3:1ff In Jeremiah’s darkest moment, his hope was strengthened with this assurance: God had been faithful and would continue to be faithful. Jeremiah saw both God’s judgment and God’s steadfast love. In the time of judgment, Jeremiah could still cling to God’s love, just as in times of prosperity he had warned of God’s judgment.
3:1ff In the original Hebrew, the first four chapters in Lamentations are acrostic poems. Each verse in each chapter begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter 3 has 66 verses rather than 22 because it is a triple acrostic: The first three verses begin with the equivalent of A, the next three with B, and so on. This was a typical form of Hebrew poetry. Other examples of acrostics are Psalms 37, 119, and 145, and Proverbs 31:10-31.
3:21-23 Jeremiah saw one ray of hope in all the sin and sorrow surrounding him: God’s compassions fail not. Compassion is love in action. God willingly responds with help when we ask. Perhaps there is some sin in your life that you thought God would not forgive. God’s compassion is greater than any sin, and he promises forgiveness.
3:23 Jeremiah knew from personal experience about God’s faithfulness. God had promised that punishment would follow disobedience, and it did. But God also had promised future restoration and blessing, and Jeremiah knew that God would keep that promise also. Trusting in God’s faithfulness day by day makes us confident in his great promises for the future.
3:27-33 To “bear the yoke” means to willingly come under God’s discipline and learn what he wants to teach. This involves several important factors: (1) silent reflection on what God wants, (2) repentant humility, (3) self-control in the face of adversity, and (4) confident patience, depending on the divine Teacher to bring about loving lessons in our lives. God has several long-term and short-term lessons for you right now. Are you doing your homework?
3:30 This call to “turn the other cheek” reminds us that sometimes God calls us to suffer criticism and abuse for his purposes. Jesus taught his followers to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39), and he exemplified this at the highest level just before his crucifixion (Matthew 27:27-31; Luke 22:64; John 18:22; 19:3). This, however, should never be used to justify anyone’s continued suffering of spousal or any other kind of abuse.
3:39-42 Parents discipline children to produce right behavior. God disciplined Judah to produce right living and genuine worship. We must not complain about corrective or instructive discipline in our lives but learn from it, trusting God and being willing to change. We must allow God’s correction to bring about the kind of behavior in our lives that pleases him.
3:52-57 At one point in his ministry, Jeremiah was thrown into an empty cistern that was used as a dungeon, and he was left to die in the mire at the bottom (Jeremiah 38:6-13). But God rescued him. Jeremiah used this experience as a picture of the nation sinking into sin. If they turned to God, he would rescue them.