3
The Prophet’s Anguish and Hope
1I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.
2He has led me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
3Surely He has turned His hand against me
Time and time again throughout the day.
4He has aged #Job 16:8my flesh and my skin,
And #Ps. 51:8; Is. 38:13broken my bones.
5He has besieged me
And surrounded me with bitterness and woe.
6#(Ps. 88:5, 6; 143:3)He has set me in dark places
Like the dead of long ago.
7#Job 3:23; 19:8; Hos. 2:6He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;
He has made my chain heavy.
8Even #Job 30:20; Ps. 22:2when I cry and shout,
He shuts out my prayer.
9He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10#Is. 38:13He has been to me a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in ambush.
11He has turned aside my ways and #Job 16:12, 13; Jer. 15:3; Hos. 6:1torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12He has bent His bow
And #Job 7:20; 16:12; Ps. 38:2set me up as a target for the arrow.
13He has caused #Job 6:4the arrows of His quiver
To pierce my loins.
14I have become the #Ps. 22:6, 7; 123:4; Jer. 20:7ridicule of all my people—
#Job 30:9; Ps. 69:12; Lam. 3:63Their taunting song all the day.
15#Jer. 9:15He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drink wormwood.
16He has also broken my teeth #(Prov. 20:17)with gravel,
And covered me with ashes.
17You have moved my soul far from peace;
I have forgotten prosperity.
18#Ps. 31:22And I said, “My strength and my hope
Have perished from the Lord.”
19Remember my affliction and roaming,
#Jer. 9:15; Lam. 3:5, 15The wormwood and the gall.
20My soul still remembers
And sinks within me.
21This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have #Ps. 130:7hope.
22#(Mal. 3:6)Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions #Ps. 78:38; (Jer. 3:12; 30:11)fail not.
23They are new #Is. 33:2; Zeph. 3:5every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24“The Lord is my #Ps. 16:5; 73:26; 119:57; Jer. 10:16portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I #Jer. 17:17; Mic. 7:7hope in Him!”
25The Lord is good to those who #Ps. 130:6; Is. 30:18wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26It is good that one should #(Rom. 4:16–18)hope #Ex. 14:13; Ps. 37:7; Is. 7:4and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
27#Ps. 94:12It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
28#Jer. 15:17Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him;
29#Job 42:6Let him put his mouth in the dust—
There may yet be hope.
30#Job 16:10; Is. 50:6; (Matt. 5:39; 26:67); Mark 14:65; Luke 22:63Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.
31#Ps. 77:7; 94:14; (Is. 54:7–10)For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
33For #(Ps. 119:67, 71, 75; Is. 28:21; Ezek. 33:11; Heb. 12:10)He does not afflict willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.
34To crush under one’s feet
All the prisoners of the earth,
35To turn aside the justice due a man
Before the face of the Most High,
36Or subvert a man in his cause—
#(Jer. 22:3; Hab. 1:13)The Lord does not approve.
37Who is he #(Ps. 33:9–11)who speaks and it comes to pass,
When the Lord has not commanded it?
38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That #Job 2:10; (Is. 45:7); Jer. 32:42; Amos 3:6; (James 3:10, 11)woe and well-being proceed?
39#Prov. 19:3Why should a living man complain,
#Jer. 30:15; Mic. 7:9; (Heb. 12:5, 6)A man for the punishment of his sins?
40Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn back to the Lord;
41#Ps. 86:4Let us lift our hearts and hands
To God in heaven.
42#Neh. 9:26; Jer. 14:20; Dan. 9:5We have transgressed and rebelled;
You have not pardoned.
43You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and not pitied.
44You have covered Yourself with a cloud,
That prayer should not pass through.
45You have made us an #1 Cor. 4:13offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
46#Job 30:9, 10; Ps. 22:6–8; Lam. 2:16All our enemies
Have opened their mouths against us.
47#Is. 24:17, 18; Jer. 48:43, 44Fear and a snare have come upon us,
#Is. 51:19Desolation and destruction.
48#Jer. 4:19; 14:17; Lam. 2:11My eyes overflow with rivers of water
For the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49#Ps. 77:2; Jer. 14:17My eyes flow and do not cease,
Without interruption,
50Till the Lord from heaven
#Ps. 80:14; Is. 63:15; Lam. 5:1Looks down and sees.
51My eyes bring suffering to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52My enemies #Ps. 35:7, 19without cause
Hunted me down like a bird.
53They silenced my life #Jer. 37:16in the pit
And #Dan. 6:17threw stones at me.
54#Ps. 69:2; Jon. 2:3–5The waters flowed over my head;
#Is. 38:10I said, “I am cut off!”
55#Ps. 130:1; Jon. 2:2I called on Your name, O Lord,
From the lowest #Jer. 38:6–13pit.
56#Ps. 3:4You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear
From my sighing, from my cry for help.”
57You #James 4:8drew near on the day I called on You,
And said, #Is. 41:10, 14; Dan. 10:12“Do not fear!”
58O Lord, You have #Ps. 35:1; Jer. 51:36pleaded the case for my soul;
#Ps. 71:23You have redeemed my life.
59O Lord, You have seen how I am wronged;
#Ps. 9:4Judge my case.
60You have seen all their vengeance,
All their #Jer. 11:19schemes against me.
61You have heard their reproach, O Lord,
All their schemes against me,
62The lips of my enemies
And their whispering against me all the day.
63Look at their #Ps. 139:2sitting down and their rising up;
I am their taunting song.
64#Ps. 28:4; Jer. 11:20; 2 Tim. 4:14Repay them, O Lord,
According to the work of their hands.
65Give them a veiled heart;
Your curse be upon them!
66In Your anger,
Pursue and destroy them
#Deut. 25:19; Jer. 10:11From under the heavens of the #Ps. 8:3Lord.
