Lamentations 3:31

Lam 3:31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever:

Ver. 31. For the Lord will not cast off for ever.] No, not at all, however he may seem to some so to do. Non deserit etiamsi deserat, saith a father: He doth not put his people far from him, as the word here signifieth.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lam 3:31-33. The Lord will not cast off for ever — The truly penitent that put their trust in him, and sincerely desire and seek reconciliation with him: though he may for a time appear to estrange himself from them, yet he will certainly return to them. Though he cause grief — Though, as a prudent parent, he may see reason to chastise his people by affliction, yet as a kind and tender Father, who pitieth his children in misery, according to the multitude, the unspeakable greatness and abundance of his mercies, he will have compassion upon them. For he doth not afflict willingly — Hebrew, מלבו, from his heart, that is, of his own mere motion, without cause given him by the persons afflicted; or freely and with pleasure; nor grieve the children of men — Much less his own children. Hence judgment is called his strange work, and exercising mercy and loving-kindness his delight.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31-33. As the three members of the division commencing with the 25th verse all begin with the adjective “good,” so the following three verses contain exhortations based on these; and in these three verses we also have the considerations or grounds of comfort by which these exhortations are enforced. These are:

1) Sorrow will come to an end, Lam_3:31.

2) God’s compassion outweighs sorrow, Lam_3:32.

3) His love shines through all. “He doth not willingly afflict,” Lam_3:33.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

EXEGETICAL NOTES.—

(כ) Lam_3:31. For this silent waiting on the Lord, amid humiliations and scorn, there is all-sufficient strength. It is in the Lord Himself, in the belief that He is at work; that, whatever our tribulations are, however bitter ingredients we must drain out of our cup, whatever the moral conflicts and self-condemnations we must pass through, He will not put us away. The Lord will not cast off for ever; there will be an end of tears and isolation on account of the absent Friend.

Lam_3:32. His providences may distress us. Physical pains, social straits, national demoralisation, and inward unrest, blame, forebodings, may overwhelm us. These are goads by which He is thrusting us from a wrong way into a right, but “it is love that bruises us.” Yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.

Lam_3:33. He would rather not produce suffering. His heart is not in doing so. He has a distinct end in view to be reached through tribulation. For he afflicts not willingly, nor grieves the children of men. Child and adult, Israelite and heathen, will meet trouble, but not one is outside the sympathy of God. We can supplement this from a later teacher, who tells us that our Father chastises for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.

HOMILETICS

THE TENDERNESS OF GOD

(Lam_3:31-33)

I. Seen in the limitation of punishment. “For the Lord will not cast off for ever” (Lam_3:31). God has no delight in inflicting punishment. His righteousness imposes on Him the necessity of punishing sin. But punishment has its limits; and when those limits are exceeded, justice degenerates into cruelty. The tenderness of God is a universal safeguard against unduly prolonged punishment (Psa_77:7-9).

II. Seen in the abundant manifestation of mercy. “But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies” (Lam_3:32). Even in chastisement mercy triumphs over justice. Mercy provides a means of escape, not from justice, but from the worst consequences of transgression. “All the souls that were, were forfeit once; and He that might the vantage best have took found out the remedy.” “God be merciful to me a sinner,” is the leading idea of inscriptions on thousands of gravestones in the stately cathedral and the village churchyard, and bear silent testimony to the deepest convictions of mankind. The mercy of God will be conspicuous to the universe, and the theme of endless adoration.

III. Seen in the reluctance with which He inflicts chastisement. “For He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men” (Lam_3:33). God never afflicts willingly—lit., from his heart. The heart of God is love, and love has no pleasure in the sufferings of others, and is not eager to impose suffering. That God afflicts at all, and that He does it with so much reluctance, should intensify the conviction that, not only is chastisement necessary, but that it is evidently intended to lead to a greater good. The prophet dwells on the tenderness of God to enforce complete resignation to the Divine arrangements.

LESSONS.—

1. God never punishes beyond the absolute necessity of the case.

2. He sympathises with the sufferer His justice compels Him to chastise.

3. He is ever slow to wrath.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

Lam_3:31-36. Comfort for the sorrowful. I. A cheering assurance given.

1. That God’s abandonment of His people is only temporary. “For the Lord will not cast off for ever.”

2. That the favour with which He will visit them will be signal and abundant. “But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies.” II. An important reason adduced. “For He doth not afflict willingly.” This may be inferred:

1. From His character. He is a God of love.

2. From the relationship He sustains to His people. He is their father. An earthly parent has to chastise his offspring, but He does it with reluctance.

3. Their sufferings are attended with many alleviations. Had He any pleasure in punishing us, so much mercy would not be mingled with judgment.

4. The object He has in view in afflicting His children: it is for their profit, that they may be partakers of His holiness.

