Charles Spurgeon Commentary Lamentations 3:1-2

"I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He hath led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light." — Lamentations 3:1-2 (ASV)

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

This seems to be the hardest part of our lot—that God should lead us into darkness: He hath led me, and brought me into darkness.

Yet dear brothers, that is, on the other hand, the sweetest thing about our trial; because, if the darkness is in the place where God has led us, it is best for us to be in the dark. A child in the dark should derive much comfort from the thought, "My father brought me here, and he loves me so much that he would not bring me where I should be in danger; he must have had some good end and object in view in what he has done." Surely, there is something comforting to the tried child of God in that thought.

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

Some of us remember when we used to go into our own room, shut the door, and read a chapter like this, and say, "Here is a description of my true condition." We were once broken in pieces, torn apart, through a terrible sense of sin. Our thoughts were like a case of knives perpetually pricking us, and, at such a time, these were our words as well as the words of Jeremiah, He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.