Lamentations 3:62 describes the constant hostility a person can face from others, specifically the spoken attacks and secret schemes of people who oppose them, which go on from morning until night. The verse is spoken by the poet of Lamentations, a writer who speaks in the voice of a suffering person in Jerusalem, and it is addressed to the LORD as a complaint and a plea for justice rather than a statement made to the enemies themselves.
The lips of those that rose up against me, and their plots against me all day long.
Lamentations 3:62 (WEB)
What Lamentations 3:62 Means
The verse begins with “the lips of those that rose up against me.” Lips here stand for speech, so the writer is describing words: accusations, mockery, and gossip spoken by people who had turned against him. The phrase “rose up” suggests active, deliberate opposition rather than a passing disagreement.
The second half, “their plots against me all day long,” points to something quieter than open speech. Plots are schemes worked out in private, and the phrase “all day long” tells you the pressure never really lets up. The writer is not only hurt by what is said to his face but also by a steady undercurrent of planning against him.
What the verse does not do is promise that the enemies will stop, or that the writer will feel better as soon as he names the problem. It is a description of pain, placed before God. The surrounding lines carry the request for judgment, so this verse is best read as the honest first half of a prayer, not a finished resolution.
The Context of Lamentations 3:62
Lamentations is a collection of five poems mourning the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in 586 BC. Tradition has long attributed the book to the prophet Jeremiah, though the text itself does not name its author, and many scholars regard the poems as coming from a community or a single poet who shared that grief. Its first readers were people living through the ruin of their city, the destruction of the temple, and exile.
In chapter 3 the poet speaks in the first person and moves from despair to a fragile hope in God’s faithfulness. Verses 59 through 65 form a complaint that asks God to see the wrong done and to act justly. Read in that setting, verse 62 is not a casual remark about rumors. It is part of a plea that God would take notice of hostility that has become relentless, which is why the verse ends up as an appeal rather than a vent of anger.
Key Phrases in Lamentations 3:62
Psalm 55:12-14
12 For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him. 13 But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend. 14 We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company.
(WEB)
This passage describes betrayal by a close companion and the pain of hostility from someone once trusted. Like Lamentations 3:62, it names the injury honestly and brings it into the presence of God, showing that the anguish of being opposed by those near you is an experience Scripture takes seriously.
Romans 12:19
Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”
(WEB)
Paul’s words here speak to the same tension the poet feels, the desire to see wrong answered. The verse directs the wronged person to leave vengeance to God, which echoes the complaint in Lamentations that places judgment in the LORD’s hands rather than in the hands of the one who has suffered.
A Short Prayer From Lamentations 3:62
Lord, you see the words that have been spoken against me and the plans that have been made in secret. I do not need to hide how heavy this has been, because you already know every hour of it. Please look at what is happening and act with justice in your own time and way. Help me to bring these burdens to you instead of carrying them alone through the day, and give me patience and honesty as I wait for you to work. Amen.
