HE HAS TURNED HIS HAND AGAINST ME 

Lamentations 3:1-18 / Keywords 3:3

indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.

 

 3:1 [a]I am the man who has seen affliction

    by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.

2 He has driven me away and made me walk

    in darkness rather than light;

3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me

    again and again, all day long.

4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old

    and has broken my bones.

5 He has besieged me and surrounded me

    with bitterness and hardship.

6 He has made me dwell in darkness

    like those long dead.

7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;

    he has weighed me down with chains.

8 Even when I call out or cry for help,

    he shuts out my prayer.

9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone;

    he has made my paths crooked.

10 Like a bear lying in wait,

    like a lion in hiding,

11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me

    and left me without help.

12 He drew his bow

    and made me the target for his arrows.

13 He pierced my heart

    with arrows from his quiver.

14 I became the laughingstock of all my people;

    they mock me in song all day long.

15 He has filled me with bitter herbs

    and given me gall to drink.

16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;

    he has trampled me in the dust.

17 I have been deprived of peace;

    I have forgotten what prosperity is.

18 So I say, “My splendor is gone

    and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”

Footnotes

a. Lamentations 3:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem; the verses of each stanza begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the verses within each stanza begin with the same letter.

1. The laments in this chapter are personal laments. The author has grieved for his city and his nation. Now he grieves for himself because of the Lord’s judgment. He has witnessed firsthand the Lord’s wrath. Evidence of the Lord’s wrath is all around him. Here the author speaks of his own affliction. He walks in darkness. The Lord’s hand is against him all day long. He is surrounded with bitterness and hardship. Try as he might, he cannot escape the misery of God’s judgment. He is walled in like a prison.

 

2. The author was once prosperous. Not so anymore. He was once at peace. Not so anymore (17). He is a laughingstock to his people. The author admits his heart has been pierced with the Lord’s arrows. What happens when a heart is pierced? It dies. When we don’t have God, we don’t have life. This is not just the sorrowful words of a man in sin. These are the words of a man who has been abandoned by God. When the Lord removes his blessing from us (his presence), our lives are utterly devoid of worth or pleasure. The only answer is to repent and come to Jesus. Our sins will be forgiven, and we will be restored.

 

Prayer Father, how can we endure without your mercy? Have mercy on us and forgive us our sin.

One Word No hope without the Lord