Lamentations 5:21

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Lamentations 5:1-22

A prayer for mercy (5:1-22)This poem was apparently written in Judah some time after the fall of Jerusalem. Only the people of no use to Babylon were left in the land, and this poem reflects the hardships they faced (cf. Jeremiah 52:16).In a plea to God for mercy, the people remind him of their present shame (5:1). Death has broken up their families, and the invaders have taken over their houses and lands (2-3). They live and work like slaves in their own country, and have to buy water from... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Lamentations 5:21

Turn Thou us. National repentance was the one abiding condition of national blessing, and this must be Jehovah's own work. unto Thee = unto Thyself. read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Lamentations 5:21-22

Lamentations 5:21-22. Renew our days, &c.— Renew our days as of old; Lamentations 5:22. After thou hast rejected us and hast been very wroth against us. Houbigant. REFLECTIONS.—1st, The prophet, in the name of his afflicted people, presents their miserable case before the God of all mercy, intreating him to regard, consider, and remove the reproach under which they groan. And no tear, no sigh of the truly sincere passes unnoticed. 1. He lays their present wretched state before God in a... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Lamentations 5:21

21. (Psalms 80:3; Jeremiah 31:18). "Restore us to favor with Thee, and so we shall be restored to our old position" [GROTIUS]. Jeremiah is not speaking of spiritual conversion, but of that outward turning whereby God receives men into His fatherly favor, manifested in bestowing prosperity [CALVIN]. Still, as Israel is a type of the Church, temporal goods typify spiritual blessings; and so the sinner may use this prayer for God to convert him. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Lamentations 5:19-22

B. A plea for restoration by Yahweh 5:19-22The writer now turned from reviewing the plight of the people to consider the greatness of their God."In Lamentations 5:19-20 the writer carefully chose his words to summarize the teaching of the entire book by using the split alphabet to convey it. Lamentations 5:19 embraces the first half of the alphabet by using the aleph word (. . . ’you’) to start the first half of the verse, and the kaph word (. . . ’throne’) to start the second half. This verse... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Lamentations 5:21

Jeremiah prayed for Yahweh’s restoration of the nation to Himself. Only His action would result in restoration. The prophet cried out for renewal of the nation to its former condition of strength and blessing."God is the only source of true revival." [Note: Price, p. 701.] read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 5:1-22

Zion’s earnest Petition for DeliveranceThis final poem is not so much an elegy as a prayer or meditation. The tone is more calm and spiritual than the others, with no trace of vindictiveness. The poet, speaking for the people, ’will have God know everything.’ Though divided into 22 vv., it is not an acrostic. Rhyme takes the place of the alphabetical structure, the poem having not less than 45 words ending in the sound u: cp. Psalms 124. Like Lamentations 4, each v. is composed of two members... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Lamentations 5:21

(21) Turn thou us . . . O Lord . . .—The answer to the problem was found in man’s submission and in prayer. He could not turn himself, and so re-establish the old filial relation. He could ask God to turn him, and he felt that the prayer would not be asked in vain. read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Lamentations 5:19-22

THE EVERLASTING THRONELamentations 5:19-22 WE have lingered long in the valley of humiliation. At the eleventh hour we are directed to look up from this scene of weary gloom to heavenly heights, radiant with sunlight. It is not by accident that the new attitude is suggested only at the very end of the last elegy. The course of the thought and the course of experience that underlies it have been preparing for the change. On entering the valley the traveller must look well to his feet; it is not... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Lamentations 5:1-22

CHAPTER 5 The Prayer of Hope The lamentations end with a prayer: “Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us; consider and behold our reproach.” It is the prayer of confession and of hope, which reaches the heart of the God of Israel. The prophet, in behalf of the nation, pours out his confession: “The crown is fallen from our head; woe unto us that we have sinned.” And there is hope in the Lord who remaineth, whose throne is from generation to generation. The prayer, “Turn Thou us unto Thee, O... read more

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