EXEGETICAL NOTES.—
(י) Lamentations 3:28. A yoke is not of itself beneficial; it must be borne along with desires and efforts to reach to its purpose. “Since it is good for man that he should learn to endure suffering, let him sit still and bear it patiently; … let him sit solitary, as becomes those in sorrow, and be silent without murmuring when God puts such a burden on him.”—Keil. The fogs of the world, if a man enters into them, may veil the waymarks of God.
Lamentations 3:29. Let him put his mouth in the dust—significant of being humbled under the mighty hand of God—indulging in no whimpers, framing no self-excuses, making no boasts, only waiting to hear what God the Lord will speak, and by no means despairing of help for every time of need. It may be there is hope.
Lamentations 3:30. Let him give his cheek to him that smiteth him, as was similarly enforced in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:39). and involving the wider application, when reviled not to revile again. Exemplified by Job, by the prophetic Servant of Jehovah, by the greatest of all Sufferers. The gradation is perceptible. “The sitting alone and in silence is comparatively the easiest. It is harder to place the mouth in the dust and yet cling to hope; it is most difficult of all to give the cheek to the smiter, and to satiate oneself with dishonour” (Naegel.), be filled full with reproaches.
HOMILETICS
RESIGNATION
I. Should be borne in silence, recognising the hand of God in affliction. “He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because He hath borne it upon Him” (Lamentations 3:28). It is difficult for an active spirit to settle down contentedly and in silence in any kind of circumstances. We cannot rid ourselves of the idea that something is to be done, and we must do it. If our misfortunes come as the result of our own folly, we feel we must do something to repair the damage, little dreaming how utterly useless are all our endeavours. When at length the truth dawns upon us that God is at work in connection with our sufferings, the soul is at once subdued into silence and patiently waits the issue. Something like this was once the experience of the Psalmist (Psalms 39:9).
II. Should be borne with reverential humility, knowing there is hope of deliverance. “He putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope” (Lamentations 3:29). The putting the mouth in the dust indicates how completely the soul is prostrated before God in humility and reverential silence. The soul can bear any burden when it knows that the hand of God imposes it, and that He has still hold of it. While we are conscious God is in touch with our burden, there is always hope of its removal. It is when God leaves us to our fate that hope dies. Resignation is no evidence of hopelessness, but rather an evidence how firmly our hope is grounded. We could not so completely cease from all personal effort were we not so fully assured of Divine deliverance.
III. Should be borne without resentment, not shrinking from the bitterest dregs of the cup. “He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him; he is filled full with reproach” (Lamentations 3:30). We are to be resigned, but not insensible; submissive, but not apathetic. We are keenly alive to the reproaches heaped upon us by our enemies. Our very resignation is offensive to them, and is made a handle of scorn. It is hard to bear the jeers of others without retaliation. When our sufferings come through our fellow-men, it is but human to resent their attacks with indignation—to meet scorn with scorn. But when we are sensible our troubles come from God, we can more readily submit, and we have grace given to bear, without resentment, all that it may please Him to impose upon us. Behind the divine severity there is unspeakable gentleness.
LESSONS.—
1. The greatest sorrow must be borne alone and in silence.
2. Murmuring and resentment will increase, but not relieve our sufferings.
3. A spirit of humble resignation secures the Divine compassion and help.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Lamentations 3:28-30. Silent suffering. I. Not the less acute because endured in silence (Lamentations 3:28). II. Is bearable when the soul has a glimmering of hope (Lamentations 3:29). III. Shows that the sufferer has exhausted every possible ground for complaint (Lamentations 3:30).
Lamentations 3:28. Retirement and silence.
“What then should be a sinner’s course?
Silence to all save himself and his God.
And so also our Lord ‘became dumb;
He still waited upon his Father;
He made as if He had nothing to say.
How much more should we be silent in our guilt!
Thou hast sinned in company,
Learn to do without company at all.
Thou hast dealt rudely with thy God,
Be content to be rudely dealt with.
Thou hast forsaken Him,
Be content to be forsaken.
Thou hast sinned in talk,
Be content to keep silence.
Thou hast sinned in selfish ways,
Be content, nay be glad, to be overlooked,
To be disappointed—forgotten.
The less thou art able to retire at fixed times,
Be the more watchful to do so at occasional times.
Thou hast sinned in boasting,
Be sometimes silent, even from good words.
Thou hast sinned by cowardice,
Force thyself to speak—in truthfulness to confess.
Accept bereavements, separations, estrangements,
As opportunities of penance assigned by Him.
That He may open thy mouth at last,
To shew forth His praise,
And nothing but His praise.”
—Keble.
ILLUSTRATIONS.—Resignation to the will of God. A remarkable instance of Christian resignation was discovered on one particular occasion in the conduct of Archbishop Fenélon. When his illustrious and hopeful pupil, the Duke of Burgundy, lay dead in his coffin, and the nobles of his court, in all the pomp of silent sadness, stood around, the Archbishop came into the apartment, and having fixed his eyes for some time on the corpse, broke out at length in words to this effect—“There lies my beloved prince, for whom my affections were equal to the tenderest regard of the tenderest parents. Nor were my affections lost; he loved me in return with all the ardour of a son. There he lies, and all my worldly happiness lies dead with him. But if the turning of a straw would call him back to life, I would not for ten thousand worlds be the turner of that straw in opposition to the will of God.”
Soul-growth aided by silence. Some of the best and most beautiful works are perfected in silence. In the making of plate-glass the process of pouring the melted material is so delicate, requiring such care and steadiness, that the men, impressed with the great danger of carelessness, usually preserve silence during the process.
Humility a help to knowledge. When the recent military expedition went to Lower Egypt, it was found that only the smallest boats could go great distances up the Nile. There are some truths that are only revealed to those who grow in loneliness and self-forgetfulness—secret teachings which are reserved for those who are intensely childlike in spirit. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
Heroic endurance. One of the secrets of Victor Hugo’s power over the French people was their memory of the following. When the disasters of the Franco-German war were falling thickly, and the iron band was closing round Paris, word came that Victor Hugo was coming to the city. He came at the very moment that the investment was complete, with the last train, the last breath of free air. On the way he had seen the Bavarians, seen villages burned with petroleum, and he came to imprison himself in Paris. A memorable ovation was given him by the people, and they never forgot his voluntary sharing of their sufferings.