A lamentation for the princes of Israel.
Ezekiel follows up his predictions of approaching judgment and his exhortations to repentance with an elegy on the distresses of the princes of Israel.
I. THE FATE OF THE PRINCES STIRRED DEEP FEELINGS. It became the inspiration of an ode. True poetry has its fountains in deep emotion. Thus a living religion naturally finds expression in song, and the spiritual experience of men is uttered in psalms. That religion which is satisfied with the cold statements of intellectual propositions hay not yet touched the heart, and is no living experience. There is a fire of passion in true devotion. On the other hand, when religion has been neglected or outraged, a new range of emotions is called into play, and the fate of sinners stirs feelings of profound grief in all who understand its dire distress and have brotherly hearts to sympathize with others. The Book of Lamentations may be taken as the reverse of the Book of Psalms. Psalmists celebrate the emotions of true religion; the "Lamentations" is a dirge sung over those who have been unfaithful to their religion. In any case, man's relation to religion is so intimate and vital that it should rouse deep feelings in the heart of every one.
II. THE FATE OF THE PRINCES CONTAINED PECULIAR ELEMENTS OF DISTRESS.
1. The princes enjoyed high rank. When they fill, their humiliation and suffering were all the greater. Men envy high stations; but such positions are liable to peculiar calamities, from which the lowly do not suffer.
2. The princes came of a divinely favoured line. They belonged to the house of David—a house which had long enjoyed peculiar marks of God's favour, and which was thought to be sheltered by promises of everlasting prosperity (e.g. Psalms 69:1-36.). But no favouritism of Heaven will protect against the consequences of sin. God's promises of g, ace are conditioned by man's fidelity.
3. The ruin of the princes was in itself most lamentable. They did not suffer from some temporary reverse of fortune. One alter another they were flung down from the throne and degraded to a miserable fate. The consequences of sin are heavy and disastrous. No soul can face them with equaninity.
4. The fate of the princes involved the sufferings of their people. The princes, being leaders in sin, were first in punishment. Their primacy of guilt was followed by a primacy of doom. But others suffered also in various degrees, and the nation was involved in calamities. Thus the responsibility of those in high stations is enlarged by the fact that they bring trouble upon many by their misdeeds.