Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Lamentations 3:38
Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?
38. Cp. Isa 45:7; Amo 3:6.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
In the Hebrew the form of these words is interrogatory, as much as if he should say, Doth not evil come out of Gods mouth from his direction and command, and from his providence, as well as good? He speaks of evils of punishment, judicial afflictive dispensations; so it agreeth with Job 2:10; Amo 3:6. It is no reproach unto God to make him the author of his own punishments, though we call them evil.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
38. evil . . . goodCalamityand prosperity alike proceed from God (Job 2:10;Isa 45:7; Amo 3:6).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Out of the mouth of the most High proceed not evil and good?] Certainly they do; they come to pass, both one and the other, as God has pronounced, and his will determined; even “evils”, as it is in the plural number; not the evil of sin, or of fault; this comes not out of the mouth of God, but is forbidden and condemned by him; much less is he the author of it, or tempter to it; indeed it is not without his knowledge, nor in some sense without his will; not with his will of approbation, but by his permissive will, which he suffers to be, and overrules for good; but evils here design the judgments of God, or punishment inflicted on sinners, and chastisement on his own people; the evil of affliction, or adverse dispensations of providence,
Isa 45:7; they are all by his appointment; he has said or determined what shall be the kind and nature of them; the measure, how far they shall go; and the duration, how long they shall last; and the end and use of them; see Job 2:10; and so all good comes from God, who is goodness itself; all created good, as every creature of God is good; every good thing in providence; all temporal good things; as to have a being; to be preserved in it; to have a habitation to dwell in; to have food and raiment, health and long life; these are all by the appointment of God, and according to the determination of his will: all spiritual good things are purposed, promised, and prepared by him in council and covenant; the great good of all, salvation by Christ; this is what God has appointed his son far, and his people to, and fixed the time of it, and all things relating to it; the effectual calling of the redeemed ones is according to his purpose and grace; the persons, thing itself, time, place, and means; also eternal glory and happiness, which is the kingdom prepared, the crown laid up, and inheritance reserved in heaven, according to the purpose of God; all good things, in time and eternity, are as God has pronounced them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Prophet says that from the mouth of the most High proceed good and evil By “mouth” he means his decree. God indeed does not always declare that he is a judge; he has often executed punishment on the wicked, as it were, in silence; for there were no prophets among the heathens to proclaim the judgments he brought on them. But though God does not always speak when he punishes the wickedness of men, it is yet said that good and evil proceed from his mouth; because he allots to men their punishment as it seems good to him; and then he spares others or bears with them for a time. It follows, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Lam 3:38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?
Ver. 38. Out of the mouth of the Most High proceedeth not evil and good? ] i.e., Prosperity and adversity; q.d., Who doubteth of that? Amo 3:5 Isa 45:7 Talk not then of fate and blind fortune.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job 2:10, Psa 75:7, Pro 29:26, Isa 45:7, Amo 3:6
Reciprocal: Gen 1:31 – very good 2Sa 16:10 – so let him Neh 4:15 – God Job 1:21 – the Lord gave Job 5:6 – trouble Job 20:29 – appointed unto him by God Psa 62:1 – my soul Ecc 9:11 – but Jer 44:28 – shall know Dan 4:34 – the most High Dan 5:18 – the most Eph 1:9 – purposed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THROUGH REPENTANCE TO FAITH
Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good? Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.
Lam 3:38-40
Nothing could be more dismal than the opening of this third lament over the ruin which had befallen the Holy City, and the dire calamities which had overtaken her people; but there is some radiant shining at the heart of it. The author sings from the heart of a fiery experience of his own, as well as that which he has shared with his nation. He has been through deep waters. He has seen affliction and walked in darkness. He comprehends the depths, if not the heights, of human experience, and yet he has kept the faith. He can still declare that the Lord is his portion, and that his mercies are a multitude, new every morning.
