PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations
Thomas Kelly Cheyne [1841-1915] · 81,815 words · 85 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 61
eevere, the guilt mnst have been in propor- aTrows upon them "-the Hebrew verb is tion. And no handa atayed on her. To the same aR here (Deut.. xxxii. 23). To make the picture of smlden destruction show the completeness ot" Zion's ruin it iH more vivid, the poet alludes to the ordinary compared to a fire which ha;;h de…
983 wordsSECTION 62The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 62
" h11ve wnndered" refers to some period adequate to shooting the inhabit.ants nt before the fim1.l C'-Rtastrophe, or to the con- some distance. Probnbly the expreBBlons ~ternalion produced by thRt awful surprise. a.re metaphorical ; they nre similar to those The latt.er view eroms the more probable. used in eh. iii.…
935 wordsSECTION 63The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 63
HOMILETICS. Vers, 1, 2.-Jt'ine gold dimmed. Gold is a precious metal, partly because it ie less liable to corrode tho.n other metals. It will not rust like iron nor even tarnish like silver. For fine gold to be dimmed is for it to undergo exceptionally severe treatment. Such was the treatmrnt of the gold of the temp…
921 wordsSECTION 64The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 64
Vers. 3, 4.-Tlie 'Vio1a.fion of maternal instincts. I. MATERNAT, INBTINOTS ARB AMONG THE MOST WIDE~J>READ AND DEEP-SEATED ORDINANCES OF PROVIDENCE. ]. Wi:dPspread. They are shared by the lower animals as well as by human bein"S. The fiercest monsters 1tre careful of their cubs. 'l'he most stupid know how to tend a;d r…
1,272 wordsSECTION 65The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 65
Ver. 12.-Incredible calamities. Not only had Jerusalem believed herself invincible, but she had been so long preserved in safety and so signally delivered in extreme danger, as in the Assyrian invasion when Hezekiah was king, that neighbouring nation:; had come to look upon her as secure from harm, and to regard such c…
1,093 wordsSECTION 66The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 66
V. THE 0URE FOR THIS BLlNDNESB. This is not su~gested hero. It is not the function of Lamentations to console and heal. But there is a remedy. For Christ came to "opon the blinc.l eyes" (Isa. xiii. 7). He is" the Light of the world," fl.od all who fol- low him "shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of li…
836 wordsSECTION 67The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 67
phR~es of being. This mRy seem to many an unjustifil\bly dogml\tio stl\tement, Text for text we ml\y find pa~sRges of Scripture to support it and to contradict it. It IR when we tRke into account the drift of the whole Word of God, the character of Go<l tberc•in revealed and the purposes of punishment and of l\ll da…
1,182 wordsSECTION 68The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 68
Vers. 3--5.-The horrors of famine. A more graphic, a more terrible picture than this of the misery of a captured, starved, and desolated city, no pencil could paint. If the circumstances of the famine-stricken population of Jerusalem are portrayed with too literal a skill and with too sickening an effect, it must be bo…
1,114 wordsSECTION 69The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 69
deliver them from the perplexities and sorrows and fears to which human nature is always subject. II, IT IS PROVIDENTIALLY APPOINTED THAT EXPERIENCE SHOULD CONVINCE MEN OP THE VANITY OF ALL HUMAN HELP. When application after applicatic,n fails to bring relief, when hope aHer hope is disappointed, then, and perhaps not…
934 wordsSECTION 70The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 70
Yers. 3, 4.-Natum,l affection gone. I. NOTE AN UNFAVOURARLJI: CONTRAST WITH THE LOWER CREATION. Everything is to he estimated according to its nature. It matters little what the sea-monster here stands for. It is sufficient to know that some fierce de,;tructivc creature is thought of. Truly there is a vast diJfel'en…
937 wordsSECTION 71The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 71
Ver. 6.-The sin of Sodom. God was doing nothing new or indefensible in allowing Jerusalem thus to be wasted and humiliated. The Israelites had in their possession illustrations more than one of how great sin had been followed by great suffering. Jeremiah quotes Sodom, and he might have said something about Egypt when G…
810 wordsSECTION 72The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 72
Ver. 12.-A seeming imposswility achieved. I. THE VALUE OF A REPUTATION. J<'rusalem had a far-spread reputation for security. It wa.s a reputation, too, which prevailed among those with whom it was desirable it should prevail, namely, the kings of the earth. A reputation for security is to a certain extent an element i…
1,026 wordsSECTION 73The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 73
