Lamentations 3:62 describes the constant hostility a person faces from others who conspire against them, and it expresses the writer’s grief over that ongoing opposition. The speaker is the prophet traditionally identified as Jeremiah, who is voicing his personal anguish and that of his people after Jerusalem’s fall to Babylon in 586 BC. He speaks to God, appealing to the Lord who has witnessed his suffering.
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.” Here “lips” stands for speech, meaning the words people say about you: gossip, accusations, mocking talk. “Rose up against me” describes people who turned on the writer as opponents, not strangers who simply disagreed with him.
The second half, “and their plots against me all day long,” shows that the hostility was not a single outburst. The enemies were scheming continuously, from morning until night. The writer is saying that the pressure never let up, and that the harm was planned as well as spoken.
What the verse does not do is offer a neat solution or a promise that the enemies will be defeated in the writer’s timing. It is a raw report of pain brought before God. Its value lies in its honesty: it names the problem plainly and leaves the outcome in God’s hands.
The Context of Lamentations 3:62
Lamentations is a collection of five laments mourning the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. The book was written for a community that had lost its homes, its leaders and its worship, and that felt abandoned by God. Chapter 3 is unusual because its speaker moves from despair into a restated hope in God’s faithfulness, so the verse sits inside that tension rather than standing alone.
The verses just before it, 59 to 61, form a plea: the writer asks God to see the wrong done to him and to judge his cause. Verse 62 continues that appeal by describing the enemies’ words and schemes. The verses after it, 63 to 65, shift to a call for God to repay the enemies for their actions. Read in that setting, verse 62 is part of an honest prayer for justice, not a bare complaint.
Key Phrases in Lamentations 3:62
Psalm 55:21
His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
(WEB)
This verse also describes a friend’s words that cut deeper than an enemy’s, and it sets the experience of betrayal beside the writer’s grief. Reading it alongside Lamentations 3:62 shows that the pain of being spoken against is an old and familiar one in the psalms.
Psalm 37:5
Commit your way to the LORD. Trust also in him, and he will do this…
(WEB)
This verse invites the believer to commit their way to the Lord and trust Him to act. Paired with Lamentations 3:62, it moves from naming the enemies’ plots to entrusting the outcome to God, which is the movement the writer hopes to make.
A Short Prayer From Lamentations 3:62
Lord, you have seen the words that have been spoken against me and the plans that have been made in secret. I bring them to you now, not pretending they do not hurt. Give me the courage to be honest about what is happening, and give me wisdom about what I should do. Where I am tempted to answer with the same cruelty, hold me back and remind me that you are the one who judges rightly. Keep me steady through each long day, and let my trust rest in your faithfulness rather than in my own ability to defend myself. Amen.
