Lamentations 3:5
He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
He has besieged me
The phrase "He has besieged me" evokes the imagery of a city under siege, a common occurrence in ancient times, particularly in the context of the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem. The Hebrew root word for "besieged" is "tsur," which means to bind, confine, or lay siege. This reflects the overwhelming sense of entrapment and pressure that the author, traditionally believed to be Jeremiah, feels. Historically, sieges were brutal and relentless, often leading to famine and despair. Spiritually, this can be seen as a metaphor for the soul's struggle when it feels surrounded by trials and tribulations, emphasizing the need for reliance on God's deliverance.

and surrounded me
The word "surrounded" further intensifies the feeling of entrapment. The Hebrew word "naqaph" suggests being encircled or encompassed, leaving no room for escape. This reflects the totality of the suffering experienced by the people of Jerusalem. In a spiritual sense, it can represent the believer's experience of feeling overwhelmed by life's challenges. Yet, it also serves as a reminder that God is sovereign over all circumstances, and His presence can be a source of comfort even when we feel hemmed in by difficulties.

with bitterness
"Bitterness" in Hebrew is "marah," which conveys a sense of deep sorrow and grief. This term is often associated with the taste of something unpleasant, symbolizing the emotional and spiritual anguish that accompanies suffering. In the context of Lamentations, it reflects the profound mourning over the destruction of Jerusalem and the loss of God's favor. For the believer, bitterness can be a natural response to hardship, but it also calls for a turning towards God, who can transform bitterness into hope through His grace and mercy.

and hardship
The word "hardship" is translated from the Hebrew "amal," which denotes toil, labor, and trouble. It signifies the physical and emotional strain that comes with enduring severe trials. Historically, the people of Jerusalem faced immense hardship during the siege, including starvation and violence. In a broader spiritual context, hardship is a part of the human condition, but it also serves as a crucible for faith, refining and strengthening the believer's reliance on God. The verse as a whole, while expressing deep lament, also implicitly invites the reader to seek God's presence and strength amidst life's adversities.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
Traditionally considered the author of Lamentations, Jeremiah is known as the "weeping prophet." He lamented the destruction of Jerusalem and the suffering of his people.

2. Jerusalem
The city that faced destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BC, leading to the lamentations expressed in this book.

3. Babylonian Siege
The event where the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem, leading to its eventual fall and the exile of its people.
Teaching Points
Understanding Suffering
Recognize that suffering and hardship are part of the human experience, often used by God to refine and strengthen faith.

God's Sovereignty in Trials
Even when surrounded by bitterness and hardship, trust in God's ultimate control and purpose for our lives.

Hope in Despair
Lamentations teaches us to bring our sorrows to God, knowing that He hears and cares for us even in our darkest moments.

Community in Suffering
Just as Jerusalem suffered collectively, we are called to support one another in times of trial, reflecting the body of Christ.

Perseverance and Faith
Encourage perseverance through trials, holding onto faith and the promises of God, as seen in the broader context of Lamentations 3.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the historical context of Jerusalem's siege enhance our comprehension of Lamentations 3:5?

2. In what ways can we relate the feelings of being "besieged" and "surrounded" by hardship to our personal experiences today?

3. How can the themes of Lamentations 3:5 be seen in the life and ministry of Jesus, particularly in His moments of suffering?

4. What practical steps can we take to support others who feel surrounded by bitterness and hardship, reflecting the love of Christ?

5. How do the themes of Lamentations 3:5 connect with the New Testament teachings on suffering and perseverance, and how can these connections encourage us in our faith journey?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Jeremiah 52
Provides a historical account of the fall of Jerusalem, which is the backdrop for the lamentations.

Psalm 88
Similar themes of despair and feeling surrounded by hardship, offering a parallel in the expression of deep sorrow and seeking God amidst suffering.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9
Paul speaks of being hard-pressed on every side but not crushed, offering a New Testament perspective on enduring hardship with faith.
Ecce HomoJ. Donne, D. D.Lamentations 3:1-21
Punishment Seen in the BodyJ. Udall.Lamentations 3:1-21
The Man that Hath Seen AfflictionW. F. Adeney, M. A.Lamentations 3:1-21
The Personality of SorrowJ. Parker, D. D.Lamentations 3:1-21
The Sinner's HedgesHomilistLamentations 3:1-21
People
Jeremiah
Places
Zion
Topics
Besieged, Bitter, Bitterness, Builded, Built, Compassed, Encompassed, Enveloped, Gall, Hardship, Labor, Poverty, Round, Setteth, Shutting, Sorrow, Surrounded, Toil, Travail, Tribulation, Wall, Weariness
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Lamentations 3:1-20

