What is the meaning of Lamentations 3:38? Do not - The phrase opens with a gentle challenge, inviting reflection rather than argument. - Jeremiah frames his thought as a rhetorical question, expecting the hearer to agree. - Cross reference: Romans 9:20, “But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?”—another place where Scripture asks us to pause before resisting God’s ways. Both adversity - “Adversity” covers every painful event—national catastrophe (as in Jerusalem’s fall), personal loss, sickness, disappointment. - Scripture consistently attributes even hard providences to God’s rule: Amos 3:6, “If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?”; Job 2:10, “Shall we accept good from God, and not adversity?” - Adversity is never random; it serves God’s larger redemptive purposes (Hebrews 12:10–11). And good - Blessings flow equally from God’s hand—health, provision, protection, joy. - James 1:17 reminds us, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” - Recognizing God as the source of both hardship and blessing guards against attributing good to chance and evil to fate. Come from the mouth - “Mouth” points to God’s sovereign decree; what He speaks comes to pass (Isaiah 55:11). - Creation itself began with God’s word (Genesis 1), underscoring that every subsequent event is likewise under His spoken authority. - The same word that pronounces judgment also offers comfort (Lamentations 3:22–23). Of the Most High - The title stresses supremacy; no power rivals Him, so nothing escapes His control (Psalm 115:3). - Because He is “Most High,” His purposes in sending both adversity and good are ultimately wise, just, and loving (Deuteronomy 32:4). - His exalted position assures us that hardships are not evidence of chaos but components of a perfect plan culminating in redemption (Romans 8:28). summary Lamentations 3:38 teaches that the same sovereign God who blesses also allows—or directly sends—hardship. Both flow from His authoritative word, ensuring that neither is accidental. Acknowledging this guards us from despair in suffering and pride in prosperity, anchoring our trust in the unchanging goodness and wisdom of the Most High. |
    |