5. His readiness to remove His chastening hand when the visitation has answered the end intended. III. A gracious limitation subjoined. Whenever God afflicts, it is:

1. Within the bounds of moderation. To “crush” expresses what is extreme and destructive (Isa_27:8; Jer_10:24; Jer_46:28).

2. Never in violation of the principles of equity. “To subvert a man in his cause the Lord approveth not.” He is the righteous Lord, who loveth righteousness, and all He doeth is in accordance therewith.—Expository Outlines.

Lam_3:31-33. Afflictions not accidental. This apparent contradiction between the Divine compassion and our human griefs, between what we desire and need and what we feel to be real, is to-day what it has been from the beginning, the standing problem, the bitter tragedy of human life. It has but one solution. There is a mischief in man’s nature producing discord in his condition, begetting the necessity and the mercy of a Divine chastening; and this, both in the end it contemplates and in the methods it employs, is a providence of compassion. I. The fact that grief is the heritage of man. Life is still the natural history of sorrow—man’s life the bitterest of all. There are troubles that belong to the lot of individual man, and in this form they are the impartial inheritance of the race. There are troubles which afflict the community, which fall upon the mass in its aggregation of families, neighbourhoods, communities, and nations. The great and good, the beautiful and the wise, the aged and the young, all races and all conditions of men, have gone down under this terrible Euroclydon of grief. These facts are a difficulty to the Christian philosopher, but they are equally so to the sceptic. II. Divine compassion in its relation to suffering.

1. All human suffering comes within the foreknowledge and is under the control of God.

2. Many of our troubles, probably most of them, have their causes in ourselves.

3. There are troubles and afflictions, and these not few, which we must consider only as the punishment of sin. Strife is the essence of sin. It is self-will pitted in avowed antagonism to God. God will not vacate His sovereignty because man rebels. He cannot be defeated or bribed, or bought off from His purpose, even by prayer. The bitter, bitter cup must be drunk; the chastisement must come. But with all this, there comes also the presence of an infinite compassion. He succours His children while the law oppresses them. He delivers them speedily when its mission is accomplished.—J. Burton.

Lam_3:32-33. God the consolation of the afflicted. I. A revealed fact. “God doth not willingly afflict the children of men.” This fact rests upon another fact—the teaching of Scripture regarding the providence of God. A particular and special providence is the sole ground of prayer; prayer being the basis of all true religion. When the mind dwells upon the special providence of God, it learns the more difficult task of submitting to all afflictive dispensations with thanksgiving. II. The passage appears to stand opposed to the omnipotence of God. God is Almighty, but He has willed to set limits to the exercise of His omnipotence. He abides by the laws He has himself enacted. The law connects life and happiness with obedience. But the law would cease to exist if life and happiness were dispensed also to the disobedient. The law was magnified when God Himself, in the person of His Son, yielded obedience to it. God will not by His omnipotence overrule or supersede the freedom of the human will. If we be not true to ourselves, He will at length, after trial, leave us to our own devices. It is an awful thought that a man may outlive the day of grace. He may remain a thing upon earth to subserve some purpose in the providence of God, but as a person his trial may have ceased. If one of the purposes of affliction is to correct and amend us, one of the means of avoiding affliction must be to endeavour to shape our lives according to the law of God. When afflictions do come, it is an ineffable consolation to be assured all things are ordered by God for our good. III. The histories of good men illustrate the truth of the text. We learn why afflictions were imposed upon them. Study the lives of Jacob, Joseph, David, Job, and Christ.—W. F. Hook, D.D.

ILLUSTRATIONS.—Chastisement a proof of God’s tenderness. It is true to be struck once in anger is fearful. God’s displeasure is more than His blow. Fear not; these stripes are the tokens of His love. He is no son that is not beaten, yea, till he smart and cry, if not till he bleed. No parent corrects another’s child; and he is no good parent that corrects not his own. O rod worthy to be kissed, that assures us of His love, of our adoption!—Bp. Hall.

“Heaven is not always angry when He strikes,

But most chastises those whom most He likes.”—Pomfret.

Affliction God’s messenger. Luther used to say there were many of the Psalms he could never understand till he had been afflicted. Rutherford declared he had got a new Bible through the furnace. Hard weather tries what health we have; afflictions try what sap we have, what grace we have. Withered leaves soon fall off in windy weather; rotten boughs quickly break with heavy weights.