     5799   bitterness

Lamentations 3:1-26

     5831   depression

Library
February the Twenty-Fourth Moving Towards Daybreak
"He hath brought me into darkness, but not into light." --LAMENTATIONS iii. 1-9. But a man may be in darkness, and yet in motion toward the light. I was in the darkness of the subway, and it was close and oppressive, but I was moving toward the light and fragrance of the open country. I entered into a tunnel in the Black Country in England, but the motion was continued, and we emerged amid fields of loveliness. And therefore the great thing to remember is that God's darknesses are not His goals;
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

February the Twenty-Fifth the Fresh Eye
"His compassions fail not: they are new every morning." --LAMENTATIONS iii. 22-33. We have not to live on yesterday's manna; we can gather it fresh to-day. Compassion becomes stale when it becomes thoughtless. It is new thought that keeps our pity strong. If our perception of need can remain vivid, as vivid as though we had never seen it before, our sympathies will never fail. The fresh eye insures the sensitive heart. And our God's compassions are so new because He never becomes accustomed to
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Solitude, Silence, Submission
"He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope."--Lamentations 3:28, 29. THUS the prophet describes the conduct of a person in deep anguish of heart. When he does not know what to do, his soul, as if by instinct, humbles itself. He gets into some secret place, he utters no speech, he gives himself over to moaning and to tears, and then he bows himself lower and yet lower before the Divine Majesty, as if he felt
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 42: 1896

"And we all do Fade as a Leaf, and Our Iniquities, Like the Wind, have Taken us Away. "
Isaiah lxiv. 6.--"And we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Here they join the punishment with the deserving cause, their uncleanness and their iniquities, and so take it upon them, and subscribe to the righteousness of God's dealing. We would say this much in general--First, Nobody needeth to quarrel God for his dealing. He will always be justified when he is judged. If the Lord deal more sharply with you than with others, you may judge there is a difference
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

To the Reader. Christian Reader
To The Reader. Christian Reader, This holy preacher of the gospel had so many convictions upon his spirit of the necessity of the duties of humiliation and mourning, and of people's securing the eternal interest of their souls for the life to come, by flying into Jesus Christ for remission of sins in his blood, that he made these the very scope of his sermons in many public humiliations, as if it had been the one thing which he conceived the Lord was calling for in his days; a clear evidence whereof
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Lord is My Portion. Lam 3:24

John Newton—Olney Hymns

The Disciple, -- what is the Meaning and Purpose of the Cross...
The Disciple,--What is the meaning and purpose of the cross, and why do pain and suffering exist in the world? The Master,--1. The cross is the key to heaven. At the moment when by My baptism I took the cross upon My shoulders for the sake of sinners, heaven was opened, and by means of My thirty-three years bearing of the cross and by death upon it, heaven, which by reason of sin was closed to believers, was for ever opened to them. Now as soon as believers take up their cross and follow Me they
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

How Christ is to be Made Use of as Our Life, in Case of Heartlessness and Fainting through Discouragements.
There is another evil and distemper which believers are subject to, and that is a case of fainting through manifold discouragements, which make them so heartless that they can do nothing; yea, and to sit up, as if they were dead. The question then is, how such a soul shall make use of Christ as in the end it may be freed from that fit of fainting, and win over those discouragements: for satisfaction to which we shall, 1. Name some of those discouragements which occasion this. 2. Show what Christ
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The Practice of Piety in Glorifying God in the Time of Sickness, and when Thou Art Called to Die in the Lord.
As soon as thou perceivest thyself to be visited with any sickness, meditate with thyself: 1. That "misery cometh not forth of the dust; neither doth affliction spring out of the earth." Sickness comes not by hap or chance (as the Philistines supposed that their mice and emrods came, 1 Sam. vi. 9), but from man's wickedness, which, as sparkles, breaketh out. "Man suffereth," saith Jeremiah, "for his sins." "Fools," saith David, "by reason of their transgressions, and because of their iniquities,
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

How they are to be Admonished who Lament Sins of Deed, and those who Lament Only Sins of Thought.
(Admonition 30.) Differently to be admonished are those who deplore sins of deed, and those who deplore sins of thought. For those who deplore sins of deed are to be admonished that perfected lamentations should wash out consummated evils, lest they be bound by a greater debt of perpetrated deed than they pay in tears of satisfaction for it. For it is written, He hath given us drink in tears by measure (Ps. lxxix. 6): which means that each person's soul should in its penitence drink the tears
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

From his Entrance on the Ministry in 1815, to his Commission to Reside in Germany in 1820
1815.--After the long season of depression through which John Yeardley passed, as described in the last chapter, the new year of 1815 dawned with brightness upon his mind. He now at length saw his spiritual bonds loosed; and the extracts which follow describe his first offerings in the ministry in a simple and affecting manner. 1 mo. 5.--The subject of the prophet's going down to the potter's house opened so clearly on my mind in meeting this morning that I thought I could almost have publicly
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel

