EXEGETICAL NOTES.—
(נ) Lamentations 3:40. The remnant, who were referred to in Lamentations 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.
Lamentations 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.
Lamentations 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
I. Begins in strict self-examination. “Let us search and try our ways” (Lamentations 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” (Lamentations 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” (Lamentations 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” (Lamentations 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” (Lamentations 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
Lamentations 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.
Lamentations 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.