Lecture 18

^1:18^ Sade. The Lord is just, for I have provoked his mouth to wrath: hear, I pray you, all you people, and see my sorrow: my virgins, and my young men are gone into captivity.

18. Here he weeps over captivity; and concerning this, he does three things.

First, he confesses the justice of the judge: the Lord is just. The Lord our God is just in all his works which he has done (Dan 9:14).

Second, he captures the benevolence of his hearers, provoking them to be compassionate: hear, I pray you. Give ear, all you that dwell near Zion (Bar 4:9).

Third, he weeps over the misery of captivity: my virgins and my young men, who, thanks to the robustness of their age, were able to escape death from hunger, are gone into captivity. He has filled his belly with my delicate meats, and he has cast me out (Jer 51:34).