Render unto them a recompence, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.
The Prophet has rehearsed his sufferings and wrongs to move God's justice, not his own anger. He asks boldly that God repay these enemies their due, because this is God's work, to sustain the wronged cause and avenge the oppressed. Some say we must pray for enemies; true enough, but the faithful here prayed with zeal purified by the Holy Spirit, not private malice, asking judgment only on the reprobate who warred perpetually against God and His Church. The principle holds: such imprecations are lawful when the Holy Spirit governs them.
AI summary
Faith and fear wrestled in the Prophet's breast throughout this lament, but faith gets the last word. He found God heard his prayers even from the lowest dungeon; his weeping never hindered his praying. From such depths a man may find a way of access to God in the highest heavens.
AI summary
Commenting on Lamentations 3:55-66
From the lowest pit the Prophet calls on God's name; the perfect tense here means what has already happened and still continues to happen. This pit of the lower regions is the grave itself, the symbol of mortal danger, yet from it the call to God reaches upward to the highest heavens.
AI summary
Commenting on Lamentations 3:55-66