41 Lo, a people hath come from the north, Even a great nation, And many kings are stirred up from the sides of the earth. 42 Bow and halbert they seize, Cruel 'are' they, and they have no mercy, Their voice as a sea soundeth, and on horses they ride, Set in array as a man for battle, Against thee, O daughter of Babylon. 43 Heard hath the king of Babylon their report, And feeble have been his hands, Distress hath seized him; pain as a travailing woman.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 50:41-43
Commentary on Jeremiah 50:33-46
(Read Jeremiah 50:33-46)
It is Israel's comfort in distress, that, though they are weak, their Redeemer is strong. This may be applied to believers, who complain of the dominion of sin and corruption, and of their own weakness and manifold infirmities. Their Redeemer is able to keep what they commit to him; and sin shall not have dominion over them. He will give them that rest which remains for the people of God. Also here is Babylon's sin, and their punishment. The sins are, idolatry and persecution. He that will not save his people in their sins, never will countenance the wickedness of his open enemies. The judgments of God for these sins will lay them waste. In the judgments denounced against prosperous Babylon, and the mercies promised to afflicted Israel, we learn to choose to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.