Lamentations 5:21

“Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned, etc.] This prayer expresses the sense they had of their backslidings from God, and distance from him; of their inability to turn themselves to the Lord, or convert themselves; and of their need of divine grace, and of the efficacy of that to effect it; (see <243118>Jeremiah 31:18); for this is to be understood not only of returning them to their own land, and to the external worship of God in it; but of turning them to the Lord by true and perfect repentance, as the Targum; of the conversion of their hearts and the reformation of their lives: renew our days as of old; for good, as the Targum adds. The request is, that their good days…”

“(Psa 80:3; Jer 31:18). "Restore us to favor with Thee, and so we shall be restored to our old position" [GROTIUS]. Jeremiah is not speaking of spiritual conversion, but of that outward turning whereby God receives men into His fatherly favor, manifested in bestowing prosperity [CALVIN]. Still, as Israel is a type of the Church, temporal goods typify spiritual blessings; and so the sinner may use this prayer for God to convert him.”

“Renew - Restore us to our former estate. Next: Ezekiel Chapter 1”

“Turn: Kg1 18:37; Psa 80:3, Psa 80:7, Psa 80:19, Psa 85:4; Jer 31:18, Jer 32:39, Jer 32:40; Eze 11:19, Eze 11:20; Eze 36:25-27, Eze 36:37; Hab 3:2 renew: Jer 31:4, Jer 31:23-25, Jer 33:10, Jer 33:13; Zac 8:3-6; Mal 3:4 Lamentations 5:22”

“In many Hebrew MSS Lam 5:21 is found repeated after Lam 5:22, to make the whole more suitable for public reading in the synagogue, that the poem may not end with the mention of the wrath of God, as is the case also at the close of Isaiah, Malachi, and Ecclesiastes: the intention is, to conclude with words of comfort. But v. 22, rightly understood, did not require this repetition: for, as Rhabanas has already remarked in Ghisleri commentar. on v. 22: non haec quasi desperando de salute populi sui locutus est, sed ut dolorem suum nimium de contritione et objectione diutina gentis suae manifestaret. This conclusion entirely agrees with the character of the Lamentations, in which complaint and…”