The Prophet’s Afflictions
The speaker identifies himself as one who has seen affliction under the rod of God's wrath. He has been driven into darkness, worn down in flesh and bone, and surrounded with bitterness and hardship. The experience feels burial-like, as though he has been made to dwell among the dead long before actual death arrives.
I1 am the man who has seen affliction 2He has driven me away and made me walk 3Indeed, He keeps turning His hand 4He has worn away my flesh and skin; 5He has besieged me and surrounded me 6He has made me dwell in darkness
The LORD seems to wall the sufferer in, ignoring even desperate cries for help and blocking every path forward. He is described as a bear or lion in ambush, tearing the speaker apart and setting him up as the target of a drawn bow. The lament depicts not random pain but the terrifying feeling of being deliberately hunted by God.
7He has walled me in so I cannot escape; 8Even when I cry out and plead for help, 9He has barred my ways with cut stones; 10He is a bear lying in wait, 11He forced me off my path and tore me to pieces; 12He bent His bow
The arrows of God's quiver pierce inward, the people make the sufferer a laughingstock, and bitterness becomes his daily portion. Peace is gone, prosperity is forgotten, and humiliation reaches even the body, as if teeth are ground with gravel and the person is pressed into ashes. The section closes with an almost extinguished confession: strength and hope from the LORD seem to have perished.
13He pierced my kidneys 14I am a laughingstock to all my people; 15He has filled me with bitterness; 16He has ground my teeth with gravel 17My soul has been deprived of peace; 18So I say, “My strength has perished,