We must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought.
The Prophet here relates, that the people were denuded, that they labored under the want of water and of wood. He does not say that they were only deprived of corn and wine, he does not complain that any of their luxuries were lessened; but he mentions water and wood, the common things of life; for the use of water, as it is said, is...
In trouble, pour out your complaint before God and make it known; He sees and remembers all that befalls you. Their whole grief compressed into one word: reproach. This reproach cut deeper because it reflected on God's own honor, who had once owned them as His people.
AI summary
Commenting on Lamentations 5:1-16
We have drunken our water for money,.... They who in their own land, which was a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, had wells of water of their own, and water freely and in abundance, now were obliged to pay for it, for drink, and other uses: our wood is sold unto us; or, "comes to us by a price" (r); and...