Lamentations 3:33

33 for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.

Lamentations 3:33 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 3:33

For he doth not afflict willingly
Or, "from his heart" {e}; he does afflict; for all afflictions are from God, but they do not come from the mere motion of his heart, or are the effects of his sovereign will and pleasure, as the good things he bestows upon his people do, without any respect to any cause or occasion in them; but sin is the cause and occasion of these, as Jarchi well observes: it is with reluctance the Lord afflicts his people; he is as it were forced to it, speaking after the manner of men; see ( Hosea 11:8 ) ; he does not do it with delight and pleasure; he delights in mercy, but judgment is his strange act; nor does he do it with all his heart and soul, with all his might and strength; he does not stir up all his wrath: for then the spirit would fail before him, and the souls that he has made; and especially he does not do it out of ill will, but in love, and for their good: nor grieve the children of men:
that is, he does not from his heart, or willingly, grieve the children of men, by, afflicting them; which must be understood of those sons of men whom he has loved, and made his sons and heirs; those sons of men that wisdom's delights were with from everlasting, ( Proverbs 8:31 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F5 (wblm) "ex corde suo", Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin.

Lamentations 3:33 In-Context

31 For the Lord will not reject forever.
32 Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.
34 When all the prisoners of the land are crushed under foot,
35 when human rights are perverted in the presence of the Most High,
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.