Lamentations 3:7 (DBY)

Passage

He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 3:5 He hath built against me, and encompassed [me] with gall and toil.

Lamentations 3:6 He hath made me to dwell in dark places as those that have been long dead.

Lamentations 3:7 He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

Lamentations 3:8 Even when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.

Lamentations 3:9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hath", "hedged", "chain", and "heavy". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hath" and "hedged", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "He hath made me to dwell in..." into verse 8's "Even when I cry and shout he...", so "hath" and "hedged" belong inside that flow. In Lamentations context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "hath" and "hedged" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.