We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
In Lamentations 3 each Hebrew letter begins three successive verses, so the verse stands inside an alphabetic acrostic arrangement. This patterned order belongs to a book marked by deep anguish. That striking form serves to arrest the attention of the careless reader.
The verse supplies the confession to make when affliction exposes sin, acknowledging transgression and rebellion against God. It calls for honest acknowledgment of wrongdoing rather than complaint against God or against the penalty of sin. Affliction should therefore lead people to search their ways, turn back to the Lord, and seek correction.
In Lamentations 3 each Hebrew letter begins three successive verses, so the verse stands inside an alphabetic acrostic arrangement. This patterned order belongs to a book marked by deep anguish. That striking form serves to arrest the attention of the careless reader.
The verse supplies the confession to make when affliction exposes sin, acknowledging transgression and rebellion against God. It calls for honest acknowledgment of wrongdoing rather than complaint against God or against the penalty of sin. Affliction should therefore lead people to search their ways, turn back to the Lord, and seek correction.