CHAPTER ONE

Contents: Jeremiah's first complaint of the calamities of Judah. Appeal to God for deliverance.

Characters: God, Jeremiah.

Conclusion: Whatever our troubles are which God is pleased to inflict upon us, we must own that therein He is righteous and we are sinful. Our fetters are usually of our own making, and it is with our own rod that we are beaten. Those who are without God's presence are without all true comfort.

Key Word: Comforters, vv. 2, 17, 21.

Strong Verses:   18 (b).

CHAPTER TWO

Contents: Lamentation on the effect of the calamities of Judah. God's passionate consideration appealed to.

Characters: God, Jeremiah.

Conclusion: The wormwood and gall in affliction is the thought that God has become one's enemy in His hot displeasure at sin. In all sore providences, it is well to reflect that God has fulfilled His Word, for there will be found to be a perfect agreement between the judgments of God's hand and those threatened by His Word upon the unrepentant.

Key Word: Swallowed up, v. 5.

Strong Verses:   17 (a).

CHAPTER THREE

Contents: Complaint of God's displeasure and comfort to God's people. Appeal to God's justice against persecutors.

Characters: God, Jeremiah.

Conclusion: Bad as things may be, it is owing to the mercy of God that they are not worse, for if we had been dealt with according to our sins, we should have been consumed long ago. Since we are dealt with according to God's mercy, we should acknowledge it to His praise.

Key Word: Bitterness, v. 15.

Strong Verses:   22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 31, 32, 33.

CHAPTER FOUR

Contents: Lamentation on the direful effects of calamities of Judah. Sins of the leaders acknowledged.

Characters: God, Jeremiah.

Conclusion: Nothing ripens a people more for ruin, nor fills the measure faster than the sins of the priests and prophets (v. 13), by which they are led blindly away from God and into His judgments.

Key Word: Devoured, v. 11.

Strong Verses: 9 .

CHAPTER FIVE

Contents: Lamentation of the state of Judah in captivity. Supplications for the return of mercy.

Characters: God, Jeremiah.

Conclusion: All our woes are owing to our own sin and folly, and God is therefore righteous in it. Though we may not quarrel with God, we may yet plead with Him and hope for mercy even when He seems to have utterly forsaken.

Key Word: No rest, vv. 7, 15.

Strong Verses:   7, 19.