John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 3:34-36

"To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth, To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High, To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not." — Lamentations 3:34-36 (ASV)

Many interpreters think that these three verses are connected with the previous doctrine and show the connection in this way: that God does not see—that is, does not know what it is to pervert the good cause of a man and to oppress the innocent. And, undoubtedly, God is said not to know what iniquity is because he abhors all evil; for what is the nature of God but the perfection of justice? It may then be truly said that God does not know what it is to turn a man aside in judgment. Others interpret "not to see" as meaning "not to approve."

If we subscribe to the opinion of those who say that injustice is contrary to the nature of God, there is here an exhortation to patience, as if the Prophet had said that afflictions should be borne with resignation because the Jews had fully deserved them. For the liberty taken to complain arises from this: that men imagine they are without fault. But he who is convicted dares not rise up against God in this way, for the chief thing in humility is the acknowledgment of sin. This, then, is one meaning. But those who give this explanation—that God does not approve of those who pervert judgment—think that there is here a ground of consolation, because God would eventually help the miserable who were unjustly oppressed. And undoubtedly, it greatly encourages patience when we are persuaded that God will be an avenger, so that he will eventually help us, after having for a time allowed us to be severely treated.

But these interpretations seem to me to be too remote. We may give a more correct explanation by supposing a concession is made, as if the Prophet had said, “It is indeed true that the wicked take much license, for they imagine that God is blind to all evil deeds.” For this madness is often ascribed to the ungodly: that they think they can sin with impunity because God, as they suppose, does not care for the affairs of men. They then imagine that God is asleep, and as if dead, and therefore they break out into all kinds of wickedness. And it was for this reason that David so vehemently rebuked them:

He who has formed the ear, will he not hear? He who has created the heaven, will he not see? (Psalms 94:9).

I also cannot approve of this explanation, as it is forced and not obvious.

I therefore think that the reference is to the impious words of those who complain that God is not moved by any compassion. For this thought almost takes hold of us when pressed down by adversities: that God has forgotten us, that he is either asleep or lies inactive.

In short, there is nothing more difficult to be assured of than this truth: that God governs the world by his counsel, and that nothing happens without a design. This is indeed what almost all confess; but when a trial comes, this doctrine vanishes, and everyone is carried away by some perverted and erroneous thoughts, such as that all things roll around fortuitously through blind fate, and that men are not the objects of God’s care.

Nor is there any doubt that in Jeremiah’s time words of this kind were circulating. And it appears evident from the context that those Jews were reproved who thought that their miseries were disregarded by God, and therefore they clamored; for men are necessarily carried away into a furious state of mind when they do not believe that they are dealing with God.

The Prophet, then, refers to such impious words, or if they did not dare to express in language what they thought, he refers to what was believed almost by all: that the wicked perverted the judgment of man, that they turned aside a man in his cause, that they tore under their feet all the bound of the earth; that is, that all those things were done by the connivance of God.

The plain meaning, then, is that judgment is perverted before the face of the Most High; that the bound of the earth (such as are helpless) are despised, trodden under foot by the wicked; that a man in his cause is unjustly dealt with; and that all this is done because God does not see. We now perceive, then, what the Prophet means.

But from where did such madness come? It was because the Jews, as I have said, would not humble themselves under the mighty hand of God. For hypocrisy had so blinded them that they proudly clamored against God, thinking that they were chastised with unjust severity. Since, then, they flattered themselves in their sins in this way, this expostulation which the Prophet mentions arose: that man’s judgment was perverted, that the innocent failed in a good cause, that the miserable were trodden under foot. And from where did all this come? Because God did not see, or did not regard these things. Now follows the reproof of this delirious impiety—