What treatment of people does the Lord disapprove of?

These three verses are a threefold description of the treatment of people by other people in such a way that it meets God’s disapproval. As God does not take pleasure in the chastening of men (Lamentations 3:31–33), it is also not in his heart to let injustice and oppression flourish on earth. For this reason, the injustices experienced by his people must have another purpose.¹ The fact of God’s disapproval of these injustices are described as follows: 

1. To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth (Lamentations 3:34). This is a description of the Babylonians’ terror and ruthless oppression towards the people of Judah. It was not only Jerusalem’s inhabitants that suffered under the pressure of their enemies, but all of Israel. The whole land becomes a prison camp in which they were exploited and persecuted by their enemies.² They were prisoners that were treated inhumanely by their captors and this behaviour met God’s disapproval. Although God sent the Babylonians against Jerusalem, he does not crush them willingly, or sanction the activity of the oppressors. He is using it temporarily as the appropriate judgment.³ 

2. To deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High (Lamentations 3:35). This expression describes the violation of any person’s God-given right to be treated justly and fairly by other people. God does not approve when people are deprived of justice and are denied of a proper legal hearing to establish what does rightfully belong to them (see Isaiah 10:2; Isaiah 29:21; Amos 5:12). As the marginalized in the community were especially vulnerable to such treatment (see Exodus 23:2; Deuteronomy 16:19; Deuteronomy 24:17; Deuteronomy 27:19), in this case all were treated in this way by the Babylonians. They were not only defeated but defenceless (see Lamentations 1:9; Lamentations 2:12) against their atrocities and injustices (Mackay, page 151). This is done in the presence of the Most High. Although the wicked may think that God does not see or care (see Zephaniah 1:12), he sees their injustices (Psalm 94:1–7).

3. To subvert a man in his lawsuit (Lamentations 3:36). This subversion means to make something crooked, therefore, to treat a person’s lawsuit or complaint in a crooked or bent way.⁴ It is referring to injustice toward any person, regardless of their relationship to God. Not only is justice denied (Lamentations 3:35), but law and justice are distorted, while the victims are treated in a crooked and distorted way.