31. For the Lord. Verses 31-33 are the key to a right understanding of the whole book of Lamentations. They are a revelation of God’s love behind and through all the suffering He allows to come to His children. The Lord does not permit adversity without reference to man’s conduct. While God may times allow affliction, it is also true that man brings it on himself. Punishment, to God, is His “strange act” (Isa. 28:21). In His overruling providence God at times “permits evils to take place that He may prevent still greater evils that would appear” ( RH Feb 4, 1909).