The Lord is my portion, saith Tny soul ; therefore vnll I hope in him.r—liAM.. III. 24.
Certainly if Ennius could pick out gold out of a dunghill, I may, by divine assistance, much better pick out golden matter out of such a golden mine as my text is, to enrich the souls of men withal. The best of painters [Apelles], to draw an exquisite Venus, had set before him an hundred choice and selected beauties, to take from one an eye, another a lip, a third a smile, a fourth an hand, and from each of them that special lineament in which the most excelled ; but I have no need of any other scripture to be set before me to draw forth the excellency of the saints' portion than that which I have now pitched upon ; for the beauty, excellency, and glory of an hundred choice scriptures are epitomized in this one.
The Jewish doctors and other writers differ about the time of Jere- miah's penning this book of the Lamentations ; but to be ignorant of the circumstance of time when this book was made, is such a crime as I suppose will not be charged upon any man's account in the great day of our Lord Jesus.
Doubtless this book of the Lamentations was composed by Jeremiah in the time of the Babylonian captivity. In this book the prophet sadly laments and bewails the grievous calamities and miseries that had befallen the Jews, viz. the ruin of their state, the devastation of their land, the destruction of their glorious city and temple, which was the great wonder of the world, the profanation of all his holy things, the contemptible and deplorable condition of all sorts, ranks, and degrees of men ; and then he complains of their sins as the procuring causes of all those calamities that God in his righteousness had inflicted upon them. He exhorts them also to patience under the mighty hand of God, and stirs them up to repent and reform, as they would have their sins par- doned, judgments removed, divine wrath pacified, their insulting enemies suppressed, and former acts and grants of favour and grace restored to them.
But to come to the words of my text.
The Lord Jehovah, from Havah, lie was. This name Jehovah is the most proper name of God, and it is never attributed to any but to GoA
Lam. III. 24.] an ark for all god's noahs. U
1. First, Jehovah sets out God's eternity, in that it containeth all times, future, present, and past.'
2. Secondly, It sets out also God's self-existency, coming from havah, to be.
3. Thirdly, When either some special mercy is promised, or some extraordinary judgment is threatened, then the name of Jehovah is com- monly annexed ; to shew that that God whose being is from himself, and who gives a being to all his creatures both on heaven and on earth, will certainly give a being to his promises and threatenings, and not fail to accomplish the words that are gone out of his mouth.
4. Fourthly, This name Jehovah consists only of quiescent letters, i. e. letters of rest, as the Hebrews call them, to shew that there is no rest till we come to Jehovah, and that in him we may safely and securely rest, as the dove did in Noah's ark.
'Is my portion.' Chelki, from P^^, chalak; the Hebrew word signi- fies to divide. He alludes, as I take it, to the dividing of the land of Canaan amongst the Israelites by lot. 'The Lord,' saith he, *is my portion,' my part, my lot; and with this portion I rest fully satisfied, as the Israelites were to do with their parts and portions in that plea- sant laud. It is true, saith Jeremiah, in the name of the church, I am thus and thus afflicted, and sorely distressed on all hands; but yet 'the Lord is my portion,' and that supports and bears up my spirits from fainting and sinking in this evil day.
'Saith my soul.' Naphahi, from ^^^, nephesh; the Hebrew word hath nine several senses or significations in the Scripture. But let this suffice, that by soul here in the text we are to understand the heart, the mind, the spirit, and the understanding of a man. Well, saith the prophet, though I am in a sea of sorrow, and in a gulf of misery, yet my heart tells me that ' the Lord is my portion ;' my mind tells me that ' the Lord is my portion ;' my spirit tells me that * the Lord is my por- tion ;' and my understanding tells me that ' the Lord is my portion ;' and therefore I will bear up bravely in the face of all calamities and miseries.
' Therefore will I hope in him.' The Hebrew word ?*niK, that is here rendered hope, is from ^m, JacA-aZ, that signifies both hoping, expecting, and trusting ; also it signifies a patient waiting upon the Lord.^ The prophet Jeremiah had not only a witness above him, but also a witness within him, that the Lord was his portion ; and therefore he resolves firmly to hope in the Lord, and sweetly to trust on the Lord, and quietly and patiently to wait upon the Lord, till God should turn his storm into a calm, and his sad winter into a blessed summer.
In my text there are three things observable :
First, An assertion or proposition in those words, ' The Lord is my portion.'
Secondly, A proof of it in those words, ' saith my soul.'
Thirdly, The use or inference from the premises in those words, « Therefore will I hope in him.'
The words being thus opened, the proposition that I intend to insist upon is this, viz. :
' The three syllables contain the notes of all times : Je, the time to come ; ho, the time present ; vaJi, the time past. * Gen. viii. 10 ; Isa. xlii. 4 ; Fa. xxxi. 25.
12 AN ARK FOR ALL GOD'S NOAHS. [LaM. III. 24.
Doct. That the Lord is the saints' portion, the Lord is the believers' portion.
I shall call in a few scriptures to witness to the truth of this proposi- tion, and then I shall further open it to you : Ps. xvi. 5, ' The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, and of my cup : thou maintainest my lot ;' Ps. Ixxiii. 26, ' My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever ;' Ps. cxix. 57, ' Thou art my portion, O Lord: I have said that I would keep thy words;' Jer. x. 16, ' The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things ; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance : the Lord of hosts is his name.'
Now for the further opening and clearing up of this great and glorious, this sweet and blessed truth, I shall endeavour to shew you,
First, What a portion the Lord is to his saints, to his gracious ones ; and,
Secondly, The reasons or grounds whereupon the saints have laid claim to God as their portion.
I. For the first, What a portion God is. Now the excellency of this portion I shall shew you by an induction of particulars, thus :