AN IDEAL REPRESENTATION OF NATIONAL SORROW
The middle elegy is, not only in structure but also in tone, readily distinguished from the other four. An element of personality is manifest in it which is not in them. The poet concentrates in himself all forms of the calamities which he laments. Some of these seem too sharp and heavy to be experienced by a single individual, and the doubt is turned into a certainty when he associates himself once and again with others. He is a member of a body. In this feature a significant proof is indicated of that unfolding form of prophecy in which the whole community of Israel, or an undefined part of it, is regarded as represented by a special person—the Servant whose experiences are hardly so much his own as those of his people. He stands apart from them by the peculiarities of his condition, but he draws to himself all their sorrows and pains, and that burden impels him to act as an advocate on their behalf before Jehovah. As we read such things we are reminded of the resemblance which they bear to the course of the prophet Jeremiah. He was “separated” from his nation, but became a participant of the terrible doom he announced. He would not stand off from his people when he might have gone with the Babylonian Captain of the Guard. It was his pure conscience and sensitive heart which realised the fierce anger of the Lord against the sins which had corrupted the conscience and heart of his fellow-countrymen. It was for their sakes, he said, My heart is faint within me.… For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black. His position was a forecast of that mightier Servant who came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
The progress of the poem presents a strange tumult of thought. There is arraignment of God’s dealings and acknowledgment of His mercies; impatience at his sufferings, which does not crowd out his patience; wonder why the Lord should send such punishments, and confession of sins with little hope that it would pave the way for pardon. Yet is not this a true portrait of each soul that is striving against sin in himself and others? Without fighting, within fears.
The first part of the chapter sets forth the soul-sufferings of the godly in their cheerless and hopeless misery (Lamentations 3:1-18); then it ascends to hope by meditation on the compassion of God (Lamentations 3:19-39); next is the recognition of God’s justice in the punishment, but the intensity of which, through the malice of enemies, the Lord cannot pass by (Lamentations 3:40-54); and last, prayer that He would send help and take vengeance on the enemy (Lamentations 3:55-66).