Afflictions overruled. Artists and composers have often been helped in their studies by their physical infirmities. Bach’s blindness, Beethoven’s deafness, making society and social distractions almost impossible, drove them in upon their own genius, and compelled them to listen to the voice of God within them. Some beauties of character and achievement can only be secured by retirement and solitude, and affliction often compels to this.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:31 Cp. Ps 103:8-11.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

True repentance is never without hope (Psa 94:14).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 31. The Lord] אדני Adonai; but one of my ancient MSS. has יהוה Jehovah. The above verse is quoted in reference to our Lord's passion, by Mt 26:62.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

It is certain that there will be no patience, except there be hope, as it has already appeared. As, then, patience cherishes hope, so hope is the foundation of patience; and hence consolation is, according to Paul, connected with patience. (Romans 15:4.) And this is the doctrine which the Prophet now handles, — that the faithful bear the yoke with meek and calm minds, because they believe that God will at length be propitious to them: hence also arises patience; for the faithful are persuaded that all adversities are temporary, and that there will be a happy end, because God will at length be reconciled to them, though he gives them new evidences of his wrath. The rest to-morrow.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(31) For the Lord . . .—The counsels of submission are followed by the grounds of hope. The first, a quotation from Psa_77:7, had been of old a favourite thought of the writer’s (Jer_3:5; Jer_3:12). The second (Lam_3:32) rests on the fact that compassion underlies chastisement (Psa_30:5; Job_5:18; Isa_54:8); the third (Lam_3:33) on the truth that the primary eternal will of God is on the side of love, and that punishment is, as it were, against that will.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31. Cp. Psa_30:5 (with mg.), Psa_77:7 ff., Psa_103:9; Isa_57:16; Mic_7:18.

31–33. This group contains the three thoughts which produce the resignation, (a) because punishment will be only for a time (cp. Isa_54:8), (b) because God is by nature merciful, (c) because even in punishment it is in no angry or vindictive spirit that God acts.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For he doth not afflict willingly,.... Or, "from his heart" (e); he does afflict; for all afflictions are from God, but they do not come from the mere motion of his heart, or are the effects of his sovereign will and pleasure, as the good things he bestows upon his people do, without any respect to any cause or occasion in them; but sin is the cause and occasion of these, as Jarchi well observes: it is with reluctance the Lord afflicts his people; he is as it were forced to it, speaking after the manner of men; see Hos 11:8; he does not do it with delight and pleasure; he delights in mercy, but judgment is his strange act; nor does he do it with all his heart and soul, with all his might and strength; he does not stir up all his wrath: for then the spirit would fail before him, and the souls that he has made; and especially he does not do it out of ill will, but in love, and for their good:

nor grieve the children of men: that is, he does not from his heart, or willingly, grieve the children of men, by, afflicting them; which must be understood of those sons of men whom he has loved, and made his sons and heirs; those sons of men that wisdom's delights were with from everlasting, Pro 8:31.

(e) "ex corde suo", Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Reasons for the resignation urged in the previous triplet.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

This is that which beareth up his spirits, that though the Lord may for a time estrange himself from his people, yet he will not always forsake them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 31-33. Two grounds of comfort:

(1) the trouble is only for a time, and God will have compassion again (vers. 31, 32); and

(2) God does not afflict in a malicious spirit (ver. 33).

Vers. 31-33. Chastisement only for a season.

I THE FACT THAT CHASTISEMENT IS ONLY FOR A SEASON. God does "cast off" and "cause grief." His love does not nullify his wrath. When grieved and disowned by God the soul feels utterly desolate. But the terrible judgment is only for a season. It will end in reconciliation and compassion. This great truth gives an entirely new complexion to our views of life and providence. We see at times the severe side. But we misjudge if we take that as a sample of the whole. Indeed the very severity prepares the way for mercy; for God can show compassion after chastisement to a degree that would not be good before the wholesome discipline. The sunshine, which would wither the plants before the storm, coming after it helps them to grow and flourish on the water it has brought to their roots.

1. This fact is no ground for reckless indifference. For

a. the wrath is terrible enough while it lasts;

b. it must endure as long as impenitent guilt is persisted in; and

c. sin that presumes on mercy is the most gross and culpable ingratitude.

2. This fact should be a consolation in trouble. Hope may buoy up the sufferer. And resort "may be had to prayer. It seems as though the soul were abandoned. But if God has not cast it off forever, he must still feel interest in it, and may therefore be appealed to for mercy.

3. This fact is an encouragement to repentance. Endless punishment discourages repentance. It acts in the opposite way from that of all useful punishment. It tends to confirm sin. It is the prospect of mercy that. softens the heart and prompts feelings of penitence.

