit of prayer. The great justification for prayer is the experience of prayer. It is only the prayerless man who is wholly sceptical on this subject. The man of prayer cannot but believe in prayer; and the more he prays and the oftener he turns to this refuge in all times of need the fuller is his assurance that God hears and answers him.
Considering how God acted as his advocate when he was in danger in the earlier crisis, and then redeemed his life, the poet points to this fact as a plea in his new necessity. {Lam_3:58} God will not desert the cause He has adopted. Men feel a peculiar interest in those whom they have already helped, an interest that is stronger than the sense of gratitude, for we are more attracted to our dependants than to our benefactors. If God shares this feeling, how strongly must He be drawn to us by His many former favours. The language of the elegist gains a great enrichment of meaning when read in the light of the Christian Gospel. In a deep sense, of which he could have had but the least glimmering of apprehension, we can appeal to God as the Redeemer of our life, for we can take the Cross of Christ as our plea. St. Paul makes use of this strongest of all arguments when He urges that if God gave His Son, and if Christ died for us, all other needful blessings, since they cannot involve so great a sacrifice, will surely follow. Accordingly, we can pray in the language of the "Dies Irae"-
"Wearily for me Thou soughtest,
On the Cross my life Thou boughtest.
Lose not all for which Thou wroughtest."
Rising from the image of the advocate to that of the magistrate the distressed man begs God to judge his cause. {Lam_3:59} He would have God look at his enemies-how they wrong him, insult him, make him the theme of their jesting songs. {Lam_3:60-63}
It would have been more to our taste if the poem had ended here, if there had been no remaining letters in the Hebrew alphabet to permit the extension of the acrostics beyond the point we have now reached. We cannot but feel that its tone is lowered at the close. The writer here proceeds to heap imprecations on the heads of his enemies. It is vain for some commentators to plead the weak excuse that the language is "prophetic." This is certainly more than the utterance of a prediction. No unprejudiced reader can deny that it reveals a desire that the oppressors may be blighted and blasted with rum, and even if the words were only a foretelling of a divinely-decreed fate they would imply a keen sense of satisfaction in the prospect, which they describe as something to be gloated over. We cannot expect this Jewish patriot to anticipate our Lords intercession and excuse for His enemies. Even St. Paul so far forgot himself as to treat the High Priest in a very different manner from his Masters behaviour. But we may see here one of the worst effects of tyranny-the dark passion of revenge that it rouses in its victims. The provocation was maddening, and not only of a private nature. Think of the situation-the beloved city sacked and destroyed, the sacred temple a heap of smouldering ruins, village homesteads all over the hills of Judah wrecked and deserted; slaughter, outrage, unspeakable wrongs endured by wives and maidens, little children starved to death. Is it wonderful that the patriots temper was not the sweetest when he thought of the authors of such atrocities? There is no possibility of denying the fact-the fierce fires of Hebrew hatred for the oppressors of the much-suffering race here burst into a flame, and towards the end of this finest of elegies we read the dark imprecation, "Thy curse upon them!" {Lam_3:65}
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.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v55 Prayer for Deliverance
Prayer for Deliverance
v. 55. I called upon Thy name, O Lord, thus overcoming the despair which was trying to paralyze his faith, out of the low dungeon, out of the pit which threatened to become his grave.
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v. 56. Thou hast heard my voice, so he cries out in the triumphant confidence of his faith; hide not Thy ear at my breathing, at my cry, as he recovered his breath sufficiently to lay his case before Jehovah once more.
v. 57. Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon Thee. Thou saidst, Fear not, thus assuring the believer of His merciful interest and assistance. Cf Psa 145:18.
v. 58. O Lord, Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul, being active in all matters pertaining to the believer’s welfare; Thou hast redeemed my life, rescuing him from what seemed to be certain destruction.
v. 59. O Lord, Thou hast seen my wrong, how his rights were violated by the enemies; judge Thou my cause, securing for him the right which he knew was on his side.
v. 60. Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me, all their vindictive, malicious devices.
v. 61. Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, and all their imaginations against me,
v. 62. the lips of those that rose up against me, with scornful mockery, and their device against me all the day, as they meditated evil.
v. 63. Behold their sitting down and their rising up, observing all the conduct and doing of the enemies; I am their music, the object of their derisive songs.
v. 64. Render unto them a recompense, O Lord, according to the work of their hands, as they had so plentifully deserved it.
v. 65. Give them sorrow of heart, literally, "blindness or covering of heart," a stupidity which shut them out from spiritual understanding, Thy curse unto them!
v. 66. Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord, so that they would be forever removed from the sphere of Jehovah’s kingdom of the world, thereby losing all their opportunity to do any more harm. Christians may well pray that God would foil all attempts of the enemies to take away His honor and to harm the cause of His kingdom in the world.
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 v55 I called on your name
I called on your name
God's name represents his character, and here, "called on your name" represents trusting God's character and calling on him for help. AT: "I called to you for help" (See: Metonymy)
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from the depths of the pit
Possible meanings are 1) this refers to the pit that author had been thrown into. AT: "from the bottom of the pit" or 2) the author was afraid that he would die soon, so he spoke as if he were in the place of the dead. AT: "from the pit of the dead"
You heard my voice
Here "voice" represents what he said. AT: "You heard my words" (See: Metonymy)
Do not close your ear
Here "close your ear" represents refusing to listen. AT: "Do not refuse to listen" (See: Metonymy)
You came near
People often come near to a person they help. Here "came near" represents helping the man. AT: "you helped me" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
call
name
Yahweh
pit
voice
fear
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.