The Lord has rejected His altar; He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast.
He proceeds with the same subject, and adopts similar words. He says first, that God had abominated his altar; Our version, “cast off,” gives the real meaning of the verb. — Ed. an expression not strictly proper, but the Prophet could not otherwise fully shew to the Jews what they deserved; for had he only spoken of the city, of the lands, of the palaces...
The weight of these verses falls entirely on God's hand in the affliction. What cuts deepest is not that Jerusalem suffered, but that God made her suffer in His anger as an enemy. To those who prize His favor, His wrath is the true bitterness; His corrections in love wound most deeply because they come from Him.
AI summary
Commenting on Lamentations 2:1-9
The Lord hath cast off his altar,.... Whether of incense, or of burnt offerings; the sacrifices of which used to be acceptable to him; but now the altar being cast down and demolished, there were no more offerings; nor did he show any desire of them, but the reverse: he hath abhorred his sanctuary; the temple; by suffering it to be profaned, pulled down, and...