Ver. 20.-.A disappointed confidence and a, desecrated sanctity. There seems to be indicated in these words a great attachment to the kingly office and a great confidence in it. It is the same spirit continuing and probably intensified which caused the people ages before to demand a king. And is it not thus sng:gested t…
336 wordsSECTION 74The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 74
EXPOSITION. Ver. 3.-We are orphans and fatherless; CHAPTER V, i.e. " We are like the most desolate of Vers. 1-18.-lNSULT UPON INSULT HAS beings," e.s the Targu.m already explains it. 11EEN HEAPED UPON JERUSALEM. Hence in the next clau,e the mothers of Ver. 2.-0ur inheritance. The Innd had Israel ore likened to wido…
1,130 wordsSECTION 75The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 75
Ver. 10.-Remaineet; bolter, art enlhrO'Tlerl. invnsion, and r0Jo1c,rng in tlio sense of thri Ver. 2O.-Wherefore dost thou forget us, favour of Jehovah." The fir.1t petitinn ha.s eto. ? The poot does not say, " Wherefore tho priority beccrnso only on repentance anrl hnet thou forgotten us?" One of the recovered purity …
860 wordsSECTION 76The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 76
regl\rded as more than a mere possession. It was considered to be received from God as an inheritance, and held by a Divine right. Yet even this sacred soil was tllkcn away from the people. Str&nge races from the East settled down upon it, and the rightful owners were driven into captivity or compelled to pay for wate…
804 wordsSECTION 77The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 77
hoar testimony to the imperfection of earth, to the transitoriness of what once seemerl. perfect, and to the need of e. future life wherein the severed threads may be reunited and the Divine idea. of the family realized. Ill. ORPHANAGE AND WIDOWHOOD ARE UNDER THE ESPECIAL CARE OF Goo. He is thfl "Father of the fatherl…
866 wordsSECTION 78The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 78
_iu<lgment. Moreover, if this is the case, inasmuch ns the individuals profit by tho corpomte life and prosperity, this treatment by families and cities e.nd nations ma.:, turn out in the long run to be the best for the separate persons. Ver. 19.-Consolation in th£ supremacy of God. The Divine eupt'emacy ls often r…
838 wordsSECTION 79The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 79
him. For it is too often only unbelief that makes us silence doubt. If we truly trusted God we should more bravely confess to him all that troubled and perplexed 011 r minds. In response to such confidence God may reveal to us a new way of lookin~ at our experience that shall help us to understand something of its obje…
947 wordsSECTION 80The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 80
HOMILIES :SY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. l.-Tl1e Lortl's remembrance besooght. The inhabitants of Judah and JeruSBlem had looked, now to Egypt and now to Assyria, for help and deliverance. Events bad shown upon how broken a reed they had leaned. Their experience was now lee.ding the best among them to another and a surer, h…
694 wordsSECTION 81The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 81
Ver. 8.-None to delive1". Bitterness was adilcd to the misery of the Jews when Chnldenn slavos-advanced to eminence and power on account of their ability-worn placed in authority over them, But there was no choice; resistance was imp0ssiblc an,\ deliverer there was none. In this respect the condition of the inhabitants…
755 wordsSECTION 82The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 82
into mournin1[, her hopes were d&ehcd to the ground; how could the heart be other than faint? '!'be wRys of sin Rre wRys of disappointment, weariness, and distress, 'l'be heart of the transgressor sinks within him when be sees the fruit of his doings. 3. 'l'he eyes are dim with watching for deliverance, with tears of w…
761 wordsSECTION 83The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 83
III. DY WIIOM Tim TUnNIN0 MUST DE EFFECTF.D, The prayrr is unto the Lord ; for h~ al?no cnn ~urn the wancl~rer unto himself. By the authority of his L<1w, by tho wrnnmg, meltmg power of ·his gospel, by the sweet constraint of his Spirit, he alone cnn transform the heart, revers~ the steps, and renew the olden days of t…
966 wordsSECTION 84The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 84
Ver. 14.-The occupation of the elders gone. I. TnE PLAOE OF OLD MEN IN A 'XlMMUXITY. As men grow old they may get past certain kinds of work, but they Arod not cease to be useful, nor need age become, unless from bodily frailty, a burden and a weariness. There is much for an old man to tell from the stores of his ex…
1,232 wordsSECTION 85The Pulpit Commentary — Lamentations — Section 85
Vers. 19-22.-The only resoorce acknowledged to be in God. It will be felt that this prayer is a fitting conclusion to the book. What could be more proper than that these people, having looked all around with an ever-deepening sense of loss and humiliation, should now look above 1 Upon earth, in strength or skill of …
1,144 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.