He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.
The chapter containing the verse is built as an acrostic on the Hebrew alphabet, comprising sixty-six verses arranged in groups of three, with each successive set of three beginning with the next letter in sequence. It stands within the book's mournful record of sorrow and desolation. Its language portrays intense suffering by the images of teeth shattered on gritty stones and of the sufferer covered over with ashes.
The verse shows that God's people may pass through severe temporal affliction at the very time the wicked are enjoying prosperity. Even when the saints have their teeth filled with gravel, such adversity can work for their benefit and salvation. Outward circumstances therefore do not disclose whom God has marked out by electing love.
The chapter containing the verse is built as an acrostic on the Hebrew alphabet, comprising sixty-six verses arranged in groups of three, with each successive set of three beginning with the next letter in sequence. It stands within the book's mournful record of sorrow and desolation. Its language portrays intense suffering by the images of teeth shattered on gritty stones and of the sufferer covered over with ashes.
The verse shows that God's people may pass through severe temporal affliction at the very time the wicked are enjoying prosperity. Even when the saints have their teeth filled with gravel, such adversity can work for their benefit and salvation. Outward circumstances therefore do not disclose whom God has marked out by electing love.