John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 5:21

"Turn thou us unto thee, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned; Renew our days as of old." — Lamentations 5:21 (ASV)

The Prophet shows, in this verse, that the remedy is in God’s hand whenever He is pleased to help His people. He, then, here exalts the power of God, as if he had said, that God is not without power, but that He can, whenever He pleases, help His people.

This is not, indeed, a sufficient ground for confidence, yet it is the beginning of hope. For why is it that despair weakens us, so that we cannot call on God? It is because we think that it is all over with us. And why is this? It is because we impiously confine the power of God; indeed, in a way, through our unbelief, we repel His power, which would otherwise be exerted on our behalf.

As, then, we thus close the door against God when we diminish His power and think that our evils will prevail, it is, therefore, as I have said, the beginning of hope to believe that all the issues of death are in God’s hand, and that even if we were swallowed up a hundred times, yet He, by stretching out His hand to us, can become the author of salvation to us at any moment.

This is now the argument which the Prophet handles, when he says, Turn us, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned; that is, “If You, O Jehovah, are pleased to gather us, salvation is already certain to us.”

And he does not speak here of repentance. There is, indeed, a twofold turning or conversion of men to God, and a twofold turning of God to men. There is an inward turning when God regenerates us by His own Spirit; and turning with respect to us is said to be the feeling of true religion, when, after having been alienated from Him, we return to the right way and to a right mind. There is also an exterior turning as to God, that is, when He so receives men into favor that His paternal favor becomes apparent; but the interior turning of men to God takes place when they recover life and joy.

It is of this second turning, then, that the Prophet now speaks: Turn us, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned; that is, “If You, Jehovah, look upon us, our condition will immediately become prosperous, for in Your hand there is a sure salvation for us.” As, then, the Jews were at that time like the dead, the Prophet says that if it pleased God to gather them, they could in a moment, as they say, have been restored, as it is also said in the Psalms:

Thou takest away life, and all things change; send forth thy Spirit, and renew the face of the earth (Psalms 104:29–30).

As, then, God renews the face of the earth and restores it by only looking at it, hence the Prophet now says that the Jews, though they had been destroyed, could yet be immediately restored if it were the will of God to receive them into favor.

He adds, Renew our days as of old. This is an explanation of the former clause—the renewing of days was restoration to their former state. God had been for many ages the deliverer of His people; under David had been their greatest happiness; under Solomon also they had greatly flourished. But from the time when God had redeemed His people, He had given, as we know, many and constant proofs of His favor and mercy.

As, then, God’s goodness had by so many evidences been made conspicuous, the Prophet now says, Renew our days as formerly; that is, “Restore us to that happiness, which was formerly a testimony of Your paternal favor towards Your people.” We now, then, perceive the meaning of the Prophet.

But it should be noticed that he grounds his hope on the ancient benefits of God. For as God had formerly redeemed His people, had often helped the miserable, had poured forth on them and their posterity a fullness of blessings, hence the Prophet encourages himself to entertain good hope, and also suggests to others the same ground of confidence. We see that this was often done by David; for whenever he mentions ancient testimonies of God’s favor towards His people, he hence gathered that God would extend the same goodness and kindness to posterity.