Lamentations chapter 3

Whillikers! 66 verses!

vs 1

Meaning perhaps both that he was there to see the city fall, but he's also been a picture of suffering for Jerusalem's people too.

vs 2

That could be a reference to him having to leave Jerusalem when he got dragged off to Egypt. Could be a reference to just how black he feels having seen his beloved city fall.

vs 3

Jeremiah has every right to say that. He has had one of the most dogged of times as a prophet. And he knows it's from God. He's done things that are woeful and depressing and painful, to send God's message, which he was told beforehand they wouldn't listen to.

vs 4

Well, everyone gets old. I don't remember Jeremiah getting any broken bones, though. I guess I know what I'll be reading next. Oh boy.

vs 5

Jeremiah was an example to the people, in the same way that Jerusalem falling was. Instead of being beseiged by an army, he was beseiged by bitterness and hardship.

vs 6

Darkness of despair at knowing what's coming, I'm guessing.

vs 7

Poor guy - he did exactly what God wanted, knowing how bad it was going to be, but almost out of a sense of being caught up in it, and not being able to do anything else.

vs 8

That's how all of Israel feels now. By now, I mean right at this moment in history of Lamentations.

vs 9

Talk about railroading.

vs 10

Oh dear, they're not nice pictures.

vs 11

Eep! What an awful picture. God jumps out, grabs you, drags you off your path, and mangles you, leaving you in pain, suffering, and helpless. How do you fight that? You can't obviously, and that's what Jeremiah is talking about.