His Hand Against Me Lamentations 3:3

As Jeremiah describes the way he experienced the devastation of Jerusalem, he wrote of affliction, the rod of God's wrath, being led into darkness and not into light. In chapter three and verse three, Jeremiah assesses the LORD's position against him where we read:

Surely against me is he turned; he turns his hand against me all the day.

The verse begins, “Surely against me is he turned;” Jeremiah feels as though God “turned” “against” him. We can imagine why Jeremiah would feel this way. The idea is that at one time Jeremiah felt that God was with him, alongside of him, and now His back is turned. No longer was the LORD by his side, but was as an enemy to him.

The verse goes on to say, “he turns his hand against me all the day.” Not only was Jeremiah feeling that the LORD was “against” him, he also felt that God's “hand” or “mighty hand” was “against” him all day long. In other words there was no letting up of the affliction of the LORD. When God's hand was and is for someone, they have it made, but when His hand is against them, there is woe indeed. This is the way Jeremiah felt.

It is interesting as we go through this chapter to note the comparisons with Jesus Christ as He endured the suffering of persecution and eventual death on the cross. Jesus endured affliction, felt the rod of God's wrath, was led into darkness and not into light. He experienced God the Father turning His back upon Him, and that day it was as though God's hand was against Him. As we think about his verse, we should understand that the Messiah Jesus already endured a much greater degree of God against Him than any experience in which we assess that God's back is turned and His hand is against us. May the Lord help us keep in mind what the writer of the book of Hebrews said in chapter four and verse fifteen:

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Next time we see how these things affected Jeremiah's body, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

 

Until tomorrow...there is more...

 

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