Lamentations - The Sermon Depository

me: sacerdotes mei et seniores mei in urbe
obierunt, quia quaesierint cibum sibi et
refocillarunt (ad verbum, hoc est, ut
refocillarent) animam suam (ad verbum, ut
redire facerent, quemadmodum Gallice
dicimus, faire revenir le coeur.)
Here the people of God complain in the person of a woman, as we have
before seen, that in their calamity they were left destitute of every
comfort. And it is a circumstance which increases grief, when no one is
present to shew any kindness to the miserable; for it is no small alleviation
of sorrow, when friends offer their kind services, and as far as they can,
endeavor to mitigate the severity of the evil.
The Church of God now says, that she was so forsaken by friends as to be
left alone to pine away in her mourning and sorrow. There may, however,
be here an allusion to shameful and impure connections; for by this term,
friends, the Spirit often points out the Egyptians as well as others in
whom the Israelites had foolishly trusted; for in this manner, we know,
they had turned aside from conjugal fidelity. God had bound them to
himself, that they might acquiesce in his favor alone; and so to acquiesce
was their spiritual chastity. Rightly, then, does Scripture compare both the
Egyptians and the Assyrians to harlots, whenever the Israelites sought aid
from them. But as this explanation seems too refined, I am content to view
what is said simply as a complaint., that the people of God, though
looking in all directions, yet could find no comfort in the world. I cried, she
said, to my friends; they deceived me.
It is then added, My priests and mine elders expired in the city. Had they
been slain in battle, it would have been no wonder; for they who go against
an enemy, go as it were to meet death. But God’s people here deplore a
more grievous evil, that the priests died in the city, not through the
enemies’ sword, but through famine, which is as it were the extreme of
evils. It is then said, that the priests as well as the elders perished through
famine, because they could not find food. And when it is said that they
sought food to refresh the soul, there is a contrast to be understood
between ordinary food and a remedy for the famine; for we naturally seek
food whenever we feel hungry; but the Prophet refers here to something
more than this, even that the priests and the elders sought food, because
long abstinence urged them; and it was very sad, that the priests, who
excelled in honor, and also the elders, were thus reduced to want. Had such
a thing happened to the common people, it would not have been so
wonderful; for the long siege of the city had consumed all their provisions.
But when the priests, and those who had wealth, were thus oppressed
with hunger, we may conclude that the want which the Prophet wished to
describe was extreme. It follows, —
Lamentations 1:20
20. Behold, O Lord, for I am in
distress; my bowels are troubled:
mine heart is turned within me;
for I have greviously rebelled:
abroad the sword bereaveth, at
home there is as death.
20. Vide Jehova, quia afflictio mihi,
(vel, augustia,) viscera mea
conturbata sunt (alii, contracta;)
eversum est cor meum interme,
quia rebellando rebellavi; fris orbat
gladius, domi tanquam mors.
The people turn again to pray God: and what has been before said ought to
be remembered, that these lamentations of Jeremiah differ from the
complaints of the ungodly; because the faithful first acknowledge that they
are justly chastised by God’s hand, and secondly, they trust in his mercy
and implore his aid. For by these two marks the Church is distinguished
from the unbelieving, even by repentance and faith. To sigh and to mourn
in adversities, and to lament also their miseries, are common to both; but