John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 2:17

"Jehovah hath done that which he purposed; he hath fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old; He hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: And he hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee; he hath exalted the horn of thine adversaries." — Lamentations 2:17 (ASV)

If the Prophet had related only the boastings of enemies, the people would probably have become more hardened in their sorrow. But now, on the other hand, he assumes a different character. After having represented how insolently the enemies conducted themselves, he now says, Jehovah hath done what he had determined; and thus from the taunts of enemies he calls the attention of the people to the judgment of God.

For when enemies insult us, we indeed feel hurt, but afterwards grief in a way blunts our feelings. Our best remedy then is not to have our thoughts fixed on the insolence of men, but to know what the Scripture often reminds us: that the wicked are the scourges of God by which he chastises us. This, then, is the subject which the Prophet now handles. He says that God had done, etc.; as though he had said that however enemies might exceed moderation, yet if the people attended to God, there was a just cause why they should humble themselves.

He says, first, that Jehovah had done what he had determined: for the word to think is improperly applied to God, but yet it is often done, as we have seen before. He then says that he had fulfilled the word which he had formerly commanded; for if the Prophet had touched only on the secret counsel of God, the Jews might have been in doubt as to what it was.

And certainly, since our minds cannot penetrate that deep abyss, he would have spoken in vain of the hidden judgments of God. It was therefore necessary to come down to the doctrine by which God, as far as it is expedient, manifests to us what would otherwise be not only hidden but also incomprehensible; for if we were to inquire into God’s judgments, we would sink into the deep.

But when we direct our minds to what God has taught us, we find that he reveals to us whatever is necessary to be known. And though even by his word we cannot perfectly know his hidden judgments, yet we may know them in part and, as I have said, as far as it is expedient for us. This, then, is the reason why the Prophet, after having spoken of God’s counsels and decrees, adds the word.

Let us then hold to this rule: to seek from the Law and the Prophets, and the Gospel, whatever we desire to know respecting the secret judgments of God. For if we were to turn aside, even in the smallest degree, from what is taught us, the immensity of God’s glory would immediately swallow up all our thoughts; and experience sufficiently teaches us that nothing is more dangerous and even fatal than to allow ourselves more liberty in this respect than what is proper for us.

Let us then learn to bridle all curiosity when we speak of God’s secret judgments, and instantly to direct our minds to the word itself, that they may be, in a way, enclosed there. Moreover, the Prophet was also able, in this manner, more easily to check whatever the Jews might have been otherwise ready to object; for we know that they were always accustomed to murmur, and that as soon as the prophets spoke, they brought forward many exceptions by which they attempted to confute their doctrine.

Since, then, they were an unteachable people, Jeremiah did not only speak of God’s hidden judgments, about which some doubt might have been alleged; but, in order to cut off every occasion for disputes and contentions, he mentioned the word itself. And thus he held the Jews, as it were, convicted; for, as it is said by Moses, they could not have objected and said:

Who shall ascend into heaven? who shall descend into the deep? who shall pass over the sea? (Deuteronomy 30:12–14)

For in their mouth was God’s word; that is, God had sufficiently made known his judgments, so that they could not complain of obscurity. We now then perceive another reason why the Prophet joined the word to God’s judgments and decrees or counsel.

But he says that this word had been published from ancient days; and here he touches on the untamable obstinacy of the people. For if they had been admonished a few days or a short time before, they might have expostulated with God; and there might have been some specious appearance that God had, as it were, made too great haste in his rigor.

But since prophets had been sent one after another, and since God had not ceased for many years, indeed for many ages, to exhort them to repentance and to threaten them also that they might repent, hence their inveterate impiety more fully betrayed itself. This is the reason why the Prophet now mentions the ancient days in which God had published his word.

He at length adds, he hath subverted and not spared. He does not here charge God with too much rigor, but rather he reproves the Jews, so that from the grievousness of their punishment they might know how intolerable their iniquity had been. He would then have them judge their sins by their punishment, for God does not act unjustly towards men. It hence follows that when we are severely afflicted by his hand, it is a proof that we have been very wicked.

He then concludes that it was God who had exhilarated their enemies, and raised up their horn. By these words he confirms the doctrine on which I have already touched: that we ought to turn our eyes to God when men are insolent to us and exult over our miseries, for such a reproach might otherwise wholly overwhelm us. But when we consider that we are chastised by God, and that the wicked—however petulantly they may treat us—are yet God’s scourges, then we resolve with calm and resigned minds to bear what would otherwise wear us out by its harshness.