Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Lamentations 3:44
Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that [our] prayer should not pass through.
44. That Jehovah is veiled by darkness from human eyes is a thought which frequently meets us. See 1Ki 8:12; Psa 97:2; Isa 45:15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
God had covered them with wrath, overwhelming them with afflictions. so as they had no way to escape; and whereas in this distress they had nothing else to do but only to apply themselves to God, he had hid his face from them, so as they could get no comfortable sight of him; he was as one covered with a cloud, that could not be discerned through that opacous body. What is meant by this cloud, whether his fixed resolution to punish them, or his fresh remembrance of their sins, or his just will to be revenged on them, seems too curiously inquired. The phrase is a metaphor, and signifies no more than that God would not hear their prayers in their distress.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
44. (La3:8). The “cloud” is our sins, and God’s wrath becauseof them (Isa 44:22; Isa 59:2).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud,…. With wrath and anger, as a cloud; he wrapped up himself in thick darkness, so as not to be seen or come at: sin, when it appears not pardoned, is as a cloud between God and his people; and this causes him to show his anger and displeasure; which is the cloud about him, Or the hiding of his face. The Targum is,
“thou hast covered the heavens with the clouds of thy glory:”
that [our] prayer should not pass through; in such circumstances God seems to his people to be inexorable; and not a God hearing and answering prayer, as he is; as if there was no access unto him, or audience to be had of him, or acceptance of persons and prayers with him; whereas the throne of grace is always open and accessible: and there is a new and living way for believers always to approach unto God in; he is on a mercy seat, ready to receive and hear their prayers.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Prophet confirms the same thing, but the words are different. He again repeats the word to cover; but, that the metaphor might be clearer and more fully explained, he says, with a cloud. He simply intimates, that a cloud interposed, that God might more unrestrainedly punish the Jews, as they had deserved. Isaiah speaks somewhat otherwise, but for the same purpose:
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The hand of God,” he says, “is not shortened, nor are his ears more deaf; but your sins have interposed a distance between you and God.” (Isa 59:1.)
There is no doubt but that Isaiah meant the same thing as our Prophet, even that God’s nature never changes; and, therefore, that when he seems to rage against his people, the cause ought to be ascribed to their sins, because God ever remains like himself. We know what is said in the Psalms,
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Thou art God who hearest prayer.” (Psa 65:3.)
God, then, is always ready to hear his people, and he also possesses power sufficient to help them; but the distance arises from our sins. And so the Prophet now says that a cloud interposed.
Nearly the same sentence is found in the third chapter, as we have seen; for there the Prophet said, in the name of the whole people, that they had become separated from God, but that it was a separation, not because God had changed his purpose, but because the people had, in a manner, rejected his favor. Thou hast, then, he says, covered thyself with a cloud, that is, thou hast made for thyself a covering, that prayer may not pass through. This seems, indeed, very strange, because God advances to meet all the miserable, and promises to hear their prayers: what, then, can this mean, that a cloud interposed that prayer might not go through to him? even that the Jews did not pray aright, and that they had closed up against themselves every access by which God could admit them. In short, the faithful do not here contend with God, as though they had been deceived by his promises, but confess that they were unworthy to pray to God, and they also acknowledge that they did not pray aright. (197) And according to this sense they say, that they were hindered, as though a cloud interposed, so that their prayer could not ascend to God. It follows, —
(197) There are circumstances, no doubt, according to God’s word, under which God does not hear prayer: and this seems to have been an instance of this kind. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
44. That our prayer should not pass through The cloud conceals God in the more benignant and paternal aspects of his character, and, what is more alarming and discouraging, renders him impervious to prayer.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lam 3:44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that [our] prayer should not pass through.
Ver. 44. Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud. ] Hid thy face from us, and secreted thyself as a judge doth when he hath passed sentence upon a malefactor, that he may not be solicited to reverse it.
That our prayers should not pass through.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
covered: Psa 97:2
that: Lam 3:8, Psa 80:4, Jer 14:11, Jer 15:1, Zec 7:13
Reciprocal: Job 30:20 – I cry Psa 22:2 – but Psa 102:1 – let my Lam 2:1 – covered Hos 5:6 – they Rev 10:1 – clothed Rev 15:8 – no
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lam 3:44. We are sure this is another figure of speech. The literal truth is that their prayer for escaping the captivity was not heard, and it. is represented by a cloud so dense that even sound could not penetrate it.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
The Lord had blocked Himself off from His people, as a cloud blocks the heavens, so their prayers would not affect Him.