Who is the “man that hath seen affliction” at the start of this passage?

The “man that hath seen affliction” is the prophet speaking in a very personal way. He has gone through deep suffering as part of God’s judgment on his people. He has felt God’s hand heavy on him, like being led into darkness, trapped, and attacked. He speaks as someone who has carried the pain of his own trials and also the sorrow of his nation. In his words you hear both his personal story and the shared grief of God’s people.

What does it mean that God’s mercies are new every morning?

When the writer says God’s mercies are new every morning, he is not talking about an easy life. He has just described terrible pain, bitterness, and the feeling that his hope has died. Yet he remembers that they are not completely destroyed, and that is only because God still shows mercy. “New every morning” means God keeps on giving fresh compassion day by day. Even when yesterday was full of tears, each new day is another chance to receive help from him.

Why does the writer say God has shut out his prayer?

The writer says, “when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer,” to describe how it feels when he prays and nothing seems to change. In his experience, it is like God has put a wall between them so his prayers cannot get through. This is a common feeling in hard times, when answers are delayed. The passage does not end there, though. Later he says, “Thou hast heard my voice,” showing that even when God seems silent for a time, he still hears and can draw near again.

What does “great is thy faithfulness” mean in this passage?

“Great is thy faithfulness” comes right after a long section of grief. The writer has felt old, broken, trapped, mocked, and without peace. Then he remembers God’s character. God does not let his people be completely consumed. His compassions do not fail. To say “great is thy faithfulness” is to admit that, despite all the pain and deserved discipline for sin, God still keeps his promises, still preserves a remnant, and still offers hope to those who turn back to him.

How should a person “hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord”?

To hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord means choosing to trust God’s help while staying humble and patient under his hand. The writer talks about bearing the yoke in youth, sitting alone in silence, putting his mouth in the dust, and even giving his cheek to those who strike him. This shows a heart that stops fighting against God, accepts his discipline, and keeps looking to him. It is not noisy or demanding, but a steady, quiet trust that God will act in his time.

What does this passage teach about why God allows affliction?

The passage shows that God’s hand in affliction is real, but it also says, “he doth not afflict willingly.” God does not enjoy hurting people. The suffering described comes because of sin and rebellion, and it acts as chastening. It is meant to correct, not to destroy. The writer admits, “We have transgressed and have rebelled,” and then calls people to search and try their ways and turn again to the Lord. Affliction becomes a severe but loving tool that leads to repentance and renewed mercy.

Why does the writer ask, “Why doth a living man complain”?

When he says, “Why doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?” he is reminding himself and others that even in hard judgment, they are still alive. They have not been wiped out, which itself is mercy. Instead of endless complaining, they should see their suffering as connected to their sins and respond with self-examination and turning back to God. The point is not to deny the pain, but to move from grumbling to honest repentance and renewed trust.

How does this passage move from despair to hope?

At first the writer feels completely crushed. He says God has broken his bones, shut out his prayer, and made him forget what peace feels like. He thinks his strength and hope are gone. The turning point comes when he chooses to remember: his affliction humbles him, but then he recalls God’s mercy, compassion, and faithfulness. From there he can say, “The Lord is my portion… therefore will I hope in him.” The outward trouble does not vanish, but inside, despair gives way to quiet hope.

What does this passage teach about prayer in dark times?

This passage shows that prayer in dark times is often messy and honest. The writer cries out, feels ignored, and even says God has covered himself with a cloud so that prayer cannot pass through. Yet he keeps calling on God’s name, even “out of the low dungeon.” Later he can say, “Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.” So the lesson is that you may feel blocked and unheard, but you should still keep praying. In time God can draw near and answer.

Lam.3.1

Lamentations 3:1

KJV

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

The Prophet’s Afflictions

1 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

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

4 My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.

5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.

7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

8 Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.

9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.

11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.

12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.

13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

14 I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.

15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.

16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.

17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.

18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord:

The Prophet’s Hope

19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.

20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.

21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

22 ¶ It is of the Lord’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.

29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.

30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.

31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever:

32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.

33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,

35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,

36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.

God’s Justice

37 ¶ Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?

38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?

39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.

41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.

42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.

43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.

44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.

45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.

46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.

48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission,

50 Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven.

51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.

52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.

53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.

54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.

55 ¶ I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon.

56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.

57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.

58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.

59 O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.

60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.

61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, and all their imaginations against me;

62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.

63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick.

64 ¶ Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.

65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.

66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord.

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.