The 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 woe, II. THE CAUSE OF DEGRADATION. Judah may have been unwilling to admit the trnth, 1md may have been disposed to attribute calamities to second causes. Dut the prophet was just, and laid his hand upon the true explanation when he confessed on hehalf of his countrymen, 11 \Ve have sinned I" '!'race up human misery and national ,lisaster to the source, and this is to be reached only when we come to defection and departure from the righteous Lord. III. 'l'nE CO~-SCIOUSJ\'"ESS OF DEGRADATION. "Woe unto us I" is the cry of the prophet. When men sin and suffer but fail to acknowledge their own ill desert, the intentions of Providence are as yet unfulfilled. The sin must be taken home; the punishment must be acknowledged just; the confession must be penitent, sincere, and frank. IV. THE LESSONS OF DEGRADATION. l. Let the virtuous and obedient abjure self- confidence and cherish trust in God. 2. Let the tempted beware of the foe, and watch and pray lest they sin and come into this torment. 3. Let the smitten sinner repent and turn unto the Lord and seek pardon and renewal.-T. Ver. 19.-The eternal, throru,. The believer in God ha.q this great advantage over the atheist and the agnostic-he has e. firm conviction that all things are under the control and rule of a wise, righteous, and benevolent King, who reigns both in heaven and on earth. Afflictions, personal and relative, may distress his mind; calamities may over- whelm his imagination and baffle his reason; but he has this consolation-be knows that the Lord remains for ever on his throne. • L GoD's ETERNAL THRONE CONTRASTS WITH THE PERISHING THRONES OF EARTH. The King of Judah, defeated and carried captive, was torn by a foreign hand from the throne of his power and glory. All earthly monarchies are transitory and all earthly monarchs are mortal. They perish, but God endureth. II. THE STABILITY OF GoD'S THRONE RESTS UPON THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF HIS DOMINION. " A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." Injustice and oppression may prevail for a season, but only right is indestructible o.nd immortal. Even in his mercy the Supreme has regard to the claims of justice and to the maintenance of rightful authority. III. THE DEFEAT OF GoD's ENEMIES IS ASSURED. They may rage and they may take counsel together, but the Lord has them in derision. All their assaults upon his kingdom must fail, and those who lead those assaults must come to shame and misery. No weapon that is formed against God and his people shall prosper.· IV. THE VICTORY OF Goo's CAUSE IS CERTAIN. Kingdoms rise and fall, princes are elevated. and dethroned; but the King of kings goes conquering and to conquer. All his foes are put beneath his feet, and on his head are many crowns.-T. Ver. 21.-" Tu'T"TI uB again I" The Scriptures are the volume of hope; they lend no countenance to despondency; they rebuke despair. Deep as was the degradation of the Jews, far as they had wandered from God's ways, inexcusably as they had defied his authority, there was for them a place of repentance. And Jeremiah closes this Book of Lamentations with language of confident supplication and well-grounded hope of Letter times. I. THE NEED OF TURNING. The whole of the book thus closed witnesses to this necessity. Judah had gone wrong, had wilfully taken the path of rebellion and defiance. Iu this respect her case represents that of every culpable transgre8sor. The end of the way of sin is death, is destruction without remedy. It is a stem truth, but it is a truth, and a truth which mercy reveals. II. To WHOM TJIE TURNING lllUBT BE. "Turn us unto thee I" Away from the sin which ~as misled, away from the human counsellors and helpers in whom is no wise counsePand no sufficient help, away from self, to God against whom the sinner he.a transgressed and to whom he needs to be reconciled. 'l'he old phrase," conversion unto Gud," is one full of truth, meaning, and appropriateness. on, v, 1-22.] 'l'lIE LAMENTATIONS Olt' JEI1EMIAH. 89