II THE REASON WHY CHASTISEMENT IS ONLY FOR A SEASON. This reason is to be found in the character of God. "He doth not afflict willingly," or rather, "from his heart." There is an essential difference Between chastisement and mercy. Chastisement is necessary and sent reluctantly, but mercy springs from the heart of God and is given willingly. That is a false and libellous representation of God, according to which the theologian describes the outpouring of Divine wrath as though there were a real satisfaction to God in the process of causing pain to his creatures. The description of everlasting perdition as given to lost souls with a flood of wrath is more like the action of a malignant demon than that of a merciful God. It is sometimes so spoken of as though every attribute in God but mercy were eternal. Truth, justice, holiness, wrath, vengeance, are to endure forever. Only mercy has its day. Only this one grace is short-lived and soon to be exhausted. The calumny is a direct contradiction to Scripture, which teaches over and over again that the mercy of the Lord endureth forever. This attribute at least is eternal. This one springs most directly from the heart of God; for it is the fruit of love. While we say God is angry at times, we do not say God is anger, Because anger is not of the essential nature of God. But we do say, not only God loves, but God is love. But it may be said, if God does not afflict "from his heart," why does he afflict at all? It must be because the circumstances of his children make it necessary. He does it not for his own sake. Then he must do it for their sakes. Seeing, however, that the chastisement is not agreeable to them, there must be some object in it, some result of it by which they are to profit. It must, therefore, cease in due time, that it may give place to that happy result.

Vers. 31-33. Divine benignity.

It required great faith on the part of Jeremiah and his countrymen to think and to speak thus of God. It was easy for them to believe in the justice and in the power of God; their own affliction witnessed to these attributes. But it was a triumph of faith for those so afflicted to acknowledge the kindness and compassion of the supreme Ruler.

I IT IS NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH GOD"S GOODNESS TO AFFLICT MEN. He "causes grief." His providence appoints that human life should be largely a discipline of affliction, that human transgressions should be followed by chastisement. The Scriptures teach us that we may look all the stern and terrible facts of human life full in the face, and yet retain our confidence in the infinite kindness of the Divine Ruler.

II GOD OBSERVES A LIMIT IN AFFLICTING HIS PEOPLE. His chastening is for a time. He will not always chide. He will not cast off forever. For it is not implacable revenge, it is fatherly discipline, which accounts for human griefs.

III COMPASSION AND MERCY ARE DISCERNIBLE BENEATH DIVINE CHASTENING. It is benignity which delivers the children of men from the waters, so that they are not overwhelmed; from the flames, so that they are not consumed. But it is benignity also (although this is a hard lesson for the afflicted, and a hard lesson for the philosopher of this world) which appoints affliction and chastening. God does not allow our sufferings willingly, i.e. from his heart, as delighting in them. It is not for his pleasure, but for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. And herein we see, not only the highest wisdom, but the purest love. T.

Vers. 31-33. God"s good purposes in causing pain.

All this is the language of hope and continues naturally what is said in vers. 21 and 24. The existence of present trouble presses upon the heart, but along with it there is the confident assurance of future deliverance. Observe, then, certain admissions, along with the cheering qualifications which accompany them.

I THE LORD CASTS OFF. There is a discontinuance of the signs of his presence. Enemies get their own way, and, worst of all, the prophets find no vision from the Lord. He is not towards Israel as he used to be. But then, what a qualification comes in! Not forever. Indeed, the casting off only emphasizes the bringing back. The casting off must not be taken too literally. God does not cast off as men do. They cast off and do not wish to bring back, or, if they so wish, they find they are not able. When God casts off, though there is a feeling of separation, and something is lost that is not to be gained by any effort, still the truth remains that in God even the castaway lives and moves and has his being. God casts men off, as it were, that they may realize their weakness and true state, and then, when they make the full discovery, God"s hand is stretched out to restore.

II THE LORD CAUSES GRIEF. Great grief, pain of body and pain of heart, must have come from the casting off. And it is of no use to make nice distinctions between God causing pain and permitting pain. Really we do not know much about the causes of pain, and it may be that we attribute to God much that we ourselves produce. The one clear thing is that God shows forth a multitude of mercies. To most of us a multitude of mercies came before there were any pains at all, and the mercies remain through the pains, even though at times they be greatly eclipsed. We may be wrong in attributing the infliction of pain to God, hampered as we too often are by the conceptions of earlier ages. But we can never be wrong in glorifying God for the multitude of his mercies, We may spoil and misuse the mercies and thus make pain, but the mercies we could not get for ourselves. Our very wrong doing makes fresh mercies to arise in view. They are many, and each one of them is a great deep of love and wisdom.

III THE LORD AFFLICTS THE CHILDREN OF MEN. This is but saying what is already said. The new thing is the qualification. He does not do it willingly. The distinction is plain between injury inflicted with malice and injury inflicted with reluctance. There have been, and, alas! there still are, too many who put all their heart into the hurting of others. Their very end is to cause pain; whereas the end God has in view is to remove the causes of pain. The surgeon does not inflict pain willingly he inflicts it because he cannot help it; and thus he welcomes and utilizes to the full the agent which brings unconsciousness while he performs his operation. Y.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For the Lord will not cast [him] off forever It is therefore good to wait.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.