III. The confession to which affliction and contrition lxad. Identifying the nation with himself, the prophet exclaims, " I have grievously rebelled." There is candour and justice, there is submissiveness, there is spiritual discernment, in this outspoken acknowledgment. Ko excuse, no extenuation, no complaint, is here, but a plain confession of ill desert. Rebels against a rightful authority, against a just, for- bearing Sovereign, what could the Jews expect but such humiliation as they actually experienced ? " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive."
IV. The CRT of affliction and of contrition. 1. It is a cry unto the Lord. Juiiah had looked for earthly friends and helpers, and had learned by bitter experience the vanity of such expectations. And now Judah sought the Lord whom by sin and rebellion she had offended. 2. It is an entreaty /or Divine regard and consideration. What had happened was indeed by permission of Heaven. But the regard implored was one of sympathy, commiseration, and kindness. 3. It is a cry /or deliveranu. It is dictated by the assurance that he and only he who wounded can heal and comfort and restore. — T.
Ver, 1. — Widowhood — the emblem of londinets. I. Thb force of the emblem. Another emblem mi^ht have been used. Or the statement as to loneliness might have been left in its simplicity without any comparison at all. Why, then, this particular emblem ? Because it sets forth the separation between two parties to a peculiar cuc- necl;ion — a connection intended ti> have all the permanence which anything in thii
CIH.I.1— 22J THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 13
earth can have. Of the hushand and wife it is to be said that " they twain have become one flesh," and when the wife becomes a widow she is left in a peculiar and irreroediablt loneliness, even though she he in the midst of kindred, neighbours, and friends. So also we may say that the inhabitants of Jerusalem, together with the place itself, its site, its houses, its streets, had become one great whole. The children of Israel wandered through the wilderness for forty years, but when at last they left it, it would not have been suitable to say that the wilderness had become as a widow.
II. A VIEW THOS SUGQESTE.') AS TO THE CAUSE OF 8EFABATI0H. One Icind of lonoU-
ness had come as a terrible visitation because another kind of loneliness had not been sought as an imperative condition of security. Had not Balaam said, " The people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations" (Numb, xxiii. 9)? Israel was to dwell in safety alone. What could be expected if the people mixed as^ain so recklessly with those from whom they bad been se|i:irat«l by a course of Divine marvels? It may also be noticed that Jerusalem would uol have been left as a widow if the people of Jerusalem and the country altogether hail had in tliem the spirit whicl. promjiti'd to deal wisely and compassionately with every widow. The widow had been carefully provided for by Mosaic enactments, e.g. in the solemn feasts and in the time of harvest. Yet in the first chapter of Isaiah's prophecies we find him denouncing the princes of the once faithful city becanse the cause of the widow did not come unto them.
III. A ORODND OF HOPB. Widowhood is evidently a state on which the loving God looks down with infinite tenderness and desire to help. Jerusalem became as a widow, yet the separation waf) not for ever. Her exiled inhabitants returned. Yet thii was a small matter compared with the greater truths taught alike by the separation and the restoration. Things nearest and dearest to us may have to be taken away for a time, but all that belongs to our real welfare and to our complete relation to even the whole universe will come back in due time. We must not mistake eclipse for destruction. — T,
Ver. 2. — Nights of weeping explained. Nights of weeping and constant tears npon the cheeks. Thus the metaphor is kept up with which this first song of lamentation begins. The sensitiveness of the woman-nature helps to brinfc otit the prostration of Jerusalem. It is not only that her condition is lamentable, but she herself, in all the feelings of hev heart, is a prey to the keenest angnish. People do not always see their own sad state as others see it. There is either a shallowness of nature or something hM happened to deaden the sensibilities. But in this verse we have both the mention of tears and of most sufficient causes for tears.
L FiBST cause: want of stmpatht and solace. Jerusalem has no eomforten. Not even Job's comforters. For, though Job's comforters were sufficiently irritating and mistook blisters for salves, yet comfort was their errand. Bad as Job's state was, it would have been worse still if in his time of sore trouble he had been left quite alone, especially if professed friends had not come near him. But here the widowed Jeru- salem has no comforter ; and yet she had had many lovers, many who had been drawn irresistibly by the charm of her attractions. Jerusalem was proud of these attractions, and yet they did not belong to the essence of her existence. The attractions perished, and with the perishing of them the lovers whom they drew became cold. The attrac- tions perished, but Jerusalem herself remained with all her needs, and yet with none to minister. Where do we mean to look for comforters when our hour of deepest trouble comes ? Many to whom we may look will be able to do nothing for us ; some to whom we may look will not try to do anything : happy then shall we be if we have reason to say, " In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul " (Ps. xciv. 19).
IL Second cause: fkiknds have become enemies. When the attractions of Jerusalem faded away, not only did the lovers depart, but they had to seek new satis- factions elsewhere, and for many selfish reasons they would act in sym|iathy with the conquerors of Jerusalem. When she was a strong city, it suited surrounding peoples to be friendly ; but when she became desolate and the whole land was lost, then it seemed the interest of these peoples to be hostile to Jerusalem. Indeed, their connection with Jerusalem was really hostile even when they meant friendship. Their open anc strenuous hostility from the first would have been a better thing. Professed friends
14 THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. [CB. 1.1—22.
without meaning it, may ao mislead as to do more harm than the bitterest enemy could ever do. The real friend is he who, for the Bake of truth and of the highest interests, is not afraid to he reckoned for the time an enemy. — T.
Ver. ^.—Zion fortaken as a religious centre. I. The peouliab oiobt of Zion im