Homilist Lamentations 3:31-36 For the LORD will not cast off for ever:… I. THE RELUCTANCE WITH WHICH THE AFFLICTION PROCEEDS FROM GOD. "He doth not afflict willingly." Suffering is repugnant to His benevolent nature, why then does He allow it to come? 1. Because it is according to the benevolent laws of the universe. Love has linked indissolubly suffering and sin together. The greatest calamity that could happen to the universe would be a dissolution of this connection. 2. Because sufferings have a disciplinary influence. They tend to quicken spiritual thought, loosen interest in the material, and throw the soul back upon itself, the spiritual and the everlasting. II. THE LOVING KINDNESS WITH WHICH AFFLICTIONS ARE EVER ATTENDED. "Yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies." Divine mercy is always seen in sufferings. 1. In the slightness of the suffering compared both with the deserts and the enjoyments. How much misery does the sinner deserve? Let his own conscience answer. How little are his sufferings, compared with this l How much happiness does he enjoy every day! What are his pains, compared with the bulk of his enjoyments? 2. In the alleviations and sustaining ministries afforded under suffering. How much to alleviate suffering has the greatest sufferer, how many relieving ministries at hand — loving friends, medical science, etc., etc. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: For the Lord will not cast off for ever: |
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