Meditations for one that is Like to Die.
If thy sickness be like to increase unto death, then meditate on three things:--First, How graciously God dealeth with thee. Secondly, From what evils death will free thee. Thirdly, What good death will bring unto thee. The first sort of Meditations are, to consider God's favourable dealing with thee. 1. Meditate that God uses this chastisement of thy body but as a medicine to cure thy soul, by drawing thee, who art sick in sin, to come by repentance unto Christ, thy physician, to have thy soul healed
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Letter xxvi. (Circa A. D. 1127) to the Same
To the Same He excuses the brevity of his letter on the ground that Lent is a time of silence; and also that on account of his profession and his ignorance he does not dare to assume the function of teaching. 1. You will, perhaps, be angry, or, to speak more gently, will wonder that in place of a longer letter which you had hoped for from me you receive this brief note. But remember what says the wise man, that there is a time for all things under the heaven; both a time to speak and a time to keep
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Of the Character of the Unregenerate.
Ephes. ii. 1, 2. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. AMONG all the various trusts which men can repose in each other, hardly any appears to be more solemn and tremendous, than the direction of their sacred time, and especially of those hours which they spend in the exercise of public devotion.
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Question Lxxxii of Devotion
I. Is Devotion a Special Kind of Act? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Meaning of the Term "Devotion" S. Augustine, Confessions, XIII. viii. 2 II. Is Devotion an Act of the Virtue of Religion? III. Is Contemplation, that is Meditation, the Cause of Devotion? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Causes of Devotion " " On the Devotion of Women IV. Is Joy an Effect of Devotion? Cardinal Cajetan, On Melancholy S. Augustine, Confessions, II. x. I Is Devotion a Special Kind of Act? It is by our acts that we merit. But
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

The Mercy of God
The next attribute is God's goodness or mercy. Mercy is the result and effect of God's goodness. Psa 33:5. So then this is the next attribute, God's goodness or mercy. The most learned of the heathens thought they gave their god Jupiter two golden characters when they styled him good and great. Both these meet in God, goodness and greatness, majesty and mercy. God is essentially good in himself and relatively good to us. They are both put together in Psa 119:98. Thou art good, and doest good.' This
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Covenant Duties.
It is here proposed to show, that every incumbent duty ought, in suitable circumstances, to be engaged to in the exercise of Covenanting. The law and covenant of God are co-extensive; and what is enjoined in the one is confirmed in the other. The proposals of that Covenant include its promises and its duties. The former are made and fulfilled by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on man. The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the law are all made
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

"Take My Yoke Upon You, and Learn of Me," &C.
Matt. xi. 20.--"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me," &c. Self love is generally esteemed infamous and contemptible among men. It is of a bad report every where, and indeed as it is taken commonly, there is good reason for it, that it should be hissed out of all societies, if reproaching and speaking evil of it would do it. But to speak the truth, the name is not so fit to express the thing, for that which men call self love, may rather be called self hatred. Nothing is more pernicious to a man's
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"Thou Shall Keep Him in Perfect Peace, Whose Mind is Stayed on Thee, Because He Trusteth in Thee. "
Isaiah xxvi. 3.--"Thou shall keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." Christ hath left us his peace, as the great and comprehensive legacy, "My peace I leave you," John xiv. 27. And this was not peace in the world that he enjoyed; you know what his life was, a continual warfare; but a peace above the world, that passeth understanding. "In the world you shall have trouble, but in me you shall have peace," saith Christ,--a peace that shall make trouble
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

No Sorrow Like Messiah's Sorrow
Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold, and see, if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow! A lthough the Scriptures of the Old Testament, the law of Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophecies (Luke 24:44) , bear an harmonious testimony to MESSIAH ; it is not necessary to suppose that every single passage has an immediate and direct relation to Him. A method of exposition has frequently obtained [frequently been in vogue], of a fanciful and allegorical cast [contrivance], under the pretext
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate,
CLEARLY EXPLAINED, AND LARGELY IMPROVED, FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL BELIEVERS. 1 John 2:1--"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." By JOHN BUNYAN, Author of "The Pilgrim's Progress." London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms, in the Poultry, 1689. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This is one of the most interesting of Bunyan's treatises, to edit which required the Bible at my right hand, and a law dictionary on my left. It was very frequently republished;
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Links
Lamentations 3:5 NIV
Lamentations 3:5 NLT
Lamentations 3:5 ESV
Lamentations 3:5 NASB
Lamentations 3:5 KJV

Lamentations 3:5 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Lamentations 3:4
Top of Page
Top of Page