I am the man who has seen affliction
by the rod of his wrath.
He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness rather than light;
indeed, he has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long…
He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness and hardship.
He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.
He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
he has weighed me down with chains.
Even when I call out or cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer.
He has barred my way with blocks of
stone;
he has made my paths crooked…
he dragged me from the path and mangled me
and left me without help.
He drew his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.
He pierced my heart
with arrows from his quiver.
I became the laughingstock of all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.
He has filled me with bitter herbs
and sated me with gall.
He has broken my teeth with gravel;
he has trampled me in the dust.
I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
So I say, "My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the
LORD."
I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me…
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not
consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in
him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
Let him sit alone in silence,
for the LORD has laid it on him.
Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
Let him offer his cheek to one who would
strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.
For men are not cast off
by the Lord forever.
Though
he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
For
he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to the children of men…
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?
Why
should any living man complain
when punished for his sins?
Let us examine our ways and test
them,
and let us return to the LORD.
Let
us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven, and say:
"We
have sinned and rebelled
and you have not forgiven.
"You
have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;
you have slain without pity.
You
have covered yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.
You have made us scum and refuse
among the nations…
My
eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,
until
the LORD looks down
from heaven and sees…
I called on your name, O LORD,
from the depths of the pit.
You heard my plea: "Do not close
your ears
to my cry for relief."
You
came near when I called you,
and you said, "Do not
fear."
O Lord, you took up my case;
you redeemed my life.
You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done
to me.
Uphold my cause!…
Pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under the heavens of the LORD.
~ The Weeping Prophet
