John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 3:18

"And I said, My strength is perished, and mine expectation from Jehovah." — Lamentations 3:18 (ASV)

This verse shows what I have previously reminded you of: that the Prophet does not speak here as though he were freed from every sin and prescribed a perfect rule for prayer. On the contrary, to encourage the faithful to seek God, he presents to them here an example of weakness that everyone recognizes in themselves. Yet it was a most grievous trial, because the Prophet almost despaired. For since faith is the mother of hope, it follows that when anyone is overwhelmed with despair, faith is extinguished. Nevertheless, the Prophet makes this declaration: Perished, he says, has my strength and my hope from God.

He does not speak from some thoughtless impulse, as though he were suddenly carried away, as often happens to us with things we have not considered; rather, he speaks what was, so to speak, fixed in his mind. When he said, Perished has my hope and strength from Jehovah, it is evident that his faith was not merely shaken but had entirely failed. But the expression, I said, makes the matter even stronger; for, as is well known, it means a settled conviction. The Prophet was then fully persuaded that he was forsaken by God. But what does this mean? Indeed, we ought to maintain this: that faith is sometimes so stifled that even the children of God think they are lost and that their salvation is entirely gone. Even David confesses the same thing, for it was an evidence of despair when he declared,

I said in my haste, Vanity is every man (Psalms 116:11).

He had almost failed, and he was not in control of himself when he was so agitated. There is no doubt that the Prophet also expressly reminded the faithful that they ought not to despair, though despair took hold of their minds, or though the devil tempted them to despair, but that they ought then especially to struggle against it. This is indeed, I admit, a hard and perilous contest, but the faithful ought not to lose heart, even when such a thing happens to them—that is, when it seems that all is lost for them and no hope remains. On the contrary, they ought nevertheless to go on hoping, and that, indeed, as Scripture says elsewhere, against hope, or above hope (Romans 4:18).

Let us then learn from this passage that the faithful are not free from despair, for it enters their souls. But there is still no reason why they should indulge despair; on the contrary, they ought courageously and firmly to resist it. For when the Prophet said this, he did not mean that he succumbed to this trial, as though he had embraced what had come to his mind; but he meant that he was, so to speak, overwhelmed for a short time.

If anyone were to ask, "How can it be that hope and despair reside in the same man?" the answer is that when faith is weak, a part of the soul becomes empty, and this emptiness admits despair. Now, faith is sometimes not only weakened but is also nearly stifled. This, indeed, does not happen daily, but there is no one whom God deeply tests with temptations who does not feel that their faith is almost extinguished. It is often no wonder that despair then prevails, but it is for a moment. In the meantime, the remedy is to flee immediately to God and to complain of this misery, so that He may help and raise up those who are thus fallen. He then adds—