2 if accordivg ro our Tranſlati»n we read Remembring, Or 1:1? I remember, theſe rwo Verſes contain bur one Sentence 3 1n the former part the Prophetin the Name of this People expretieth heir deſpairing Condition; in re latter he gives rhe reaſon of 1t, iz. The Peoples poring upon their great, and heavy affliciions, which he compares to wormwood and gall, rwo rhings exceſlively bitter, and often made uſe of ro fignifie great affliction, P/a!. 69. 21. Ter.8. 14. andg. 15. and 23,15. Rev. 8,11, But it may as well he read imperaticely, Remember mine affliction, ſo the firſt of theſe two Verſes exprefſeth rhe dejecion of the Peop.cs Minds in their Captivity cauted through their proneneſs to deſpair of any herter condition that their angry God would bring them into. The 22th. #e{-15a Prayer direfted ro God, which ſhewed that thougit thev were mightily perplexed, yer they were not 1n
ut:er deſpair; and co this ſence the following Verſes ſecmro incline. 20 My ſoul hath chem: ftill in remembrance, and 15 + humbled within me 4. ; a That is, I cannot forger chem, and the thoughts of them fink my ſpirits.
b Tis, nor what was already faid that made them deſpair, and taeir Souls ro bow down; but this, that which followerh, con- cerning the Nature of God, and other good Providences. I fee
The Lamentations of F E R E M I A H.
'I, Ver. 28. fair and caſte, for then thoſe words, Ver. 27. It is good that muſt
nothing in the circumſtances of my condition ro comfort me, but I ſee ſomething in God's Nature, and in ſome other Diſpen ſations of his Providence, which gives me ground to hope for berter rings than an utter ruine and deftrugion. So
22 @ * 7: ;s of the LORD's Mercies that we are not conſumed, becauſe his compaſſions fail not c.
c Mercy is nothing elſe bur Love flowing freely from any to Perſons in miſery, and differs from compaſſion only inthe freeneſs| of the emanation. It 1s nqr becauſe God hath not power enough utterly to have conſumed us, nor hecauſe we had nor guilr enough to have provoked his Juftice,to have putan end to our Lives, as wellas to rhe lives of many thouſand of our Countreymen, but 1t 15 meerly from the Lords free Love and Pity to us in our Miſeries, If God had nor a Blefling in ſtore for us, how 1s 1t that we are Cap- tives, and nor flain as many others were during the Siege ?
23 They are new every morning ; great i thy faith-
fulneſ$ 4.
4 Theſe Compaſlions of God are renewed Day by Day, to de- clare the great faithfulneſs of God in fulfilling his many promiſes made for his Mercy co his People. ;
24 The LORD #s my * portion, ſaith my ſoul, therefore will I hope in him e. :
e God is the portion of his People, and rhey have choſen him as -cheir portion: He hath declared himſelf to them as ſuch, and they have accepted him as ſuch. This gives them ground both for Pa- tience under his Providences, and alſo of expeRation of good from him in their loweſt and meaneſt ſtate. :
25 The LORD is good to them that wait for him,
to the ſoul that ſeeketh him f. ,
f Good is aterm of a very comprehenſive notion. The nature of it lieth in a ſuicableneſs to the thing or perſon ro whom 1t re- lareth, ſo it ſignifierh profit and pleaſantneſs. There is in God an eſſential goodneſs, which 1s his abſolute perfeRion 3 bur this Text ſpeaketh of a communicative goodneſs, which flowerh from him to his Creatures, and is ſcenin his ſuiting their various neceſſities and deſires with ſatisfactory diſpenſations of Providence, Though God be in one degree or other good to all, yet he 15 more eſpecially good tothe rrue Worſhippers of him; yer poſſibly nor 1n their ſea- ſons or times when they expeR or would have God to ſhew himſelf ſo ro them in this or that way, bur always to thoſe who walt for him, patiently enduring Trials and Affffligions until God pleaſe to ſend them deliverance.
26 [t is good that a man ſhould both hope, and
quietly wait for the ſalvation of the LORD g-
2 Good here either {ſignifies honrtz4, whar becomes Men, and 35 their Duty 3 or «tile, what is profirable, and will turn ro good account to them. Hoping and waiting differ but as the mother and davghter. Hope being the Mother of Partence and Waiting, or as the Habitand AF, Hoping and Waiting being much the ſame, flowing a gracious power and habit given the Soul to wair,
N«ietneſs is neceflary to waiting, for all turbulency and imparience
of Spirit under ſad Providences is oppoſed to waiting. The Salvati-; on of th? Lord refers to the outward, in preſerving or delivering us trom dangers : Or to the Soul and inward Man, in preſery-
ing us from, and delivering our Souls out of dangers they fear, or
eyils they are preſſed with.” Now for a Man in the midft of all evils | ro hope in God, and wirhour rurbulence or diſorder in himſelf, to } wait for a preſervation from, or a delivery our of any evils, 15: what becomerh a Man ( a Child of God eſpecially ) and will rurn' to a good account to them.
- wy 27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke 1n his ' dence, either effe&ing it by an immediate influence, or by the in-
youth h.
" þ Good here muſt he expounded in the ſame ſenſe as in the fore- going Verſe. It isnor pleaſant, butit is profitable, 1t 1s honoura. ble, what becomes us, and 1s our Duty, quietly and pariently to bear whar afflidions God will pleaſe tolay upon us, to reſtrain our wild and wanton Spirits when they are moſt prone to be too brisk and laſcivious. Some by 7obe underſtand the Law of God, called a Yoke (becauſe indeed irisſo to fleſh and blood ) Matth, ir. 29. Itis not fo eafie to bend a Neck ſtiffned with Age, or change an Hearr made hard by Cuſtom, Soſsmos bids us to train up one in their Youthin the way we would have chem to walk; and whether
God will tame us when young, by his Word or by his Rod. :: is of advantage to a Man : Iris alſo laudable, and whar b«comes a Man, early to bear the yoke of God's Law, or to bear zfMiRive Providences, to have his heart berimes humbled to the Will and Feer of Gcd.
28 He iitteth alone and keepeth ſilence, becauſe he
hath born zz upon him kh.
h Our Engliſh, Annotations ſupplying That, makes the connexi- on clear, It is good for a Man, that he fit atone, Jer. 15. 17. nor doing what he doth to be (een of Men, bur fitting alone, and when he 1:alone, ſupprefling the murinies of his Spirit, and keeping his Soul in {ubje&ion to God, Becauſe God hath humbled him by his Rod, humbling himſelf ro his Will.