Is God the Father of my poor sisters in Whitechapel? a woman once asked, whose heart had been torn by the daily sight of her sisters anguish. Certainly He is, we must believe, or the world would go to pieces for our poor sisters in Whitechapel, aye, and for all of us. But if we have taken a light, skimming view of life, if we have lived where it is always afternoon, it become us to be silent, or to speak only in the name of those who have faced the sternest realities, and have yet believed. The Hebrew singer is one with the great prophets in this, that he is in no confusion about the source and meaning of Israels trouble. He does not find the good hand of God in His deliverances alone. There is mercy even in the exile; in the sweeping disasters which have overtaken the nation. He Who has been with His people in the calm is with them in the storm. Nay, He creates the storm, causes the grief, and the living man has no ground of complaint though he be punished for his sins, for the wages of sin is death, and it is of the Lords mercies that he is not consumed.
I. And here is the key to the mans faith.These are not songs of sorrow alone; they are songs of confession and repentance, and therefore of hope. Here are the Jews in Babylon, far away from the city they love. Their hearts are broken and their eyes are dimmed with tears; but they are tears of remorse leading to a searching of heart and a trying of their ways. The author would have them believe that exile is the outcome of their sin. It is not faithfulness that has compassed their downfall. The Lord has afflicted Zion not willingly, but for the multitude of her transgressions.
There is some suffering, it does not need to be said, that is not for punishment. The sharpest pang of the singer as he thinks of the miseries of Israel comes from the cry of suffering children. Some of the noblest and saintliest lives have been shaped in affliction. It is the accent of self-righteousness that finds in all your suffering the punishment of sin. A man whose heart has never been broken should have little to say to another man of his sins. And yet, surely, no man need ask why he suffers. If you have sinned, your own heart will tell you plainly what is the sin for which you suffer. If you have not sinned, you will have something still to do with your sorrow. There were some devout Jews who were not the cause of Israels exile, and they too had lessons to learn which have enriched all posterity. But the lesson for all of us is this: that transgression leads to exile; that the broad way narrows; that to the man who persists in sin there must come a day when he will be confronted by fearful threatenings and apprehensions, and when the judgments of the Most High will breathe within him their Divine protest against his sin. Oh, listen! there is suffering which is for sin. This man is speaking of facts; addressing living men, conscious of grievous wrongdoing, bidding them take all the punishment honestly and humbly, and count it a mercy new every morning that a throbbing heart and beating pulse are Gods assurance that He will have compassion, if they will return to the Lord.
II. The one hope of our coming to this faith in His compassions is in confession and repentance.The Gospel of forgiveness and peace will never find the man who does not know the bitterness and guilt of sin. The experiences we have with conscience are to produce in us that godly sorrow which worketh repentance unto salvation. This, indeed, is the Gospel for all of us. Whatever be our trouble, repentance is our first need. You may not be able to trace your sorrow to any particular sin. It may not be due to any sin of yours at all; but I tell you, the one spirit to which Gods reason for causing any grief is never revealed, is the spirit that has not known, and will not know repentance. Who are we, the best of us, to say that this or that trial of life has nothing to do with our sin?
I would not dare to pass judgment upon you. No man has a right to cast the stone of condemnation unless he be without sin; but for myself, when the iron has entered my soul, and it shall come my turn to stand in the darkness, may I have the humility to search and test my ways and turn to the Lord! It is only to the penitent soul that the secret of the Lords compassions can be revealed.
Illustration
When Jeremiah says, Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord; let us lift up our hearts with our hands unto God in the heavens, he reminds us of the proper method to be observed in prayer, namely, sincere confession of sin and repentance must precede our petitions. For we know that God does not hear impenitent sinners (St. Joh 9:31). This method God Himself also has taught us to observe, since He says in Isa 1:15, If ye make many prayers, I will not hear you. Why! For your hands are full of blood. But He immediately adds good counsel: Wash and make yourselves clean, put away your evil doings from before Mine eyes, then come, and let us reason together.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Lam 3:38. Evil and good. The thought will be grasped if the con-junction is given the emphasis. God does not act inconsistently, so if his children deserve euil (meaning un-pleasant experiences) for purposes of chastisement, they are not given the good or pleasant, for that would en-courage them to go on in their evil course.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
3:38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not {s} evil and good?
(s) That is, adversity and prosperity, Amo 3:6 .